Does the 'Recruit Defectors' Covert Op Mission cause the victim civ to lose units?
Solution 1:
The victim civ does not lose units. If you succeed in the Op, you recieve between 1 and 3 military units buildable by that civ, and the target city recieves +20 intrigue points.
The only "damaging" part of the Op (outside of using the newly acquired units against the civ) is the intrigue increase, which may make the city vulnerable to more damaging Ops (Hack Satellites, Coup D'etat, Call Worm Strike, etc.).