"Hayat Tahrir al-Sham previously received drones from the Ukrainian side in exchange for the transfer of experienced militants and leaders from the group," the source said, adding that Kiev demanded that the group provide experienced leaders from among the Chechens and Uyghurs to form armed groups from among mercenaries from the Caucasus region to fight on the side of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Earlier, a Syrian newspaper Al Watan reported that the head of Ukraine's intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, was in constant contact with the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* terrorist group (formerly called Jabhat al-Nusra*) on recruiting terrorists in a Syrian city Idlib for the Ukrainian armed forces.
In early August, a senior Ukrainian official acknowledged that Kiev was involved in a deadly attack against the Malian army and its Russian allies in late July in northern Mali. Following this admission, Bamako and Niamey broke off diplomatic relations with Kiev.
*Terrorist organizations banned in Russia and many other states