Vanessa Beeley discloses Ukraine’s secret help to U.S. and UK against Iran.

19 August 2026, by Eric Zuesse. (All of my recent articles can be seen here.)

Vanessa Beeley, the great investigative journalist who specializes on the Middle East, was interviewed on August 17th by the anti-imperialist Dimitri Lascaris (“Reason2Resist” the  empire”).

She provided there a well documented case that Britain, instead of America, has been leading the operation that contracts-out to Ukraine the “dirty war” operations against Russia that formerly had been performed for the U.S. empire by Al Qaeda and ISIS.

Her report provides perhaps the best-ever documentation of the way that an empire functions by contracting-out operations to its colonies, which, in turn, sub-contract-out to more-subordinate colonies. In the present case, America contracted out to UK, which contracted-out to Ukraine the “dirty war” in the Middle East against Russia — in this case, inside Syria, which had invited Russian air power in to help eliminate Al Qaeda in Syria.

“Ukraine’s Deepening Involvement in U.S. Dirty Wars in West Asia w/ Vanessa Beeley”

Here is an excerpt:

(13:46) This is an extension of the war against Russia. In fact, the Ukrainian[s], by the way, are um trained in the UK um and have been since 2022, more than 62,000 Ukrainian special forces have been trained in the UK to a cost of 7 billion under Operation Interlex. Previously, it was Operation Orbital, which was conducted on Ukrainian territory, but it’s now being exported to the UK. Um but in 2023 basically the Ukrainian special forces kind of popped up in Syria. Um they carried out attacks particularly against Russian bases and facilities particularly around Aleppo in 2024 which of course was leading up to the advance of the Al Qaeda a.k.a. HTS forces against Aleppo. So just leading up to that they hit uh Kuweirz Air Base [of the Syrian Army under Assad] close to Aleppo where Russia had a a drone uh facility and tech base. Um but they also hit Russia in the Golan Heights in particular in 2023. Um they were also present in the northeast. Um I believe training uh the Kurdish separatist forces there in drone technology also. We can come on to that in relation to Iran of course. Um, and then basically leading up to the HTS [Al Qaeda in Syria] offensive at the end of November 2024, we knew that Kirlo Budenov, the head of the defense intelligence, the GUR, was effectively ensuring that Jolani’s militia were trained in drone technology, were trained in the capability to actually produce drones themselves. Um and at the same time he was kind of siphoning al-Qaeda militia into Ukraine um to fight against Russia. So it was a very kind of symbiotic relationship between at that point Ukraine and Jolani um in Idlib and that of course we we know the history there. Um, one of the main reasons, um, there are multiple reasons, but one of the reasons the Syrian Arab army was so overwhelmed was because of the, uh, use of drones by both Turkey, um, or supplied by Turkey uh, and, uh, the Ukrainian uh, drone tech that had been given to Jolani, which was uh, largely, I would say, unexpected and certainly unexpected in the saturation of drone strikes that were carried out by HTS in their advance. from uh to Aleppo and then from Aleppo towards uh Damascus. Um, but now fast forward to today and according to reports that I’m receiving from very good sources that are still inside Syria, the Ukrainian special forces are building up again very much alongside the Turkish military, which again now is expanding into the coastal areas, particularly in the northern coastal areas in Latakia, but also stretching down into Tartus. The Ukrainian forces were originally only in Latakia and Tartus. Now they have expanded into the Homs area which of course is very close to the border with Lebanon, the eastern border of Lebanon with Syria. And there they’ve effectively established again according to my sources that I do very much rely on and I I trust their information um three bases, one for monitoring the border itself and preventing any uh weapons getting through from Iraq through uh Syria and into Lebanon. Um but also just simply monitoring the movements of the resistance and Lebanese armed forces on that eastern uh border in Lebanon. Another uh drone technology base where they are manufacturing drones where they are training Jolani’s forces in the use of drones but also again the manufacturer of drones and at the same time Turkey has established the HTS 100 if I’m correct uh their surveillance radar which apparently can scan both Israel and Lebanon. Israel has been sort of complaining about it but what I find quite interesting is that prior to this point, Israel had bombed any attempt of uh Turkey to expand into areas in central Syria. If you remember, Israel bombed as soon as Turkey um tried to establish air defenses in around the former T4 area in uh Palmira and in Palmira itself, they were bombed. Now, Israel is complaining at the moment, but it’s not taking direct action to prevent it. And in my opinion, that’s because at the moment, it serves their purpose for Turkey to um advance and also for Turkey to give the green light to the Turkish proxies within Jolani’s militia. This has been an ongoing battle which I think Trump tried to resolve at the um NATO summit in Ankara when he made guarantees. In my opinion, it wasn’t only about the F-35s. I think that was a bit of a smoke screen. I think he gave Turkey the guarantees that they would maintain a sphere of influence in northern Lebanon in Tripoli, which is part of the maritime corridor that Erdogan wants to take control of in the eastern Mediterranean. And so, in my opinion, Israel is allowing Turkey this expansion at the moment because it serves their agenda to weaken Hezbollah. Of course, Iran has threatened Jolani with the bombing of 100 strategic sites in Syria should Jolani move against Lebanon. So, for the moment, according to people that I’m talking to, it’s kind of he’s he’s backtracked slightly, but they’re still building up forces and surveillance and radar and and drone facilities and so on. So, clearly, it’s been put on the back burner for now. Um, but as I said at the end of my [August 6th] article, I think it’s still very much an active threat. >> So, if you could summarize in a few words, and don’t feel limited to you a few words, >> I’ll try. >> What do you think the overall I mean obviously these Ukrainian forces are not going to be active in Syria without the approval and even the direction of its western backers, principally Washington. So, what do you think overall Washington’s objective is in deploying or assigning Ukrainians uh some uh these these tasks within Syria? >> Well, because it gives them complete deniable plausibility plausible