Russia’s top state investigative body said on Saturday it was looking into a Russian media report alleging that sabotage experts from Britain’s Special Air Service (SAS) special forces have been deployed to western Ukraine, Reuters reports.
The SAS is an elite military force trained to conduct special operations, surveillance and counter-terrorism. Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency on Saturday quoted a Russian security source as saying about 20 SAS members had been sent to the Lviv region. Previously, as reported by EUToday, there were suggestions that the SAS was active in Lviv.
In a statement, the Investigative Committee said it would follow up the report that they had been sent in “to assist the Ukrainian special services in organising sabotage on the territory of Ukraine”.
A spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defence said: “We do not comment on Special Forces.”
It was not clear what steps the Investigative Committee planned to take in response to any SAS involvement in Ukraine. But the fact of the investigation into the possible presence of forces from a NATO country is significant, given that Russia has issued warnings to the West not to get in the way of its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
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