The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in a written statement released on Saturday refuted the allegation that they deployed 650 fighters to Ukraine, asserting that their operations are solely within Syria.
The SDF’s statement came in response to a report by the Russian state-run agency Sputnik on Friday based on undisclosed sources, which claimed that the United States had transported SDF fighters to Ukraine in private jets from airports in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The SDF Media Centre rebuffed these assertions saying they were “false and have no basis in reality”, further noting that they emanated from “entities known for their unreliable sources”.
Emphasising that they have no fighters involved in the conflict in Ukraine, the SDF said that the claims in question “do not align with the SDF’s patriotic priorities and its struggle within the Syrian territories to protect the region and its people.”
Sources from the Ukrainian Defence Ministry also confirmed the inaccuracy of Sputnik’s report.
In April, the Washington Post published an article suggesting that Ukraine was planning to collaborate with the SDF in an offensive against Russian forces in Syria. The newspaper based its report on a leaked US document dated January 2023.
The SDF declared that this document was also unfounded and that they had no involvement whatsoever in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.