Washington has distanced itself from the attack on Russia, which, according to Moscow, ended in the defeat of armed aggressors. According to Moscow, they allegedly invaded from Ukraine. Parts of the border region of Belgorod were attacked on Monday. Later, Russia published images of abandoned or damaged Western military vehicles, including American-made Humvees.
The Americans point out that they did not encourage or facilitate attacks within Russia. A State Department spokesman confirmed reports circulating on social media and elsewhere that US-supplied weapons had been used, but said his country was "skeptical at this time about the veracity of these reports." The United States had neither encouraged nor facilitated attacks within Russia. This has also been made clear, Miller said. "But as we have also said, it is up to Ukraine to decide how it wants to wage this war."
Ukraine has several hundred Humvees
According to the New York Times, at least three American armored military vehicles were apparently used in the attack on Belgorod. Two of these vehicles, known as "MRAP" (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected), were apparently confiscated by the Russian side, the newspaper reported on Tuesday after evaluating photos and videos published on Telegram, among others. The newspaper claims to have recognized the vehicles by their markings when they were in Ukraine and again after they fell into the hands of Russian forces. It is unclear how the attackers came into possession of these vehicles and how they then fell into Russian hands after the attack, it said.
According to the newspaper, the United States had provided several hundred of these vehicles to the Ukrainian military. According to video footage, these have so far been used on various sectors of the front in Ukraine. Originally, the vehicles were built for American missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After the fighting in Belgorod on the border with Ukraine, the situation remained tense on Wednesday. The Russian authorities gave the all-clear, but confirmed a drone attack on Tuesday evening. According to the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, an explosive device was dropped on the roadway by a drone. A car was damaged, the governor wrote, and published a photo of a vehicle with dents and cracks in the windshield. According to preliminary data, no one was injured.
Kyiv denies involvement in attack
The authorities of the Belgorod region have again lifted the state of alert imposed with reference to fighting. The legal status of an "anti-terrorist operation" has ended, Gladkov said on Telegram.
According to Russia, dozens of "representatives of Ukrainian military formations" have been fighting in the Belgorod region since Monday. Ukraine denied having anything to do with the attacks. In Kiev, it was pointed out that volunteer corps consisting of Russian citizens had claimed responsibility for the attacks.