30.05.2017, Russia.
Training centers for militants who are then sent to Syria operate in the Kherson region of Ukraine, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Nationalities of the State Duma, Ruslan Baalbek, said on May 29, the RIA Novosti news agency reports.
Ruslan Baalbek’s statement is a reaction to a statement made earlier by the leader of the Ukrainian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, a member of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) from the Block of Pyotr Poroshenko, Irina Friz. She said that she submitted to NATO an “analytical report” on Russia’s “links” with terrorist groups, including Islamic State (organization banned in Russia).
“The Ukrainian elites decided to reshuffle information by accusing Russia of having links with ISIL (organization banned in Russia). Thus they are trying to send a false message to the international community in order to prevent any commissions from finding ISIL’s (organization banned in Russia) recruiting centers on the territories under Kiev’s control, in particular, in the Kherson region. We have supportive operational information but not ‘facts and proof’ made up on a wave of an anti-Russian delirium,” Baalbek said.
According to Ruslan Baalbek, the training camps in Ukraine are used to provide militants, who are then sent to Syria, with basic training. These camps gather radicals from all over the world, including members of the Turkish “Grey Wolves” (Turkish: Bozkurtlar) nationalist organization.
“Without support, even if tacit, provided by the Kiev elites, no camps could ever exist in the Kherson region,” Ruslan Baalbek noted.
The Russian political leadership and security officials have repeatedly called for joint struggle against international terrorism; however, these calls have not led to a close partnership between Russia and the US-led international coalition in Syria.
Previously, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergey Shoigu, said that in 2017, the Russian Aerospace Forces had made 1,800 sorties in Syria; they had destroyed over 3 thousand militants, 40 training camps, 475 control centers, 45 ammunition plants and workshops.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
