12 secret CIA spy bases built in Ukraine before Russian invasion

The United States has built up "12 secret locations" for the better part of the last decade to gather intelligence along the Russian border. These were apparently funded by the CIA. The Times notes that if the US does not provide additional funds for Ukraine's war effort, these intelligence gathering operations could be at risk.

According to a report from the New York Times, over the past eight years, the CIA has consrutcted a network of what the outlet called, "secret locations," along the Russian border with Ukraine to turn the country into an "intelligence-gathering hub" for the United States.
 

Are we allowed to ask if the CIA building 12 secret bases on the Ukraine border with Russia still means the Russian invasion was unprovoked?

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 26, 2024

CIA director William Burns was recently in Ukraine to give assurances as to America's commitment to the region, in which they have been involved since prior to Russia's invastion of the Crimea in 2014. John Brennan, who was CIA director at the time, visited Ukraine as that conflict unfolded. He told officials "that the C.I.A. was interested in developing a relationship but only at a pace the agency was comfortable with, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials."