‘Official confession’ implicates US in war, says Russia
The Russian military has accused the United States of being ‘‘directly involved’’ in the war in Ukraine by providing Kyiv with real-time information allowing it to launch assaults on Russian targets using US-supplied rocketlaunch systems.
Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian defence ministry, quoted a Telegraph interview with a top Ukrainian intelligence official, who said Britain and the US had helped Kyiv with ‘‘minute-to-minute, real-time information of all kinds’’.
Konashenkov said the Russian military ‘‘has marked it and will keep in mind an official confession’’ by Major General Vadym Skibitsky, acting deputy head of Ukrainian military intelligence.
‘‘This is the ultimate proof that Washington, despite the White House and the Pentagon’s claims, is directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine,’’ he said.
In the interview with the Telegraph, Skibitsky insisted that the US did not provide direct targeting information. But he did suggest that there was a level of consultation between Ukraine and the US that would allow the US to stop any potential attack if it was unhappy with the intended target.
Russia said this amounted to an admission that Washington was co-ordinating Himars missile strikes.
The US-supplied Himars longrange artillery rocket system has been a major irritant for Russia, as Ukraine finally seems to be in possession of a weapon that allows it to strike targets deep behind the front lines with high precision.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu yesterday claimed that Russia had destroyed six Himars systems since the start of the war, as he accused the US of ‘‘out-of-control weapons supplies to Ukraine that pose a grave threat to the security of the region’’.
Ukraine is heavily lobbying the US to declare Russia a sponsor of terrorism over the invasion. Russia’s foreign ministry has threatened to break off diplomatic ties with Washington if this happens. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reportedly been resisting calls to brand Russia a sponsor of terrorism, after the US Senate last week adopted a non-binding resolution in favour of doing so.
■ A new round of US sanctions targeting Russian elites includes a woman named in news reports as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s longtime romantic partner.
The Treasury Department said the US Government had frozen the visa of Alina Kabaeva, an Olympic gymnast in her youth and a former member of the state Duma, and imposed other property restrictions. The department said she was also head of a Russian national media company that promoted Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Britain sanctioned Kabaeva in May, and the European Union imposed travel and asset restrictions on her in June. In April, the US imposed sanctions on Putin’s adult daughters Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova.