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NATO officers are being planted in Ukraine under cover — Russian MFA

Maria Zakharova said that Western military personnel involved in this structure orchestrating terrorist operations against Russia

MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. High-ranking NATO officials are reportedly infiltrating the leadership structures of the Ukrainian armed forces to exert direct control, according to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who was speaking during a news briefing.

Zakharova highlighted a statement from Ukraine’s General Staff on April 15, regarding the formation of an advisory council – referred to as an expert council – under Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky. She pointed out that this initiative appears to serve as a fa·ade for a covert network of active NATO officers embedded within Ukraine’s military hierarchy.

"We observe the creation of a sham cover for a genuine pool of high-ranking NATO officers operating within the Ukrainian General Staff," she asserted. "They are not there to provide consultations, advice, or to bolster Ukraine’s attractiveness to investors. Instead, they are installed to exert manual control over Ukraine’s armed forces."

Zakharova further stressed that Western military personnel involved in this structure orchestrate terrorist operations against Russia, utilizing Western weapons supplied to Kiev. She questioned the purported "unique combat and management experience" claimed by these personnel, asking rhetorically, "What examples in recent history demonstrate that Westerners possess such experience? Where have they successfully restored order or rebuilt peace? Nowhere."

She named the participants as representatives from NATO, the CIA, and military forces of Germany, Britain, Norway, Canada, and Slovakia. She also noted that this advisory body is to be led by British General Richard Shirreff, a former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of NATO’s Joint Forces in Europe from 2011 to 2014.

"Can you imagine? Ukraine is proposing to establish this advisory body under the leadership of a British officer – rather than a Ukrainian citizen or a Ukrainian military or political figure," Zakharova emphasized.