EXCLUSIVE: Ukraine’s HUR Special Forces Target Russian Drone Base in Syria

Special forces from the Khimik group of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) attacked a Russian military base in Syria on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 15, according to a Kyiv Post source in military intelligence.

The operation took place on the southeastern outskirts of Aleppo. Kyiv Post has obtained exclusive footage.

The base targeted by HUR special forces was used by Russian forces to manufacture and test strike UAVs, as well as to produce “camouflaged improvised explosive devices,” whose warheads were stored at the site, HUR said.

In the exclusive video obtained by Kyiv Post, filmed by an intelligence officer, a HUR flag is visible behind a berm at a distance from a garage used as a Russian base. Shortly after, an explosion occurs at the Russian facility, followed by the detonation of ammunition.

Kyiv Post military and explosive experts examined the video and deemed that the explosion was more likely triggered by a rifle shot than an RPG, perhaps striking explosives that HUR claims to have pre-planted inside. 

Kyiv Post was not able to independently verify the location or time of the attack, although it appears to have taken place in desert terrain in broad daylight.

At the end of July, Kyiv Post received several exclusive videos and photos showing the continuation of the special operation by HUR units to destroy Russian forces in Syria.

According to Kyiv Post sources in the special service, the Khimik group carried out another complex strike on Russian occupation forces in Syria in late July 2024. This time, the target of the attack was Russian military equipment at the Kuweires airfield, located east of Aleppo.

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The Kremlin seems to think that more than a few of its top officers are responsible for filching millions of rubles’ worth of cash and military resources from the Russian war effort.

In early June, Kyiv Post also published exclusive footage of Ukrainian special forces attacking enemy checkpoints, strongholds, foot patrols, and columns of military equipment in the Golan Heights in Syria.

According to Kyiv Post’s HUR source, since the beginning of the year, insurgents with the support of Ukrainian fighters have struck numerous times against Russian military facilities under the control of the so-called Russian Armed Forces Group in the Syrian Arab Republic.

What are Ukrainian special forces doing in Syria?

Russia’s intervention in Syria in 2015, initially aimed at supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime during the civil war, led to the permanent deployment of thousands of Russian troops there.

In the fall of last year, Moscow transferred some troops and equipment from Syria to the battlefield in Ukraine, potentially making their forces in Syria more vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks in the region.

Due to their prolonged presence in the region, the Russians have created numerous recruitment centers to enlist Syrian mercenaries for the war in Ukraine.

Mercenary recruitment is overseen by the Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Refugee Movement Management at the Hmeimim airbase, occupied by Russia.

There, mercenaries are issued Russian passports and then incorporated into the Russian Armed Forces.

In May 2023, HUR chief Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov promised to “destroy Russian war criminals anywhere in the world they may be.”

In addition to Syria, Ukrainian HUR special forces continue hunting for pro-Kremlin Wagner mercenaries in Sudan and other parts of the African continent.

On July 29, Kyiv Post received a unique photo of Malian Tuareg rebels posing with the Ukrainian flag, showing their support for Ukraine.

In February, Kyiv Post acquired exclusive footage allegedly showing Ukrainian special forces interrogating captured Wagner Group mercenaries in the Republic of Sudan. In the video, the prisoners confess that their mission was to get to Sudan and overthrow the government there.

In January, Kyiv Post published an exclusive video allegedly showing Ukrainian drones destroying “Russian mercenaries” and their “local terrorist partners” in Sudan.

And last November, it got an exclusive video allegedly showing Ukrainian special forces performing “cleaning up” operations of Wagner fighters in Sudan.