Operation Troy: Kremlin leaks on Ukraine takeover
Originally published by Hromadske
The British newspaper The Times has published findings which are based on a report covering Russia’s strategy for a hybrid war in Ukraine. The information was obtained from the hacked emails of Vladislav Surkov, a top official in the Russian President’s administration who is also known to be the Kremlin’s key ideologist. This has already been the third leak since 2016, the latest commonly referred to as the ‘Surkov Leaks-3’. The previous two were similarly called Surkov Leaks-1 and Surkov Leaks-2.
The Surkov Leaks-3 reveals Russia’s secret plans to invade the Zaporozhye region and destabilize the overall situation in Ukraine. The Kremlin dismissed the materials, terming it as ‘fake’. Hromadske spoke to Alya Shandra, co-author of the study and a managing editor at the Euromaidan Press (an English-language media outlet in Ukraine). This article brings together the key points of her interview.
When the first and second Surkov Leaks took place, analysts expected that some sensational evidence of Russia’s involvement in the war with Ukraine would be made public. However, such information wasn’t there. The third part of the documents contained evidence of the existence of some secret hybrid warfare tools – thousands of plans and projects aimed at defeating Ukraine from inside.
The Surkov Leaks-3 basically consists of email correspondence by Surkov’s aide Inal Ardzinba, a Russian government official of Abkhaz origin who was tasked with overseeing separatist projects in Ukraine. Only a certain part of Ardzinba’s emails have been deciphered so far. There are as many as 9 code-protected documents remaining, which may contain more information for researchers.
Some articles that are based on the aforesaid documents have already appeared in the British press. the articles revolve around ‘Operation Troy’, which is described in those documents. Alexei Muratov, President Putin’s representative in the DNR (Donetsk People’s Republic), sent these plans to the Kremlin. He was proposing to spend USD 181 000 on further destabilizing the situation in Ukraine. The document provided a detailed budget of the aforesaid operation, proposing to spend USD 40 000 on organising protests, USD 10 000 on maintaining a network of agents in the SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) and Interior Ministry, and USD 49 000 on vehicles.
The plan envisaged a takeover of the Zaporozhye region and the preparation for a military invasion by Russia, as well as the expansion of the so-called Novorossiya. Under the plan separatists were also expected to gain control over some other regions in Ukraine. The Surkov Leaks-3 showed that operation Troy was designed to prepare the locals on the ground for a military invasion as well as to attract officers from the Ukrainian special services and armed forces.
In addition to these plans, the emails also showed that Surkov had been receiving detailed briefing papers on the situation in Ukraine. “It is referred to as ‘reflexive control’, a Soviet-era method for manipulating opponents by establishing their weaknesses. It seems that the documents that we’ve obtained are sort of Russia’s hybrid warfare tool,” said Alya Shandra.
The full report is expected to be made available in the UK at the end of May.
