Pentagon wants to restart secret Ukraine programmes
THE Pentagon is urging the United States Congress to resume funding a pair of top-secret programmes in Ukraine that were suspended ahead of Russia’s invasion last year, according to current and former US officials.
If approved, the move would allow American Special Operations troops to employ Ukrainian operatives to observe Russian military movements and counter disinformation.
A decision is unlikely before the northern autumn. Defence officials are preparing a proposal for lawmakers’ consideration in the coming months, when work will begin on next year’s Pentagon policy and funding bill.
If successful, the programmes could resume as soon as 2024 – though it remains unclear if the Biden Administration would allow US commandos back into Ukraine to oversee them, or if the military would seek to do this from a neighbouring country.
No American military personnel are known to have operated in Ukraine since the war began, beyond a small number tasked to the US Embassy in the capital, Kyiv.
American commandos, using a similar funding authority, have for many years paid select foreign military and paramilitary units across the Middle East, Asia and Africa, employing them as ‘‘surrogates’’ in counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda, Islamic State and their affiliates. Newer surrogate programmes, such as those used in Ukraine, are considered a form of ‘‘irregular warfare’’. They are
intended for use against adversaries, such as Russia and China, with whom the US is in competition,
not open conflict.
Critics, including some on Capitol Hill, say such activities risk drawing the US into a more direct role in the Ukraine war.
Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine is nearing the start of a second year, and as the Biden Administration dramatically accelerates and expands the scope of the military assistance it is providing to Kyiv, despite Russian protests and threats of escalation.
Russia used strategic bombers, cruise missiles and killer drones in a wave of attacks across Ukraine yesterday, while Moscow’s military push that Kyiv says has been brewing for days appeared to pick up pace in eastern areas. Moldova’s Ministry of Defence said a missile was detected traversing its airspace near the border with Ukraine yesterday, in an ‘‘unacceptable violation’’.