deniability, sorry. Um, and at the same time, Jolani, as far as I understand, made it very clear [to Trump] that he needed a guarantee of air cover if he were to conduct any operations, whether it’s to um um create a buffer zone on the Lebanese eastern border in the mountain ranges there where Hezbollah stores a lot of its weapons and and missiles and so on, or whether it is going to be um a a a series of incursions into Lebanon. and perhaps through the various uh Sunni um extremists that that are in the north, for example. There are multiple ways that he could potentially carry out an operation to weaken uh Hezbollah’s capability in Lebanon. But as far as I understand from what people have told me, he told Trump, I’m not going to do it without air cover. You know, that would be insane. And so therefore, the US can’t provide direct air cover because then it would it would be very obvious what they’re doing. They could be um held to account under international law. I mean, we both know that that’s very unlikely. But nevertheless, they don’t want to create um such a an uproar, a potential uproar in the international community. So therefore, Ukraine is easy [Beeley is saying that now Zelensky’s people are performing for Trump the function that formerly Jolani’s people were doing]. they can send in the special forces to basically conduct operations on behalf of the United States alliance which includes Israel. >> But if if your suggestion is that they would be providing air cover, how would they do that? Through drone warfare? >> Through the drones. Yeah. Through the drones and through the radar and surveillance >> [You mean] because the surveillance can provide um real time imagery back to Jolani’s forces which he used during the attack on on Aleppo um and and you know provide Jolani wi with the sense of air cover where they can see where Hezbollah are about to launch drones or or missiles and so on? And in your view, um, it notwithstanding the threats from Iran, do you think that the likelihood is that eventually these terrorists will invade Lebanon? >> I’m not sure if it’ll be a full-on invasion. I I’m not sure that Jolani is as suicidal as that. At the same time, he does need to get rid of some of the foreign mercenaries, the Chechens, the the Uigers, th Sistanis and so on. Uh and so potentially he might launch some kind of operation in order for them to be sacrificed um in uh some kind of operation against Lebanon. So I’m not ruling it out. And what I am being told is while at the moment he has stood down, the 84th division which is effectively largely under the control of Turkey is continuing deployment and buildup on uh the border of Lebanon. And at the same time in the last two days he’s been sending forces at the behest or the request of Turkey to the eastern border with Iraq which to me suggests that um this was done also in collusion with Al-Zaidi the the US captured [meaning here U.S.-compliant] Iraqi prime minister. I think this is also to try and secure the border against potential um Iraqi resistance uh insurgent if Jolani carries out operations. So, as I said, while it’s on the back burner, we all know that these things can can erupt uh at any moment. We’ve got elections coming up in the US and in Israel. Um and I think there is high potential for serious escalation in this region. And as I said, it’s not only against Iran and and the resistance axis. Russia is also uh involved in the use of Ukrainian mercenaries or or Ukrainian proxies um against their interests in in the region, but also in Africa. >> Ju just to be clear, it sounded like you said I don’t think this is what you meant that the Russians are using Ukrainian proxies, but I think you meant they’re being used against Russian. >> Yes. Sorry, my apologies. >> No worries. So, you did mention Iraq, and this is certainly uh you you paid significant attention to that in your article on August 6. Could you tell us what uh you understand the Ukrainians to be up to in Iraq? >> Yes. Um I think we can start with the Iranian bombing of the US base at Al Tanf, uh which was an unlawful US military base, one of the biggest that they had inside Syria that straddles Jordan, Iraq, and Syria. and from which [when Assad was in power] the ISIS launched multiple attacks against Syrian civilians and military and also against uh Russian positions. Um the bombing of Al Tanf by Iran was actually based on intelligence from Russia that there were Ukrainian special forces air dropped in alongside the US special forces. So that’s just an indication. The idea was for them to head to the Iraqi Kurdistan area where they [Ukraine] could um provide again drone technology and warfare expertise to the Kurdish separatists there that are every now and then trying to attempt a ground invasion into Iran. Of course, they have been successfully prevented from doing so. Um, at the same time, the Ukrainian special forces have been tasked with carrying out false flag attacks inside Iraq. And there has been um a fully documented report on this and of the arrest of Ukrainian intelligence agents inside Iraq by the Iraqi security minister. But the idea was to carry out attacks against um uh Iraqi state installations and uh infrastructure and then have it blamed on the Iraqi resistance, which of course is described as being a proxy of Iran. In reality, it’s simply an ally of Iran that battled against ISIS. when the US was not providing any weapons for them to actually fight against ISIS, uh Iran provided them with the capability to actually prevent the invasion of Baghdad by ISIS. If if we go back to um when the US was not providing any weapons for them [Iraq] to actually fight against ISIS, uh, Iran provided them with the capability to actually prevent the invasion of Baghdad by ISIS. [Iranian assistance enabled the Iraqi militia to prevent that invasion and to defeat ISIS in Iraq; Trump soon thereafter assassinated the Iranian general who had organiezd that successful operation by the Iraqi militia.] (27:22)

Beeley’s August 6th article, “How the West Delegated the Dirty War in West Asia to Ukraine”, has more details on this.

Anyone who wants to understand the Middle East needs to keep up with Beeley, who is certainly (and with no close 2nd) the giant on this topic. The FACT that NONE of the billionaires-financed ‘news’-media, such as the Guardian, and the NewYork Times, will hire her, says all that needs to be said about ‘freedom of the press’ in the U.S. empire. It’s a hoax.

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Investigative historian Eric Zuesse’s latest book, AMERICA’S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler’s Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world’s wealth by control of not only their ‘news’ media but the social ‘sciences’ — duping the public.