Local security conflict

Ukraine provided military support to Syrian opposition groups shortly before the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, The Washington Post reports, citing unnamed sources.According to the publication, Ukrainian intelligence sent 20 drone operators and around 150 drones to Idlib in early November to assist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. However, Kyiv’s support wasn’t instrumental in Assad’s removal, according to sources within Western intelligence cited by the outlet.David Ignatius, a columnist for The Washington Post, noted that Ukraine’s assistance to Syrian groups was not a well-kept secret. He suggested that Ukraine’s actions aimed to undermine Russia’s influence, as Moscow had been a key backer of Assad.In late July, both Kyiv Post and RBC-Ukraine reported that a unit of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate had carried out a coordinated strike on a Russian airbase in Syria.In an October article, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Ukraine was assisting Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. He alleged that Kyiv was training rebels in “new UAV production technologies for combat operations against the Russian Armed Forces in Syria.”