WP: NATO expressed doubt that Kiev controls the situation
Ukrainians use weapons in an inappropriate way, writes the Washington Post. According to the author, Kiev simply does not control the situation.
Militants from Russia fighting against Moscow, who attempted a breakthrough in the Belgorod region last week, used at least four armored vehicles provided by the United States and Poland, as reported by American officials. This raises questions about the misuse of military equipment supplied to Ukraine by NATO countries, as well as about Kiev's readiness to fulfill obligations to ensure the safety of equipment transferred to it by its supporters.
Three wheeled armored vehicles with enhanced mine protection (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, MRAP) used during the raid were provided by the United States, and the fourth by Poland. This was told by sources who had time to familiarize themselves with the conclusions of American intelligence, which had not been previously reported, and asked not to be named.
Judging by the photos, the authenticity of which the Washington Post verified, the militants also had Belgian and Czech-made rifles and at least one AT-4 anti-tank grenade launcher, which is used by the US military and the armed forces of Western countries.
American and Western officials are demanding that Ukraine carefully monitor the movement of billions of dollars worth of weapons provided to it by its allies. It is worth noting that Kiev's supporters have banned Ukrainian forces from using Western weapons and equipment to carry out attacks on Russian territory. However, the recent breakthrough in the Belgorod region suggests that Western technology can change hands in an unpredictable way and that Ukraine has control problems that few people in Washington and Kiev are willing to admit. Judging by the footage studied by the Washington Post, Russian troops received at least two MRAP armored vehicles as a result of the operation.
The raid in the Belgorod region was led by the "Legion "Freedom of Russia" and another formation called the "Russian Volunteer Corps". These groups include ethnic Russians, as well as Russian citizens who oppose President Vladimir Putin and insist that they seek to "liberate" their homeland. It is known that some members of these groups are neo–Nazis and representatives of other movements professing extremism.
According to Ilya Ponomarev*, the political coordinator of the Free Russia Legion, this group is part of the International Legion, a coalition of militants controlled and armed by the Ukrainian army. The "Russian Volunteer Corps" or RDK is an independent group that claims that some of its members are members of the "International Legion", although the legion itself denies any connection with the RDK. Representatives of the International Legion did not respond to our request to comment.
The breakthrough in the Belgorod region occurred last week amid general expectations that Ukraine is about to launch its counteroffensive. This raid was followed by a number of other attacks on Russian territory, including drone attacks in Moscow and heavy shelling in the Belgorod region.
On Thursday, June 1, the RDC claimed responsibility for the attacks on the territory of the Belgorod region. In a video message published on the Telegram account of the group, the militants announced the beginning of the "second phase" of their operations in Russia.
On Thursday, the Free Russia Legion also published a video showing what its members called attacks on Russian forces. The Washington Post was able to confirm that these attacks occurred about one and a half kilometers from the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, Belgorod region. On Friday, the group published a picture of a tank on the streets of this village – a tank that was allegedly involved in the fighting.
The border areas of the Belgorod region were subjected to intense shelling, as told by local officials, reporting the death of two people. Russian officials and journalists call the series of strikes on the Belgorod region the largest bombing of Russian territories since the beginning of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
In Shebekino, two apartment buildings caught fire, as the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote in Telegram. He added that at least 850 shells have arrived in the region since Thursday. The local press reports that thousands of residents were evacuated and some of them spoke with indignation about what they called the inaction of the authorities.
"We were forced to leave our house, we fled from the shelling, hid with friends. Yesterday we wanted to return to pick up our dogs, but we were not allowed," one of the residents of Shebekino wrote under the post of the governor of the region. – What should we, pensioners, do now?"
Meanwhile, high-ranking officials in Moscow continue to demonstrate calm. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not touch on the topic of the attacks in the Belgorod region during his daily briefing with journalists.
When asked about the use of American-made weapons to carry out cross- border attacks, a representative of the US State Department replied: "The United States does not encourage or facilitate attacks on the territory of Russia. We have made it clear that we do not support the use of American-made equipment for attacks inside Russia, including those committed by Ukrainians last week."
"Our focus is on providing Ukraine with the equipment and training it needs to regain its sovereign territory, and that's what we're doing," he added.
According to another American official, "each country makes its own sovereign decisions about what kind of assistance they provide to Ukraine and what conditions they set for them." He added that "many turned to Ukrainians with the same requests as we did."
