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Pro-Ukraine fighters were seen using at least three American-made armored vehicles as they attacked Russia on Monday, images and video verified by The New York Times revealed.
Russian forces appear to have captured at least two of the vehicles, additional visual evidence shows. It is unclear how pro-Ukrainian units were behind the attack, which is largely made up of anti-Putin Russians., came to acquire vehicles – known generally as MRAPs, for Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected. The circumstances that led Russia to arrest them are also unknown, but a pro-Russian Telegram group began posting images of the equipment on Monday night, hours after the attack began.
The Times identified the vehicle by markings while it was in Ukraine and again after it was in the hands of Russian forces.
The first MRAPs were built for US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the United States has provided several hundred to the Ukrainian military. Certain models appear to be International MaxxPros. He has been seen on video from various front lines across the country.
While many countries have bought and used the vehicle, the United States is the only country known to have specifically sent it to Ukraine.
In one photo posted of a captured MRAP, a Russian soldier stands next to a vehicle with a distinct white spray-paint marking – an upward arrow. A vehicle with the exact markings was seen in video footage of the raiding force about five miles from the border hours before it entered Russia.
Another photo of a vehicle seized by Russia, first posted online in the last 24 hours, shows a detail – a white plus sign – found on many other vehicles seen in images of Russian raids.
A third MaxxPro with the same markings was seen in a short video showing pro-Ukrainian soldiers in the village of Glotovo, about two miles into Russian territory.
US officials said the government had seen reports on social media that the vehicle was used in the attack and was continuing to review it to determine if it was accurate.
“I would say we are skeptical at this point as to the veracity of the report,” said Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman. He reiterated that the United States does not “support or enable attacks on Russia, and we have made that clear.”
“But as we have said,” he added, “it is up to Ukraine to decide how to conduct this war.”
The use of US military equipment on Russian soil could strain relations between Ukraine and the United States, which has given Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in military aid, with one condition that it cannot be used to attack Russia on its own borders. .
Photos and videos show dozens of pro-Ukraine fighters using vehicles in a convoy as they cross the Russian border into the village of Kozinka on Monday morning. The involvement of the Ukrainian military in the operation is unclear.
While there was an attack over this border during the 15-month-long war, the attack was unique in its brazenness and duration. The two units claiming responsibility for the attack are the Free Russian Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, made up of Russian nationals who have fought in Ukraine against the Russian military.
Russia has cast members of the strike force as Ukrainian militants and saboteurs; Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, called him a “Russian patriot” who was involved in “Russia’s internal crisis.”
The Free Russian Legion is part of a unit overseen by Ukrainian officers, but Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the president, said Ukraine had nothing to do with the attack.
The attack on Russia has reached its second day. On Tuesday evening, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had driven the fighters back across the border, but people claiming to represent the group claimed they were continuing to attack Russia.
The attack came days after President Biden’s announcement on Friday that he had agreed to allow Ukrainian forces to train on F-16 fighter jets and open it up to other countries supplying Ukraine, reversing a year of rejecting Ukrainian requests for the aircraft out of concern. it could be used to attack targets in Russia and could escalate the conflict.
Christoph Koettl, Dmitry Khavin and Julian Barnes contribute reports.
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