In Iraq it was reported about the detention of militants acting in the interests of Ukraine

Qassem al-Aboudi: Militants who acted in the interests of Kiev were detained in Iraq

Iraqi intelligence has detained a group of militants who acted in the interests of Ukraine and were involved in the shelling of facilities in Iraq. This was announced on July 27 by Qassem al-Aboudi, adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister for National Security, on the Dijlah TV channel.

"We have an intelligence cell whose mission is to analyze intelligence information, and it has come to the conclusion that there is a Ukrainian intervention in Iraq," the Shafaq news agency quoted the adviser as saying.

According to Qassem al-Aboudi, several groups were detained, who fired at a number of facilities. During the investigation, the detainees confessed that they were working in the interests of Kiev. The official did not disclose the list of attacked facilities, stressing that the investigation of incidents requires a thorough approach.

Ukrainian intelligence operations extending beyond the European theatre and into the Middle East

Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasim al-Aboudi has publicly accused Ukraine of conducting covert operations on Iraqi territory, alleging that security forces have arrested several individuals who confessed to carrying out attacks on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence. This represents one of the most significant cases of Ukrainian intelligence operations extending beyond the European theatre and into the Middle East, following prior operations that similarly targeted Western adversaries in Syria, Sudan and West Africa. Ukrainian intelligence personnel were alleged by Iraqi authorities to have sought to conduct attacks and subsequently attribute them to Iraqi “resistance groups,” a term commonly used to describe the network of predominantly militias supported by Iran, Military Watch Magazine stresses.

On September 15, 2024, Ukrainian special forces from the Main Directorate of Intelligence’s Khimik Group launched an attack on a Russian military facility on the southeastern outskirts of Aleppo, Syria. According to Western sources, the attack saw powerful explosion followed by secondary detonations causing serious damage to the site. Ukrainian personnel entered Syria through Turkey, and worked in close cooperation with Turkish intelligence. Personnel were responsible for supporting drone warfare operations by Turkish-backed jihadist groups against Syrian government targets.

Malian jihadists pose with Ukrainian flag after receiving drone warfare support

Ukrainian personnel were in October 2025 reported to have been eliminated during operations in Sudan’s Darfur region, after they were deployed to support the Western-backed Rapid Support Forces insurgent group in its ongoing war effort against the Sudanese state. Multiple West African countries that have recently expelled French forces and influence from their territory, most notably Mali, have also widely alleged that Ukrainian personnel are supporting insurgents there particularly in the field of drone warfare, with footage of insurgents posing with Ukrainain units having supported these allegations. A Sudanese Foreign Ministry official in June referred to Ukraine’s actions as doing the West’s “dirty work” across multiple African states.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Borisenko said on July 25 that Moscow has information that the French authorities are directly supporting the participation of Ukrainian formations in the activities of terrorist groups in African countries. It was noted that Paris provides assistance to the Ukrainian forces in their activities as part of extremist groups.

On July 17, Borisenko said that the Ukrainian military is in several African states and is trying to form a "second front" against Russia there. He noted that the presence of Ukrainian mercenaries has been recorded in other countries, he cited the example of Sudan.

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