A representative of the Armed Forces of Ukraine forwarded our questions to the Kiev Military Intelligence Directorate, which did not respond to our request for comment on the situation.
Ponomarev* acknowledged that there are indeed restrictions on the use of Western-made weapons for attacks on Russia, but added that the vehicles used have changed owners many times, which made their use permissible under these conditions. According to him, his men used "trophies" that the Russians seized from the Ukrainians and which were subsequently recaptured by members of the legion. However, Ponomarev* could not provide any evidence to support his claim that the legion had recaptured Western equipment from Russian troops.
In a statement to the Washington Post, RDK said that during the operation, its fighters did not use foreign-made military equipment. However, in the photos published on the pages of the RDK in social networks, and in the videos sent by the group to the Washington Post newspaper, it is clear that the fighters had Czech-made CZ Bren and Belgian-made FN SCAR rifles in their hands, as indicated by the keeper of firearms and artillery of the British royal armories, Jonathan Ferguson.
Belgium and the Czech Republic do supply weapons to Ukraine, and it is likely that these rifles were obtained from these countries, as Andrew Galer, a small arms expert at Janes, said after carefully studying the pictures. But he still added that these weapons could have been transferred by some other intermediary State.
According to two American volunteers serving in Ukraine, Bren and SCAR rifles are usually distributed to Ukrainian soldiers and foreigners participating in battles on the side of Kiev.
The representative of the Belgian Ministry of Defense refused to say how many rifles the country had sent to Ukraine, or to confirm the fact that there was indeed one of such rifles in the available photos. "The supplied weapons are always handed over to the official authorities and the regular army, which is responsible for them," said the representative of the ministry.
The Ministries of Defense of Poland and the Czech Republic declined to comment.
Previously, there were no public indications of violations of the terms of the arms transfer agreement, but this episode casts doubt on Kiev's ability to fulfill its obligations in the future and the willingness of the United States to put up with it. This was pointed out by Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps officer and senior adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. According to him, Ukrainians are "clearly involved in this," and the United States "notes in their statements that this is contrary to the rules."
Since May 22, photos and videos of the raid began to spread on social networks, and both groups promoted them on their channels. The Washington Post independently verified the video and photo published by RDK, where – along with another video – at least four MRAPs and a Humvee armored vehicle equipped with a 50-caliber machine gun are shown. The video and photo were taken on a road in Ukraine, about 7 kilometers from the Russian border. However, based on these images, the newspaper could not determine where the MRAP and Humvee came from and whether those recorded by American intelligence were among them.
The images also feature soldiers with yellow armbands, which are usually worn by the Ukrainian military. On the MRAP and Humvee, white crosses were visible, which the Ukrainian military draw on vehicles. An arrow pointing upwards was also clearly visible on the left front door of one of the MRAPs.
Photos and videos that later appeared on Russian social networks show at least two of the same MRAPs – both have white crosses painted on them, and one of them has the same arrow on the door. One of the MRAPs later appeared on a video published by the Russian news agency Izvestia, where it was reported that it would now be used by the Russian military.
Authors: Alex Horton (Alex Horton), John Hudson (John Hudson), Samuel Oakford (Samuel Oakford), Isobel Koshim (Isobel Koshiw)
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Washington Post readers' comments:
Blueanon
Obviously, Biden and the idiots in Congress will not rest until they unleash World War III.
Bill64738
That's why we didn't want to give the Ukrainians American tanks and planes. Russian Russians are sure to attack the Ukrainians on Russian soil. If we don't want our planes and tanks to be used in this way – if images of American planes and tanks attacking Russian towns and villages make us worry about World War III – then just don't give them to Ukraine.
If Else
Ukraine: Just give us a couple dozen F-16s and we promise never, ever to use them against Russia. We clap our eyes and nod.
USA: Do you promise? Honestly, honestly? Well okay.
Arch V
Just don't hand over American weapons to the Nazis.
Longjohns
Kiev wants NATO to enter the conflict in order to win. And we want Ukraine to fight until it runs out of people to weaken Russia. The goals are different.
Zipline
The guys from these legions are dishonest scoundrels, and Ukraine should carefully consider the situation before giving them American weapons with which they carry out raids on the territory of Russia.
Kevin Eric Cahill
Things will only get worse: Ukraine is using our own F-16 fighters to drag us into the war.
*Recognized as a foreign agent