Israel has deployed troops along its border with Syria and is preparing for a ground operation, according to sources within the Kyiv Post’s intelligence community, who wished to remain anonymous.
Following news of the fall of Assad’s regime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the country’s withdrawal from the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria. He said that the overthrow of Assad is a historic event and that Israel will not allow “any hostile force to establish itself on our border.”
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According to Kyiv Post sources, Israel’s current objective is to pressure the opposition, which has taken control of Syria, into signing a peace agreement that includes mutual non-aggression commitments.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been ordered to deploy forces in the buffer zone on the Golan Heights and other border regions. Preparations are underway for a military operation in Syria, exclusively adds a Kyiv Post source within intelligence circles.
The first stage of the operation has already begun, with air and missile strikes on clusters of Syrian military equipment, airfields, and air defense systems.
A widely circulated statement from Israeli military leadership reads that “the IDF is not intervening in internal events in Syria. The IDF will continue to operate as long as necessary to maintain the buffer zone and protect Israel and its civilian population.”
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A Kyiv Post source said that, at present, rebel leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani is not engaging in direct contact with Israeli authorities.
Assad’s Escape and Russia’s Role
On Dec 8, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) reported that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad fled Damascus, but his Il-76T aircraft disappeared from radar. Initial reports of the plane being shot down were later revealed to be a cover for a Russian operation to aid Assad’s escape.
“According to available data, this misinformation was used by the aggressor state, Russia, to conceal its operation to rescue the Syrian leader and a limited circle of his close associates,” the HUR report stated.
Assad’s plane disappearance is believed to have been orchestrated by its crew under Russian orders and control.
HUR added that the Russian contingent in Syria is in dire straits, with remaining forces hastily evacuated by sea and air. Senior Russian military officials were among the first to flee, including Gen. Alexander Chaiko, who had been in command for just a week, and Gen. Sergey Kisel, who left following a failed tenure. To facilitate the evacuation of equipment and personnel, Russia brought in additional ships from its Baltic Fleet.
After losing control of Syria’s capital, Damascus, and facing rebel advances in the provinces, Moscow evacuated its naval vessels from the Tartus military base, which Assad had handed over to the Kremlin as “payment” for security.
On Dec. 8, the Admiral Grigorovich frigate of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and the Engineer Trubin cargo ship of the Northern Fleet departed Tartus for the Mediterranean Sea, intelligence sources reported.
Collapse of Assad Regime and Regional Implications
On the morning of Dec 8, news broke that Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which ruled Syria with an iron fist for over two decades—bolstered by Moscow in recent years—had fallen.
Rebel leaders announced that Assad had fled, ending the Assad dynasty’s fifty-year reign and potentially marking the conclusion of a decade-long civil war that devastated the country.
Russia’s Long-Standing Involvement in Syria
Russia’s intervention in the armed conflict in Syria in 2015, initially aimed at supporting President Assad’s regime during the civil war, led to the permanent deployment of thousands of Russian soldiers there.
In the fall of last year, Moscow redeployed some of its troops and equipment from Syria to the battlefield in Ukraine, which potentially made its forces in Syria more vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks in the region.
At the same time, due to its prolonged presence in the region, Russia established a network of recruitment centers to enlist Syrian mercenaries for the war in Ukraine.
Mercenary recruitment is conducted under the supervision of the “Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and the Management of Refugee Movements” at the Khmeimim Airbase, which Russia occupies.
There, mercenaries are issued Russian passports and then integrated into the Russian Armed Forces.
Ukraine’s Special Operations in Syria and Beyond
In May 2023, HUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov pledged to “eliminate Russian war criminals anywhere in the world.”
HUR’s “Khimik” group was responsible for a Sept. 15 attack on a Russian military base in southeastern Aleppo, Syria, which destroyed Russian combat drones and “camouflaged IEDs,” according to Kyiv Post intelligence sources.
Throughout the year, Ukrainian special forces conducted multiple operations against Russian assets in Syria and elsewhere.
Exclusive Kyiv Post footage and photos in July showed continued HUR operations targeting Russian forces in Syria.
It is worth reminding that in early June of this year, Kyiv Post published exclusive footage showing Ukrainian special forces attacking enemy checkpoints, strongholds, foot patrols, and columns of military equipment on the Golan Heights in Syria.
At that time, Kyiv Post source in HUR told Kyiv Post that since the beginning of the year, rebels, with the support of Ukrainian fighters, had carried out numerous strikes on Russian military targets controlled by the so-called “Russian Armed Forces Group in the Syrian Arab Republic.”
In addition to Syria, Ukrainian special forces from HUR continue hunting pro-Kremlin mercenaries from the Wagner Group in Sudan and other parts of the African continent.
On Monday, 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 obtained exclusive video footage showing Ukrainian special forces interrogating captured Wagner Group mercenaries in the Republic of Sudan. In the video, the prisoners admit that they were tasked with going to Sudan and overthrowing the local government.
In January, Kyiv Post published exclusive video footage showing Ukrainian drones destroying “Russian mercenaries” and their “local terrorist partners” in Sudan.
In November of the previous year, Kyiv Post published exclusive video footage showing Ukrainian special forces chasing Wagner mercenaries through the streets of an African city and shooting them up close with RPGs.
These developments highlight Ukraine’s expanding strategic efforts to counter Russian influence worldwide while underscoring the interconnected nature of conflicts in Syria, Ukraine, and Africa.
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