In Belgorod there is still fighting. One of the leaders of the pro-Russian militiamen belonging to Russia's Freedom Legion, Denis Kapustin said yesterday at a press conference: “Our fight continues, we will reach Moscow, wait for us".
After Monday's battle, Russia's defense ministry said it had repulsed the incursion, liquidated 70 Ukrainian terrorists and destroyed some military vehicles.
Moscow believes the Belgorod militiamen are under the direct control of Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR). The Kyiv authorities deny direct involvement in the incursion, arguing that it is the result of the initiative of Russian citizens determined to fight Putin's regime with weapons.
Yesterday the Financial Times revealed that the militiamen used International MaxxPro and Humvee military vehicles supplied to Ukraine by the United States. The US government has sent over 2 Humvees and 500 MaxxPros in assistance packages that have reached a total value of 38 billion dollars.
The images arrived from the border areas indeed show US-made Humvees and armored vehicles in the hands of far-right militias: an important detail that strengthened the thesis of a collaboration between the Russian partisan groups and the Kiev government.
If the news were to be confirmed, the promise made by Kiev in Washington not to use American vehicles and weapons in Russian territory would come in handy. The Pentagon is investigating the matter.
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«We have seen this news and continue to monitor closely.", the general commented yesterday Pat Ryder, US Department of Defense spokesman. «I can confirm that the US government has not approved any transfer of equipment to paramilitary organizations who are not part of the Ukrainian army, nor has the Kiev government requested it».
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller:We have made clear to the Ukrainians that we do not allow or encourage attacks outside the Ukrainian borders."
The concept had been affirmed in recent days when Biden on the F-16 he had received assurances from Zelensky that they would not be used in geographical Russian territory.
In Russia, on the other hand, the controversy is raging over the Defense Ministry, which is responsible for leaving the border unguarded. “Where was the army when the sabotage group broke through - this is an important question that should be addressed to the military leadership“Wagner chief Prigozhin said on Telegram.
Also in the video message on Telegrama Progozhin praised the Ukrainian armed forces, calling them among the strongest armies in the world. On the special operation launched by Putin, the head of Wagner was tougher saying that one of the objectives of the special military operation was to demilitarize Ukraine", the invasion instead produced the opposite effect: "If Ukraine had 500 tanks at the start of the special operation, now it has five thousand. If then they were able to field 20 soldiers, now they have 400".