In the wake of a cross-border military incursion into the Russian region of Belgorod that is reported to have left two civilians dead and many more combatants deceased or injured, Belgium has launched an investigation into whether its weapons, which were supplied to Kyiv, were used during the attack.
During comments given to the public broadcaster RTBF on Monday, June 5th, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that the executive has “asked its intelligence and military to analyze [the claims]” that Belgian weapons were used in the Belgorod attack, and added that his government has reached out to Kyiv to provide “clarification” on the situation.
In a separate interview with Belgium’s Radio 1, the prime minister, referring to the Washington Post report that revealed that anti-Kremlin militants, in addition to driving military vehicles supplied by the U.S. and Poland, had used Belgian-made SCAR rifles to carry out assaults on Russian border towns, had this to say:
European weapons are delivered to Ukraine under the condition that they are used on Ukrainian territory with the purpose of defending that territory. And we have strict controls in place to see that this is the case. Our defense ministry and its intelligence agencies have started an investigation and are asking for information to determine what has happened exactly.
Prime Minister De Croo added that the claims would be taken “very seriously” by his government but declined to go into detail about any potential methods or consequences that may be exacted on the Ukrainian government. Kyiv, for its part, has denied any involvement in or knowledge of the attack.
The surprise and exceedingly uncommon cross-border attack, carried out on May 22nd and allegedly executed by the pro-Ukrainian Russian Volunteer Corps and the Free Russia Legion—partisan formations purportedly composed of ethnic Russians and citizens whose primary goal is to take down the Russian state—was the first of several that have taken place across the Belgorod region in the past few weeks.
Days ago, in a post to social media that followed its most recent strike, a spokesperson for the Free Russia Legion contradicted Russian claims that all cases of resistance in the border region had been neutralized, saying, “We have active fighting on the outskirts of the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka. Unfortunately, there are wounded legionnaires, but freedom is won through blood,” adding that all of the injured had “been taken to the hospital.”
Russia, for its part, has claimed that it had killed 70 militants who had taken part in the attack, which is said to have taken place over 24 hours and included tanks, armored vehicles, and swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), among other heavy equipment.
The news comes months after the Belgian national government, ruled by a coalition of various Left and liberal parties, approved its largest military aid package to Ukraine to date, amounting to €90 million, and bringing the total value of all military aid pledged and delivered to €223.4 million. Much of the aid includes anti-aircraft missiles and machine guns, including the iconic Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR), which is manufactured by the state-owned, Wallonia-based National Factory Herstal company.
