While the deployment of U.S. materiel on Russian soil is frowned upon by Washington, this week’s incursion by Ukraine-allied forces—hitting the city of Belgorod before being routed by the Russians —does not seem to have dissuaded Ukraine’s main ally from sending more arms.
On Thursday, May 25th, two official, yet anonymous sources, told Reuters that another package in military aid, worth up to $300 million—comprising Guided Multiple Launch Rockets (GMLRS) for HIMARS launchers, and other types of ammunition—could be announced as soon as Friday.
If true, it would be the second batch of armaments Ukraine receives in the span of one week, following the $375 million one promised by U.S. President Joe Biden to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima.
As with previous such packages, it would be funded using the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the president to authorize the transfer of articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval.
In total, the U.S. has committed around $37 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its ‘special military operation’ on February 24th, 2022.
Many Russian officials have repeatedly warned about the dangers of further militarizing Ukraine.
According to Euractiv, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday told reporters that, “[i]t is no secret for us that more and more equipment is being delivered to Ukraine’s armed forces.”
Upon analysis of existing photo and video evidence (some of which the Russian Defense Ministry provided), several U.S. Army vehicles were indeed used during the two-day cross-border raid in the Belgorod region (about 40 kilometers north of the Ukraine border), which Moscow on Tuesday said it had crushed.
According to investigations by The New York Times and the Financial Times, these included several Humvees and three mine-resistant armored cars, also known as MRAPs. The FT however added that some images of U.S.-made vehicles purportedly used in the raid were taken on the Russian side of the border.
In total, the U.S. has given Ukraine over two thousand Humvees and over five hundred MRAPs.
The identity of those behind the raid, which the U.S. has since said it did not support, has been the subject of considerable debate.
While Russia claims they were saboteurs from the Ukrainian military, Ukraine says it was carried out by Russian dissidents, who, even though Kyiv shares intelligence with them, are acting independently.
What is known is that it involves two self-professed far-right militias: The Russian Volunteer Corps and The Free Russia Legion.
Denis Kapustin, the white nationalist, pro-Nazi leader of the former, told the Financial Times that his group had the American-made vehicles but declined to say how it got them. When asked about why his group decided to attack Belgorod Kapustin, also known as Nikitin, declined to answer.
In earlier statements, he did say that his unit’s incursions into Russia, which began in early March, had the double aim of exposing weaknesses in Russia’s defenses, while inspiring Russians to rise up against their leadership.
U.S. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the restrictions on how U.S.-provided weapons can be used by Ukraine were put in place because “this is a Ukrainian war. It is not a war between the United States and Russia. It’s not a war between NATO and Russia.”
Although this week’s incident appears not to have shaken Washington’s resolve to continue providing military aid to Ukraine, it remains to be seen how Ukraine’s European allies will react.
Ukraine counts British cruise missiles, various types of tanks and soon, American F-16s, in its arsenal, however, a stipulation maintains that these weapons may not be used to target Russia itself.
