Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Netanyahu: If Lebanese Army takes steps to disarm Hezbollah, Israel will engage in reciprocal measures, including phased reduction of Israeli military presence in Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Photojournalist Houssam Al-Masri martyred, reporters Hatem Omar, Mohammad Ashraf Salameh injured in Israeli strike on Nasser Medical Complex.
Israeli media: Intense US efforts are being made to resolve differences, such as the issue of the Israeli presence on Mount Hermon and in southern Syria
Israeli media: The security agreement means amending the disengagement agreement, which will also address the Druze issue
Israeli media: Attempts to reach a security agreement between 'Israel' and Syria were among the topics discussed at the Paris meeting
Israeli media: Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif rejected a US proposal to join the recent tripartite meeting between Tom Barrack, al-Shaibani, and Dermer
Saba News Agency: Two martyred, five injured in a preliminary toll of the Israeli aggression on the Yemeni Oil Company station on Al-Sitteen Street in Sanaa
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: We observed a state of confusion among the enemy's aircraft squadron after Yemeni air defenses intercepted the attack
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: The Yemeni air defense forces succeeded in neutralizing a squadron of enemy aircraft and prevented airstrikes on some governorates
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: Our air defenses and missile forces forced a formation of enemy aircraft to flee the airspace

Britain creating 'secret Ukrainian terror army': The Grayzone

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Grayzone
  • 4 Nov 2022 23:48
  • 13 Shares
6 Min Read

According to leaked documents, peace is the last thing on the mind of British military contractors and intelligence.

  • x
  • The Grayzone: British military hand in 'secret Ukrainian terror army'
    Ukrainian forces are being trained by British military personnel and private firms to continue attacking Russian targets

The Grayzone obtained documents revealing how British military-intelligence figures are organizing a covert Ukrainian “partisan” army, which came with explicit instructions detailing the means of executing attacks against Russian targets in Crimea.

A Ukrainian drone attack on October 28 impaired the Russian Black Sea fleet’s flagship vessel; Russia immediately pointed its finger at Britain for its support and coordination of the strike. Most recently, Russia called for an investigation into Liz Truss’ text message to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after the explosions that impacted Nord Stream, where Truss texted the US official: “It’s done.”

According to The Grayzone, leaked documents expose the involvement of British military intelligence operatives in the signing of an agreement with the Ukrainian Security Service's Odessa branch to create and train a secret Ukrainian partisan terror army. The plans in question included a call on the secret army to conduct sabotage and reconnaissance operations targeting Crimea on behalf of the Ukrainian Security Service. 

The orchestrator 

Hugh Ward, a military veteran, at the request of Chris Donnelly, a British military intelligence operative who has been involved in covert warfare programs and operations, produced the blueprints required to blow up the Crimea Bridge on October 8. 

The plans were conducted through high-level military officials, lawmakers, and intelligence officials – a transnational network through which Donnelly circulated the plan. 

Donnelly used his contacts to secure the necessary resources to train the secret battalion to sabotage Russian targets in Crimea. 

Read next: Nord Stream gas sabotage: Russia accuses UK Royal Navy

Any move that acts toward negotiation or reconciliation would be impeded with such training from London by cooking up an aggressive squad made to continually attack Russia and incite escalation and aggression in the war.

According to the documents, the plan to blow up the Crimea Bridge has a number of strategic objectives: to “support for maritime raiding operations,” “degrade” Russia’s ability to blockade Kiev, “erode” Moscow’s “warfighting capability,” and isolate Russian land and maritime forces in Crimea by “denying resupply by sea and overland via Kerch.”

  • The Grayzone: British military hand in 'secret Ukrainian terror army'
    Handout provided by The Grayzone of the leaked documents.

The documents obtained by The Grayzone depict that the plans were conducted in close coordination with the Ukrainian Security Service, Odessa branch. In addition, a Ukrainian oligarch, influential in Ukrainian politics, funded the operation.

Related News

Kiev accused of using Russian woman in suicide bomb plot: FSB

Russian troops capture Filiya village, 146 service people repatriated

The Grayzone last month also got its hands on private memos exchanged between Donnelly himself and the Biden administration, expressing worry that the latter was not wholly committed to an all-out war with Russia, affirming Donnelly as a war hawk by character. Upon bringing up potential negotiations which may take place between Moscow and Kiev, he declared in a communique that “this US position must be challenged, firmly and at once.”

