Belgorod Strike | American equipment identified in the Belgorod attack

American newspaper The New York Times reports that it had identified at least three American-made military vehicles used in an attack on Russia’s Belgorod near the Ukrainian border earlier this week.

Based on social media images seen by the newspaper, Russian forces have taken possession of at least two armored vehicles, called by the abbreviation MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles).

Open sources are monitored by experts such as military historians Emil Kastehelmi, have also discovered at least three American Humvee military vehicles that would have been used in Belgorod. There are a whole bunch of unconfirmed claims about other equipment circulating on the internet.

Pro-Ukraine but Russian-backed forces struck the Belgorod region on the Russian side on Monday. Already on the same day, pictures of American vehicles allegedly taken over by Russia started circulating on the Telegram messaging service.

It is not known how the vehicles first ended up with Russian fighters supporting Ukraine and then at least partially in Russia’s possession.

Ukraine has denied participating in the attack and the United States has expressed its doubts about the authenticity of the events.

The use of vehicles manufactured and donated by the United States in an attack on Russian soil is a sensitive topic, as the United States has demanded promises from Ukraine that the military aid it provides will only be used to defend Ukraine. The issue has been brought up, for example, with possible fighter jet assistance.

The attack Belgorod was apparently carried out by two groups of Russian background, one of which – the Legion of Free Russia – belongs to the foreign volunteer forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute Jyri Lavikainen previously told HS that he is absolutely certain that the Ukrainian armed forces were actually responsible for the planning and preparation of the operation.

“Now everyone knows that Ukraine has attacked Belgorod, but they lie with a twinkle in their eye and laugh at it. It increases the arrogance of the operation,” Lavikainen said on Tuesday.

Another of the groups that participated in the attack is called the Russian Volunteer Corps, or RDK. The paramilitary and far-right group, founded in August last year, says it is fighting the Russian president Vladimir Putin against.

“Both groups are directly part of the armed forces of Ukraine in the organization and chain of command, and use the insignia of the armed forces of Ukraine. They can call themselves by any name, but if there was a Finnish volunteer unit there, they would still be a unit of the Ukrainian army,” says the Ukraine expert assisting HS John Helin.

for Ukraine the donated MRAP vehicles were originally produced for use by US soldiers in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to The New York Times, the vehicles in question have been in use in other countries as well, but it is not known that any country other than the United States has donated them to Ukraine.

US Department of Defense according to the list I prepared More than 500 MRAP vehicles have been donated to Ukraine since the Russian offensive that started in February of last year. More than 2,000 Humvee vehicles have been issued to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

A spokesman for the US Department of Defense Matthew Miller stated in his press conference on Tuesday that the United States is “skeptical at this point” about reports that American equipment would have been used in an attack on Russia.

According to Miller, the United States has a negative attitude towards the use of its military aid in attacks on Russia.

“But as we’ve said, it’s up to Ukraine to decide how it goes about its war,” Miller said.

Such an open power of attorney does not apply, at least in relation to fighters. President of the United States Joe Biden told last Sunday that he received from the President of Ukraine From Volodymyr Zelensky a “full promise” that Ukraine will not use the American F-16 fighter jets later donated by Western countries to attack Russia.

On Wednesday, the spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House, or the presidential administration John Kirby stated that the United States plans to investigate reports that American equipment was used in Monday’s attack.

He stated that the United States has made it clear to Ukraine that it does not accept the use of its equipment in attacks on Russia.

Russia has previously claimed to have killed 70 Ukrainian fighters in the Belgorod attack, which the attacking side has denied. No reliable pictorial evidence has been presented.

“There is one picture, but it’s a bit like that you can’t locate it or you can’t tell if it’s real,” says John Helin.