The document does not give a clear answer to the question: was the failure of the operation the result of a “drain”
According to investigators, the operation was carried out by the Ukrainian special services under the control of the country’s leadership. Photo: collage “Today”
Research Bellingcat group with the participation of The Insider, published a detailed report on the investigation of the operation of the Ukrainian special services, which planned to lure out of Russia and arrest more than 30 fighters of the private military company “Wagner” who committed war crimes in the Donbass. The document does not give a clear answer to the question on whose fault this operation failed. Also, there is no information in the report that the special services of Belarus and the Russian Federation had information about the preparation of the operation by the time of the arrest of the “Wagnerites” near Minsk. The Segodnya website examined the Bellingcat report and found out what relation the President’s Office and the leaders of the Ukrainian special services had to the scandalous operation.
Operation Avenue
It is noted that the operation was called “Avenue”. For maximum credibility, the Ukrainian special services used the real, but terminated activity of the PMC “MAR”, which was created in St. Petersburg in 2012.
“The idea was to lure the mercenaries under the pretext of working in a new PMC and the need to undergo training in a special training camp. The fighters were allegedly hired to guard Rosneft’s oil facilities in Syria.”, – said in the investigation.
Founder of PMC “MAR” Alexey Marushenko, second from left. Photo: theins.ru
Due to the pandemic, it was only possible to fly from Russia through the territory of Belarus, and the most convenient flight through Ukraine was a flight to Istanbul. In this case, the plane would have been in Ukrainian airspace for about 28 minutes. During this time, under a planned pretext, the plane would be landed and detained. However, at the last moment, the scouts met with the leadership of Ukraine, and the operation was postponed. Meanwhile, the “Wagnerites” who had arrived in Belarus and were expecting departure to Syria via Istanbul, were detained by the Belarusian security forces.
The mercenaries of the Wagner PMC were detained by the KGB of Belarus. Photo: svoboda.org
Bellingcat’s report does not answer the question of whether the disruption of the operation was the result of a deliberate leak of classified information by the Ukrainian leadership.
At first, the President’s Office denied the very fact of preparing such an operation, then called it “not our operation”, hinting at Russia’s involvement in these events, after which they argued that a “special action” to move the “Wagnerites” to Ukraine was still being prepared, but not took place.
According to Bellingcat, the country’s leadership and the Ukrainian special services still played key roles in organizing the operation.
Vladimir Zelensky
As the investigators note, the President of Ukraine was initiated into the operation in June 2020.
“The employees we interviewed said that on June 26, 2020, President Zelensky approved the operation and asked for a detailed plan.”, – the report says.
The plan was developed by the Main Intelligence Directorate and the Security Service of Ukraine. Supervised the project – then acting Director of the GUR Vasily Burba and Deputy Director of the SBU Ruslan Baranetsky… They also regularly informed Zelensky about the progress of Operation Avenue. The concept plan was prepared and approved by the President on July 1, 2020.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the operation and asked to prepare a detailed plan / Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
Andrey Ermak
Bellingcat, citing the words of Vasily Burba, informs that postpone the operation for a week suggested Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak… At a meeting with representatives of the special services, Yermak argued his proposal by the fact that a day earlier, President Zelensky had reached an agreement with Russia on an armistice in Donbass from July 27. As Burba noted, it was believed on Bankova that if the special operation ends with the arrests on July 25, then the truce will end before it can begin.
Andrey Ermak suggested postponing the operation for a week / Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
Vasily Burba
The director of the GUR did not agree with Yermak’s idea. Burba insisted that it was impossible to postpone the operation, as this would lead either to a loss of confidence on the part of the mercenaries, or to suspicion on the part of the Belarusian or Russian special services. According to Burba, the President’s Office proposed to reduce the delay in the operation to 4 days, so that the truce in Donbass would at least formally begin. The date of departure and capture of the mercenaries was postponed to July 29, 2020. In other words, Burba agreed in response to the initiative from the OP. On the same day, the Wagnerites were detained. A few days after the failure of the special operation (August 5, 2020 – ed.) Vasily Burbu dismissed from the post of director of the GUR. On July 26, 2021, Baranetsky was also fired.
Vasily Burba insisted that it was impossible to postpone the operation. Photo: dsnews.ua
Petro Poroshenko
The operation, now known as “Wagnergate”, dates back to the times presidency of Petro Poroshenko, the report says. By the way, Poroshenko himself in December 2020 on the air of Channel 5 said that he had authorized an operation to detain Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group during his presidential term.
“I want to note that at the end of 2018, the then Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko authorized this operation.”, – he said.
Petro Poroshenko: “At the end of 2018, Petro Poroshenko authorized this operation” / Photo: REUTERS
Mariana Bezuglaya
Head of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada to Investigate a Possible Disruption of the Operation to Detain Members of the Wagner PMC, People’s Deputy “Servants of the People” Marian Bezuglaya stated that Poroshenko could not authorize the operation of the special services.
“According to the statements of the fifth president, he personally authorized the special operation in 2018. But as we can see, in 2018 it was a routine robot for planning an event for July 2020.”, – explained the head of VSK.
In turn, Poroshenko’s party “European Solidarity” said that Bezuglaya “spread outright lies.”
“It was the fifth president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, who sanctioned the start of a special operation against the Wagner PMC. Just as President Zelensky flunked its finale, canceling out the risky, highly professional work of the Ukrainian special services.”, – the party said in a statement.
As noted by Bezuglaya, at the moment it was not possible to establish which of the Ukrainian officials made the decision to postpone the special operation. VSK also allegedly established the absence of any documentary registration of this delay.
Bezuglaya noted that the commission did not find confirmation that President Zelensky had given the appropriate order to the GUR.
“The VSK established that the joint active event of the SBU and the GUR began in June 2020. The reports of some media about its long-term planning are subject to refutation.”– she added.
Maryana Bezuglaya: “The Commission did not find confirmation that President Zelensky gave the appropriate order to the GUR.” Photo: bagnet.org
Recall that in the summer of 2020, Belarus detained and handed over to Russia 32 mercenaries of the private military company Wagner, thereby disrupting the operation of the Ukrainian special services.
In September 2020, the head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, called the story of a special operation with the detention of fighters of the Wagner PMC, allegedly planned by the Ukrainian special services, as a “fictional” story.
In September 2021, the American television channel CNN released its investigation into a special operation to detain Russian mercenaries. The Office of the President of Ukraine reacted to the journalists’ material, hinting that the “hand of the Kremlin” is visible in it.
Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktova said that in connection with the investigation of the Wagnerians, they tried to drag the country into an international scandal.
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Source From: Segodnya
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