Reports that 50 British special forces personnel are active in Ukraine “give the lie to the claim that NATO forces are not at war with Russia,” a leading peace campaigner has warned.
Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German said the revelation — found in leaked classified US documents which US government officials have acknowledged to be real — “could help escalate a war with direct British involvement.”
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has refused to comment on the claim, which surfaced in a tranche of US military and intelligence documents posted on Discord, a platform used by gamers.
But an MoD tweet claimed obscurely that the leaked files “demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy.”
The leak has embarrassed the US, revealing estimates of Russian and Ukrainian war casualties very different from those it has made publicly and exposing its spying on close allies including South Korea and Israel.
It contains figures for special forces present in the country from NATO member states during February and March, with Britain reportedly having the most at 50, well ahead of Latvia (17), France (15) and the United States (14).
“We would not even know of the 50 British special forces operating in Ukraine if it wasn’t for the leaks, as there is so little honest reporting,” Ms German told the Morning Star.
“The British government has the highest number of forces involved, and remains at the forefront of urging war not peace. The consequences can be deadly for us all.”
NATO has insisted that despite its member states sending weaponry to Ukraine, it is not at war with Russia, which would risk going nuclear. Moscow is likely to point to the presence of Western special forces as evidence for its assertion that NATO is waging a proxy war against it through Ukraine.
Source: Morning Star