Iraqi security forces arrested seven Ukrainian citizens in late July on suspicion of planning attacks on oil facilities in Persian Gulf states, sources confirmed exclusively to The Cradle on 16 October.

Ukrainian trainers have reportedly been working in various countries to train local armed groups in the use of drones and to prepare them for military operations.

Kiev’s intelligence agencies have expanded cooperation with armed groups in several African countries, including Mali, Libya, and South Africa, using heavy “BA AYGA” drones capable of carrying large quantities of ammunition and explosives.

Sources said local militants prepare and assemble the drones and equip them for launch, while Ukrainian army members or experienced Ukrainian operators control them remotely.

The revelations come amid escalating tensions between Iraq and Saudi Arabia following drone attacks targeting Saudi oil facilities earlier this year.

On 27 July, Riyadh claimed it had intercepted drones that it alleged were launched from Iraq. Baghdad ordered an investigation and said it would not allow its territory to be used to launch attacks against neighboring countries.

Days later, US and Saudi warplanes launched intense airstrikes against Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) across Iraq, killing at least 20 members of the anti-terror militias and leaving dozens more injured.

In September, Riyadh repeated its accusations against the Iraqi resistance after a drone attack on its East-West pipeline, amid the resumption of its brutal war on Yemen.

“We affirm that the accusations directed at the Iraqi resistance in relation to the targeting of vital Saudi installations last Friday are an honor we do not claim,” the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) declared in a statement on 12 September.

The IRI added that “the Iraqi government’s haste in adopting these allegations without relying on credible evidence or concrete investigations” and dismissed the attribution as a distraction from Saudi losses in Yemen.

It added that Baghdad risked serving “the malicious Zionist-American schemes that seek to drag Iraq into crises that serve none but its enemies.”

In September 2024, Turkish media reported that Ukrainian government officials had discussed a “drones-for-fighters deal” with Syria’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Three months later, HTS ousted the Syrian government in a lightning offensive that reportedly included drone strikes directed by Ukrainian trainers. Its leader—the founder of Al-Qaeda in Syria—declared himself president.

In March 2026, The Cradle contributor Radwan Mortada revealed that the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut was harboring a high-profile Israeli intelligence asset wanted by Lebanese authorities.