Belgium has begun an investigation into whether weapons it provided to Ukraine were used in attacks across the border in Russia.
The investigation, which Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo revealed on Monday, comes in response to recent reporting that weapons provided to Ukraine by the U.S., Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Poland were used in fighting in the Belgorod region by anti-Putin Russian militia forces.
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De Croo told Belgian broadcaster VRT, “Defense and information services started a probe to be absolutely sure what happened there,” though he warned against jumping to conclusions, according to the Associated Press.
Specifically, three Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles provided by the U.S. and a fourth, given to Kyiv by Poland, were used in the assault, while the fighters also carried rifles made by Belgium and the Czech Republic, and at least one AT-4 anti-tank weapon in common use among U.S. and Western troops, according to the Washington Post.
This incident included a cross-border raid by the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps militias, which opposes President Vladimir Putin.
The U.S. and other NATO allies have sought to balance a fine line between arming Ukraine while not getting directly involved in the conflict, and for many that line has been the use of their weapons against targets on Russian soil, fearing that they would view it as an escalation and as direct involvement. Ukraine’s apparent inability to track the weapons provided to them, or not upholding the assurances they provided to these nations, could reduce their allies’ willingness to continue to arm them.
“The rule is very strict,” the prime minister said, noting that if there is validity to the allegation, “We would take that extremely seriously.”
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Similarly, the Biden administration has “been clear, privately and publicly, with the Ukrainians that we don’t support attacks on Russian soil,” White House National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said last week. “We are going to continue to give them what they need to defend themselves and defend their territory, Ukrainian soil, but we don’t support attacks in Russia. What we have said is we don’t want to encourage or enable attacks inside Russia because we don’t want to see the war escalate beyond the violence [that] has already visited upon the Ukrainian people.”
Robert Storch, the inspector general for the Department of Defense; Diana Shaw, the deputy inspector general for the State Department; and Nicole Angarella, the acting deputy inspector general for USAID, are jointly overseeing U.S. aid to Ukraine. In late March, Storch told lawmakers on Capitol Hill, “While I cannot of course comment on any ongoing investigation, based on our completed work, we have not substantiated any instances of the diversion of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine.”
