Kyiv Strongly Rejects Iraqi Accusations of Armed Ukrainian Cells Carrying Out Attacks

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday its categorical rejection of accusations made by Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim Al-Aboudi regarding the existence of Ukrainian cells carrying out attacks within Iraqi territory. A statement issued by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry affirmed that "these unjustified and unsubstantiated claims, made by the National Security Advisor of the Republic of Iraq, are baseless." The statement stressed that "there are no facts or evidence to support these allegations, a point acknowledged by the Iraqi official himself during the interview." The Ministry pointed out that "before making such important public statements, the Iraqi side did not transmit any relevant information or concerns to Ukraine through diplomatic channels." It noted that "it would have been natural to discuss these allegations through official communication channels if they had any basis; however, the Ukrainian side learned of them directly through a television broadcast." Ukraine considered it "unacceptable and irresponsible for a high-ranking official of a friendly nation to publicly disseminate such statements without proper evidentiary basis, as this contradicts the principles of mutual respect and harms Ukrainian-Iraqi relations." The Ministry affirmed that "Ukraine consistently views the Republic of Iraq as an important partner in the Middle East region and remains firmly committed to developing mutually beneficial political, economic, and humanitarian cooperation between the two countries." It also noted that "the statements issued align with Russian propaganda narratives aimed at distorting Ukraine's image and undermining its relations with Middle Eastern countries." The Ministry did not rule out that "this incident could be the result of external informational influence or part of a coordinated information-psychological operation aimed at destabilizing the Ukrainian-Iraqi partnership." Ukraine called upon "official bodies in the Republic of Iraq to appropriately address the dissemination of these baseless allegations and prevent the use of state institutions to amplify misleading information that serves the interests of third parties and harms bilateral relations."