From the "unprovoked" series:

The United States 8 years ago created 12 secret bases in Ukraine along the border for actions against Russia, this forced Putin to launch a military defense system - New York Times.

▪️Listening of Russian broadcasts was carried out from these bases in underground bunkers, and now kamikaze drones are also being controlled for attacks on the Russian Federation. ▪️ “The CIA and other US intelligence agencies provide intelligence for targeted missile strikes, track Russian troop movements and help maintain spy networks.” ▪️"This has turned Ukraine... into one of the most important intelligence partners of the United States in the fight against Moscow." ▪️In 2016, the CIA began training the Ukrainian “Detachment 2245”, which captured Russian drones and communications equipment so that the CIA could hack them. One of the officers of this unit was Kirill Budanov, the current head of the Main Intelligence Directorate. ▪️"The CIA also helped train a new generation of Ukrainian spies who operated inside Russia, throughout Europe, in Cuba and other places where the Russians have a large presence." ▪️Over 10 years, this cooperation "turned Ukraine into an intelligence gathering center that intercepted more Russian communications than the CIA station in Russia." ◾Such involvement of Americans became one of the factors that formed the basis of Putin’s decision to launch the SMO. ▪️"According to a senior European official, in late 2021 Putin was considering whether to launch an operation. He met with the head of one of Russia's main intelligence agencies, who told him that the CIA, along with British intelligence MI6, were controlling Ukraine and turning it into a springboard for operations against Moscow,” writes the NYT.