Kremlin says attack on Belgorod was carried out with US vehicles

The Kremlin said it was “no secret” that increasing amounts of Western military equipment were being used by the Ukrainian armed forces, following reports that US-made military vehicles were used in the cross-border attack on Sunday night and Monday morning. (22) by anti-Putin Russian citizens.

“It’s no secret for us that the direct and indirect involvement of these Western countries in this conflict is growing every day,” Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

“It’s no secret for us that more and more equipment is entering service with the Kiev regime’s Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is also no secret that this technique is used against our military,” said Peskov. “We draw the appropriate conclusions.”

His comments follow reports circulating on social media that several vehicles used by Russian groups opposing President Vladimir Putin in his cross-border attack in the Belgorod region were made in the US.

A CNN identified at least three different US-made MaxxPro MRAP vehicles in videos allegedly of the raid, geolocating and analyzing markings on the vehicles, as well as comparing them to official images of the vehicles. A CNN cannot verify the exact date of the videos, but confirmed that they were published after the raid.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said on Tuesday: “We’ve seen these reports, something we obviously continue to monitor very closely.”

“I will say that we can confirm that the US government has not approved any transfers of third party equipment to paramilitary organizations outside the Ukrainian Armed Forces, nor has the Ukrainian government requested such transfers. So again, that’s something we’re going to keep an eye on,” Ryder said.

Kiev has repeatedly denied that the Russian fighters who crossed the border on Monday were under Ukrainian command.