Rumors are rife in the German press that at least 400 US mercenaries are operating in the Ukraine, on the side of the Kiev government and that alone is a victory for Russian propagandists, whether American mercenaries are there, or not.
The rumors first emerged in March, sounding then as some sort of paranoid fantasies created in a war zone where anti-Americanism is rampant. But the rumors now are being repeated in Berlin, and by respectable media. The rumors, if that's what they turn out to be, are lent additional credence by the fact that they are sourced to a briefing in April of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office by intelligence services.
According to several sources, ranging from Der Spiegel to Bild am Sonntag, German intelligence has told that it had unconfirmed reports that 400 Americans appear to be aiding the interim Ukrainian government in its fight against pro-Russian separatists. According to Bild, the German intelligence agency cited U.S. intelligence officials as its source.
Der Spiegel wrote, “This information reportedly comes from US intelligence services and was communicated during a so-called Intelligence Situation meeting, a regular discussion chaired by Chancellery Chief of Staff Peter Altmaier (CDU). The Presidents of the intelligence services and of the Federal Criminal Office and the intelligence coordinator of the Chancellery as well as high-ranking government officials attended the meeting.”
Suddeutsche Zeitung columnist Hubert Wetzel on Wednesday described the rumors as potentially devastating for the Western cause in Ukraine. His column made a point of noting that even the report of the report to the chancellor’s office was still a rumor. But he noted that if confirmed, it would damage the Western claim to the moral high ground in this conflict.
“Nothing would rock the credibility of Europeans and Americans more than a confirmation of the news that American mercenaries are working for the Ukrainian government. For Moscow, this would be a priceless propaganda victory where the West would appear morally naked. As naked as Moscow is now.”
The chancellor’s office and the German intelligence service have declined to either confirm or deny, a development that leaves an atmosphere of doubt for Germans, who are uneasy about how their government should deal with Russia’s actions in Ukraine, especially because of German reliance on Russian natural gas and oil and the extensive business ties between the two nations.
“We’ve told Bild and other outlets that these stories are nonsense,” White House national security spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden, said Wednesday. “The company in question has been on record denying it for almost two months.”
With accusations flying from Kiev and the West that Russia is funding, supporting and supplying officers to the pro-Russia separatists in the Donetsk Oblast, or region, of eastern Ukraineto be able to show that the United States, even in the form of mercenaries and not official military personnel, are active on behalf of Kiev would add justification to Russian actions.
According to Bild, the German intelligence agency Bundesnachrichtendienst, or BND, said the mercenaries were hired from Academi, an international security firm, that is a successor of scandal-ridden Blackwater.
Bild reported that the BND said that the 400 Academi “elite” soldiers are thought to have been part of operations against pro-Russia separatists around Slovyansk, the eastern Ukrainian city that has been the scene of fierce fighting between separatists and Ukrainian security forces.
The report is now making therounds on German media, but was at first squelched in the USA. Now even the Stars & Stripes, an official, yet independent, Defense Department publication
In March, when the rumors first began circulating, Academi posted an official denial on their website: “Some irresponsible bloggers and an online reporter have recently posted rumors that ACADEMI employees (operating under the name of Blackwater) are present in Ukraine,” the statement said. “They are not and ACADEMI has no relationship with any entity named Blackwater or with the former owner of Blackwater, Erik Prince. Such unfounded statements combined with the lack of factual reporting to support them and the lack of context about the company, are nothing more than sensationalistic efforts to create hysteria and headlines in times of genuine crisis.”
The German report comes against steady claims by separatist fighters that they’ve heard American voices on Ukrainian military radios. The rumors are repeated as evidence that the government in Kiev is nothing more than a Western puppet regime. Their reasoning is that American fighters are trying to suppress the pro-Russia movement, and where used to topple the government of President Viktor Yanukovych by running the protests at Maidan Square, in Kiev.
The Russian government news agency Ria Novosti reported on April 7 that elite Academi warriors were wearing Ukrainian Sokol (special forces) and police uniforms and engaged in fighting. The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that the presence and the activities of US mercenaries “threaten to trigger civil war.” It subsequently alleged that English-speaking fighters were seen coordinating the fascist thugs and football hooligans who carried out the May 2 massacre of dozens of anti-Kiev regime protesters in Odessa.
If any actual proof of the presence of US or western mercenaries surfaces in Ukraine, the effects on western policies vis-a-vis the crisis and Russia will be severely hamstrung.
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