http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/s ... 6b0ef761adDespite the Ukrainian support they are receiving, Syrian rebels continue to confuse Ukraine with Russia (as both were part of the Soviet Union, a common confusion even in the West). Furthermore, the anti-Assad forces suspect that Ukraine may in fact be arming both sides of the conflict. Therefore, Syrian rebels have retaliated by kidnapping Ukrainian and Russian journalists and threatening to attack both countries’ diplomatic missions in Syria (Ukrayinska Pravda, October 15). Syrian rebel suspicion of Ukraine playing both sides was deepened when kidnapped Ukrainian journalist Ankhar Kochnyeva publicly admitted to working for the Russian intelligence services and being a translator for Syrian intelligence (Ukrayinska Pravda, October 29).
An interesting piece of information:
More recently, in 2011–2012, the US and Germany respectively purchased 144,000 and 54,000 Ukrainian small arms for training purposes (Gorshenin Weekly, May 14). These could be meant for covert operations, the Soviet weapons providing the US with deniability as to the supplier.