During a formal briefing Monday, US Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder acknowledged that active-duty US military soldiers are not only stationed in Ukraine but are also operating distance from the US embassy in Kiev.
A background briefing the day before said that “U.S. personnel” had “resumed on-site inspections to assess weapon stocks” in Ukraine. The officer from the US Department of Defense who made the statement was not identified.
In a report on this news, NBC News stated that “apart from military guards stationed at the U.S. Embassy, these inspectors in Ukraine appear to be some of the first members of the U.S. military to re-enter the Eastern European country since the start of the war.”
Travis Tritten of military.com questioned during the on-camera briefing on Tuesday, “The military has soldiers inside of Ukraine who are currently conducting weapons inspections. If they are shot upon by the Russians or are the object of Russian targeting, what are the rules of engagement for that personnel?
We do have small teams made up of embassy staff members undertaking certain assessments of the provision of security support at a number of locations, Ryder retorted.
“From what I hear, they would be well far from any form of frontline activities; we are depending on the Ukrainians to accomplish that, as well as other partners.” They won’t be doing any work on the front lines.
We’ve been very clear that there are no combat forces in Ukraine, and there are no US forces engaged in combat activities there. These are people who have been given security cooperation and assistance assignments as part of the defence attaché office.
But this would be different since they would be working outside the embassy, Tritten said. I just want to know if folks should see this as an increase.
In response to Tritten’s query regarding what the US would do if any active-duty US troops were killed, Ryder asserted that the US action was not escalatory and flat-out refused to respond.
Russia has increased its targeting of logistics facilities across all of Ukraine, with weapons depots being a key target, particularly in recent weeks. What will happen if Russia targets these US soldiers who are acting as liaisons for the coordination of logistical and armament supplies, even unintentionally?
The myth that the US is not directly participating in the conflict is debunked by the reality that the US and NATO nations have been pouring enormous amounts of weapons into Ukraine. It is also illuminating regarding the forces with which the US is linked.
Over $50 billion in military and economic aid has been provided to Ukraine by the US to far. The US wants to ensure that it has direct control over where the weapons have landed up and how they are being used because it funded and supplied the conflict. This is a battle that is taking place within the American political system ahead of the midterm elections.
The US military and State Department are also worried that sophisticated weaponry would fall into the hands of Ukrainian actors who might use them in a way that Washington hasn’t previously authorised.
Following the publication of a report by the State Department on its initiatives to “Counter Illicit Diversion of Certain Advanced Conventional Weapons in Eastern Europe,” the Pentagon made its views.
As happened after the Balkan Wars in the 1990s, the study mentioned “a variety of criminal and non-state players [who] may attempt to acquire weapons from sources in Ukraine during or following the conflict.”
However, “criminal” actors are present in the Ukrainian military, particularly in the fascist Azov Batallion, which is fighting on the front lines against Russia and whose leaders have been welcomed by both Democratic and Republican members of Congress in Washington.
The actual US force presence in Ukraine is significantly greater than that which the Pentagon acknowledged on Tuesday, according to an open secret.
Veteran reporter James Risen revealed in October that the Biden administration had given the go-ahead for the covert deployment of US Special Forces in Ukraine. According to Risen, “Clandestine American operations inside Ukraine are now much more widespread than they were earlier in the fight.”
According to current and former officials, a presidential covert action finding is the basis for the secret U.S. operations being carried out within Ukraine. The information suggests that the administration’s decision to carry out a significant programme of covert operations inside the nation was quietly communicated by the president to a number of congressional leaders. According to a former member of the special forces, Biden changed a previously approved finding.
The New York Times claimed in July that scores of former US military personnel are working there, and that top US officials who are now retired are overseeing some of the combat operation in Ukraine from inside the nation.
US personnel are deeply involved in all facets of Ukrainian military operations, having contributed intelligence to both Ukrainian strikes that have killed Russian generals and the attack in April that sank the Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet.
The announcement coincides with a significant war escalation during the previous month. Russia has gathered hundreds of thousands of reservists after suffering military defeats in both the northern and southern parts of Ukraine, annexed four regions of that country, and threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend itself.
The explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which Russia has blamed on the UK, as well as the death of Russian far-right thinker Daria Dugina and the bombing of the Kerch Bridge, both of which were reportedly carried out by Ukrainian forces, have all significantly raised tensions.
According to The Times, Russia withdrew from its grain arrangement with Ukraine after Ukraine launched an attack over the weekend on its Black Sea Fleet. This threatened to worsen the world food crisis.
Under these circumstances, proponents of a more direct US action, such as sending warships to the Black Sea, have once again called for it. These proponents include admiral James Stavridis.
