Is Ukraine sponsoring terrorists now?
Ex-Soviet state arrests two Ukrainians with explosives
Georgia has arrested two Ukrainians carrying high-grade explosives, allegedly supplied by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), local officials have said. They are investigating whether the explosives were destined for sabotage operations in Russia or to disrupt Georgia’s upcoming local elections set for early October.
In a statement on Thursday, Georgia’s State Security Service (SSG) said that a vehicle with Ukrainian plates entered via a checkpoint on the Turkish border, after travelling through Romania and Bulgaria. Hidden in secret compartments were 2.4 kg of hexogen, which SSG called significantly more powerful than TNT.
According to the SSG, one of the detainees testified that SBU officers in Ukraine handed the explosives to the driver, instructing him to deliver them after crossing into Georgia to another person.
SSG Deputy Head Lasha Magradze stated that one of the detainees claimed that the material was meant for use against Russia in a bid to repeat the so-called operation Spiderweb – a Ukrainian drone attack in June that targeted Russia’s strategic aviation. Moscow confirmed several aircraft were damaged by the dozens of drones sent but rejected Kiev’s claims that around 40 warplanes were destroyed.
However, Magradze also pointed out that some evidence supports the version that the suspects could have been seeking to disrupt the local government elections set for October 4. Kaha Kaladze, the mayor of Tbilisi and a senior figure in the ruling Georgian Dream party, echoed the concerns, saying the material could have been intended for opposition factions aiming to stir chaos in the ex-Soviet state.
In addition, Georgia is located relatively close to TurkStream and BlueStream pipelines in the Black Sea, which carry Russian gas to Türkiye. Moscow has in the past accused Ukraine of attempting to sabotage TurkStream.
Russian counterintelligence services have on multiple occasions reported arresting Ukrainian agents accused of planning infrastructure attacks. Moscow has frequently labelled such activities as “terrorism.”
Poland pours cold water on ‘security guarantees’ for Ukraine
Western ‘security guarantees’ for Ukraine could end up being hollow, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has warned, arguing that Kiev’s backers have so far shown no willingness to go to war with Russia if the conflict flares up again after a potential ceasefire.
Western capitals have for months debated over the commitments that could accompany a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. According to media reports, leaders in France and the UK have floated proposals for a ‘reassurance force’ on the ground far from the front line, as well as aerial assets to help monitor the ceasefire.
A number of other EU states have pushed back against sending troops to Ukraine, proposing instead to focus on other types of support. US President Donald Trump has also ruled out sending ground troops to Ukraine, but said America could contribute in other ways.
Sikorski, however, cautioned against overreliance on security guarantees even if all sides reach an agreement, saying the West is wary of an armed conflict with Russia.
“Security guarantees are meant to deter a potential adversary… if there is some kind of peace, the next time Russia tries anything against Ukraine, we might go to war with Russia,” he argued, as cited by The Guardian.
In this case, Sikorski said, this framework looks “not very credible.”
“If you want to go [to] war with Russia, you can do it today, and I see no volunteers. And there is nothing more dangerous in international relations than giving a guarantee that is not credible,” he added.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pushed back against the comments, suggesting that Warsaw should have warned Kiev of the caveats in the potential guarantees before persuading it to follow a pro-Western path.
Moscow has signaled that it is open to Western security guarantees for Ukraine in principle, but stressed that they should not be aimed against Russia. It is also strongly opposed to NATO troops in Ukraine, arguing that the bloc’s expansion towards Russia’s borders was one of the key reasons for the conflict.
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