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CIA Personnel Visited Ukraine Secretly to Help With New Weapons, Systems

© AP Photo / Carolyn KasterThis April 13, 2016 file photo shows the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.
This April 13, 2016 file photo shows the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.07.2023
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – CIA personnel have visited Ukraine with multiple secret missions to provide assistance to Kiev with the operations of new weapons and systems, an American weekly magazine reported on Wednesday, citing senior defense intelligence officials.
Information about some of those trips was kept private. At the same time, all the missions were conducted to avoid direct confrontation with Russian troops, the report added.
“The CIA has been operating inside Ukraine, under strict rules, and with a cap on how many personnel can be in the country at any one time," one of the officials said.
He also noted that during these missions, CIA personnel was restricted from conducting clandestine activities or did it within “a very narrow scope."
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The report said it could not verify the exact number of CIA personnel in Ukraine, but sources noted it is less than 100 people at any particular time.
The CIA asked the publication not to identify specific points in Ukraine where the agency is working, the report said. It also added that the agency uses Poland as a hub for its Ukraine-related operations. For instance, CIA Director William Burns visited the country several times, and the agency’s officers are able to communicate from there with their agents, including in Ukraine and Russia.
Russia has been warning countries giving weapons to Ukraine that it sees military shipments as legitimate targets. Moreover, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that NATO allies' arming and training Ukrainians is tantamount to direct involvement in the conflict.
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