The New York Times reports that the CIA has helped Ukraine establish a dozen secret bases along its border with Russia to monitor Russian troop movements and missile attacks.
Sources from the US, Europe, and Ukraine revealed that these bases not only track military activities but also train a new wave of Ukrainian spies for operations in Russia, Europe, Cuba, and beyond.
This intelligence partnership has significantly benefited Washington, making Kyiv a key ally. The Ukrainian bases have even outperformed the CIA's own efforts in Russia in intercepting communications.
Initiated in 2016, the development of these bases spanned the administrations of Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. Initially, there were concerns about working closely with Kyiv due to fears of provoking Moscow and the risk of Ukrainian intelligence being infiltrated.
The partnership deepened when, in 2015, General Valery Kondratyuk of Ukrainian military intelligence unexpectedly shared top-secret documents with the CIA, building a foundation of trust. This move led to regular intelligence sharing between Ukraine and the US.
A former senior US official remarked that the US embassy in Kyiv became a crucial hub for intelligence on Russia.
Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a Russian intelligence chief reportedly told President Vladimir Putin that the CIA and MI6 had significant influence in Kyiv, suggesting Ukraine was being used as a base for operations against Moscow. Putin has since claimed that the CIA supported the change in Ukraine's government in 2014.
