Were U.S. vehicles used in the border incursion into Russia?

U.S. officials are investigating reports that American military vehicles were used during the recent cross-border raids by Russian paramilitary groups into Belgorod Oblast. 

On May 22nd, the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps launched an incursion into Belgorod Oblast, sparking two days of chaotic battles in the border region. 

Several villages were overrun by paramilitary forces before Moscow claimed victory, saying Russian forces had killed 70 people and destroyed several U.S. military vehicles according to a report from Politico. But had American vehicles been used in the raid?

U.S. National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on May 24th that officials were looking into whether or not American military vehicles had been used in the attack. 

“We’ve been pretty darn clear: We don’t support the use of the U.S.-made equipment for attacks inside Russia… we’ve been clear about that with the Ukrainians,” Kirby said.

“I won’t get into private discussions that we’re having with them. But I think we’ve been nothing but consistent about our concerns in that regard,” Kirby added. 

Politico noted Pentagon spokesperson Patrick Ryder echoed Kibry’s comments one day earlier when he said the U.S. had not authorized the use of its vehicles in the border raid nor had the Ukrainians requested their transfer to the Russian paramilitary groups.

“I don’t know if it’s true or not, in terms of the veracity of that imagery,” Ryder explained, referencing picture and video evidence of destroyed American military vehicles that were presented by the Russian Ministry of Defense in the wake of the cross-border raid. 

“You'll recall yesterday there were some bogus images of reported, alleged explosions at the Pentagon. So, you know, we just…have to take a look at these things and make sure we get the facts before we make assumptions,” Ryder continued. 

The evidence in question appeared to show two damaged American Humvees that were sitting abandoned near the border control point at Grayvon according to The Telegraph.

However, The Telegraph also noted that those same models of vehicles had been given to the Ukrainian military and pointed to evidence that the images may have been staged. 

“Social media users said the lack of gravel on the Humvees’ tire treads meant it was likely the vehicles were placed in the trenches from the back of a flatbed truck,” The Telegraph noted, adding that users had also pointed out several other discrepancies.

“It was also pointed out that the front ends of the American fighting vehicles featured no damage and no soil was dislodged from the apparent area of impact,” The Telegraph added, though they did not provide the source of the users they were paraphrasing. 

Sky News spoke with the former Director General of the Royal United Services Institute Mark Clarke, who said that the image of the damaged humvees wasn’t very convincing.

Clarke went on to explain that it looked as “as if two American Humvees had been taken from a low loader and put into this space,” though he did concede that the image could turn out to be genuine. 

The Financial Times reported that Russian Volunteer Corps leader Denis Nikitin told the news outlet that his fighters were in possession of American military vehicles, including the M1224 MaxxPro and several Humvees, though he declined to say how he got them. 

It is still not known whether or not American military vehicles were used in the Belgorod border raids. But we can be sure that if U.S. supply vehicles were involved it could drive a wedge between Ukraine and the United States at a time when solidarity is needed.