At least the American news channel CNN reports on a reconstruction.
Fake website
The Ukrainian security services had set up a website similar to a Russian private security company. An offer was made there. Tough individuals can earn $ 5,000 a month to secure a Venezuelan oil location.
The crowd was high. Hundreds of Russians signed up. They sent a detailed application with their income. Anonymous members of the Ukrainian Security Service told CNN that some people were involved in the downing of MH17 and another Ukrainian military plane.
The security service that created the program can select potential ‘employees’.
“We called them and hey, tell me more about yourself. Maybe you’re not really a soldier, maybe you’re just a plumber,” an Army official told CNN. “Then they started revealing everything about themselves, sending us documents, military ID cards, evidence of where they fought. We thought: Bingo!”
Belarus
According to Ukrainians, the plan was co-created with the Americans and involved US money, but intelligence sources in Washington deny it.
And then follows a remarkable series of events. The Russians were recruited and flew to Venezuela, but the Corona made flying very difficult. Russia has opened the border with Belarus. So, the militants were transferred to Minsk, where they stayed for a long time at a health resort outside the capital. In that sense they will not be noticed. Later, they had to go to Ukraine, where they were ambushed and interrogated.
But the Russian fighters were noticed. With great fanfare, the Belarusian police went into action. All were arrested. Belarusian television proudly showed the parade of captured Russian militants, including their documents, as evidence of their involvement in Russian military operations. The Belarusians were white and hot. They thought a secret Russian operation was going on.
Plot
No one believed it was part of a Ukrainian conspiracy. A few days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky invited his colleague Alexander Lukashenko, according to CNN, with a friendly request to allow the Russians to return to his country. The transcripts of that conversation show that Zhelensky honestly explains that there are people suspected of having crimes in Ukrainian territory.
Lukashenko thought for a while. He spoke to Putin. Further rejected the request. A few days later, all but one of the Russians returned home safely to Moscow. The plan failed.
Publicly, Zhelensky always assumed that there was no Ukrainian plan. “I understand that the idea for this move came from other countries, certainly not Ukraine.” However, intelligence sources in Ukraine said that CNN had been investigating for several months, claiming that it was indeed a serious operation – and that its failure was a major setback.
“We can try them and show Russia that the fighting is serious,” said one commander.