The Grayzone wrote that “while The Grayzone cannot verify that the Ukrainian attacks on Crimea are the direct handiwork of Donnelly’s team, recent events closely mirror the strategies and tactics outlined in the documents this outlet has obtained. What’s more, the attacks have helped achieve the escalatory objectives pursued by both Donnelly and the British government, which successfully scuttled negotiations between Kiev and Moscow this April.”

Ukrainian “partisans” trained to “shoot, move, communicate, survive."

Prevail Partners, a British military company, has been contracted to recruit and train the secret Ukrainian battalion. It’s interesting to note that the company was founded by British special forces veterans, including Justin Hedges, who was a former Royal Marine Bragider and Special Boat Service commander. 

  • The Grayzone: British military hand in 'secret Ukrainian terror army'
    Justin Hedges, former Royal Marine Brigadier, and Special Boat Service commander.

The program at hand is the outcome of Donnelly’s lobbying conducted over a course of many months. Along with Donnelly were an MI6 veteran, Guy Spindler, and Audrius Butkevicius, a former Lithuanian Defense Minister who has close ties with the Ukrainian military, security, and intelligence. 

Upon learning that Prevail’s team was launching a secret army, Ukrainian officials were reluctant to uphold the project. British officials were also hesitant about giving training services to private contractors out of fear that they might get caught. 

Prevail’s offering was an annual $600,000 per partisan fighter – an indication the company was “in a sellers market,” according to Alex Finnen, a member of the British Army’s Specialist Group Military Intelligence spy cell.

With this being said, an agreement was reached on April 18 between Prevail and Thomas in Winslow, a “London-based crisis management company.” According to the contract, Prevail would conduct a “capacity assessment” of the Odessa-SSU’s operations, “then of other major regional SSUs and finally of the Security Services of all Ukraine,” free of charge.

  • The Grayzone: British military hand in 'secret Ukrainian terror army'
    Agreement for technical support between British private military contractor, Prevail Partners, Thomas in Winslow, and Odessa's Ukrainian Security Service. 

Then comes a document issued in May which exposes Prevail Partners’ role as a private contractor that “specializes in providing training and advisory services,” in addition to having involvement in Odessa’s military grounds and the 24th Brigade of the Ukrainian Army. 

  • The Grayzone: British military hand in 'secret Ukrainian terror army'

Overworking 36 hours at a base in Yavoriv, Justin Hedges observed what he called an “inadequate” 12-day training provided to conscripts, which were reportedly aged between 20 and 58. None had military experience, and they were going to be sent to Popasna, “where the Russians are currently breaking through [Ukrainian] lines.”

Hedges criticized that there was a “very low number of instructors; no set syllabus and doctrine; no in-unit experience; no planning training” on the course, with “unsound tactics being taught by inexperienced foreign trainers,” leaving the battalion “not prepared for what they face.”

He argued that many of the militants “know that when they deploy to the frontline… it will be carnage,” knowing that a previous battalion that received the same 12-day training “suffered 60 killed within the first 3 days.” 

“[This leads] to arguably unsustainable casualty rates. In my view, unsustainable from human capital and therefore political perspective over the long-term,” Hedges complained.

“This problem cannot be left unaddressed any longer; the training gap must be closed now. Otherwise, unsustainable casualty rates, owing to [the] inadequacy of training, may become politically decisive by forcing Zelensky to concede ground to Putin.”

Read next: Russia to UK: Explain Truss' "It's done" text after Nord Stream blast

  • Russia
  • The Grayzone
  • United Kingdom
  • Ukraine
  • MI6
Russia & NATO

Russia & NATO

As the Draconian Western-led sanctions on Russia exacerbate the economic crisis worldwide, and as Russian troops gain more ground despite the influx of military aid into Ukraine, exposing US direct involvement in bio-labs spread across Eastern Europe and the insurgence of neo-Nazi groups… How will things unfold?

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Displaced Palestinians walk through a makeshift camp along the beach in Gaza City, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)

Hamas, other factions accept Egypt-Qatar ceasefire proposal: Exclusive

  • Politics
  • 18 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS