拜登政府正在调查美国军火最初提供给乌克兰政府已经被使用在俄罗斯一次罕见的跨境入侵中美国官员周三表示，是由极右翼反克里姆林宫袭击者组织实施的。
白宫国家安全委员会发言人约翰·柯比对记者说:“我们正在调查那些有关美国设备和车辆可能参与其中的报道。”。
美国国务院发言人马修·米勒(Matthew Miller)表示，尽管美国反对在乌克兰境外使用供应给该国的武器的政策是明确的，但围绕最近在俄罗斯领土上发生的袭击的具体情况尚不清楚。
“我们还没有得出任何结论，”他说。“我不想预先判断结果或我们何时会达到这一结果。”
不过，米勒的评论标志着本周早些时候的一个明显转变，当时政府官员对网上流传的指控美国提供的武器参与战斗的报道表示怀疑。
周二，米勒表示，这些指控是由“纸上谈兵的情报分析师”提出的，是基于“社交媒体上的模糊图片”
但在周三，他说，“从那以后，显然有媒体报道了额外的图像。我们正在调查这些报告。”
五角大楼已经证实，华盛顿没有批准或基辅没有要求任何第三方从乌克兰向准军事组织转让协议。
虽然米勒拒绝透露如果美国评估这些说法是准确的，乌克兰官员可能会面临什么后果，但政府内部的消息人士表示，这一决定很可能会在联邦政府的最高层做出。
别尔哥罗德是俄罗斯的一个州，距离乌克兰城市哈尔科夫仅20多英里，最近该州遭受的一系列袭击是在周一发生的，无人机拍摄的画面捕捉到了该地区上空的浓烟，当地官员报告称，“乌克兰破坏者”已经突破了前线。
俄罗斯志愿军团和俄罗斯自由军团这两个与乌克兰合作的俄罗斯准军事组织已经声称对此次行动负责。
这些团体中的一些人有极端主义和白人至上主义的联系，尽管这些成员反驳说他们是“民族主义者”和“传统主义者”，而且不清楚这种意识形态在多大程度上代表了更广泛的成员。
两支部队的领导人都表示，他们从乌克兰获得了武器、情报和指导，以执行他们的任务，其中一人将其描述为“正在进行中”。
乌克兰政府的一名发言人声称，这两个组织是袭击的幕后黑手，但否认乌克兰扮演了任何角色。
别尔哥罗德州长表示，至少有一名俄罗斯平民被杀，八人受伤，莫斯科已经承诺进行报复。
虽然战争的迷雾使得核实围绕别尔哥罗德袭击事件的任何说法变得极其困难，但美国官员在确定是否使用了美国武器和设备方面有既得利益，这既是为了避免加剧与莫斯科升级的风险，也是为了确保基辅在击退俄罗斯入侵时妥善管理致命援助。
US investigating whether arms given to Ukraine have been used in attacks in Russia
The Biden administration is investigating claims that American munitions initially supplied to the Ukrainian government have been used in a rare cross-border incursion in Russia by groups of far-right, anti-Kremlin assailants, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
"We're looking into those reports that the U.S. equipment and vehicles could have been involved," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
Matthew Miller, the State Department's spokesperson, said that while U.S. policy against using weapons supplied to Ukraine outside of the country's borders is clear, the exact circumstances surrounding recent attacks on Russian soil were not -- yet.
"We have not reached any conclusions," he said. "I wouldn't want to prejudge either the outcome or when we'll reach that outcome."
Still, Miller's comments marked a notable shift from earlier in the week when administration officials expressed skepticism about reports circulating online alleging that U.S.-supplied weapons were involved in the fighting.
On Tuesday, Miller said the accusations were being leveled by "armchair intelligence analysts" and based off of "fuzzy pictures on social media."
But on Wednesday, he said, "Since then, there have obviously been media reports with additional images. We're looking into those reports."
The Pentagon has confirmed that no third-party transfer agreements from Ukraine to paramilitary groups have been approved by Washington or requested by Kyiv.
While Miller declined to say what consequences Ukrainian officials could face if the U.S. assesses the claims are accurate, sources within the administration say that determination will very likely be made at the highest level of the federal government.
The recent spate of attacks on Belgorod, a Russian oblast just over 20 miles from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, picked up on Monday, with drone footage capturing plumes of smoke over the region and local officials reporting that "Ukrainian saboteurs" had broken across the frontlines.
The Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion -- two Russian paramilitary groups cooperating with Ukraine -- have taken credit for conducting the operation.
Some in the groups have extremist and white supremacist ties, though those members counter they are "nationalist" and "traditionalist" and it's not clear how much such ideology is representative of the broader membership.
Leaders from both forces have said that they received weaponry, intelligence and guidance from Ukraine to carry out their mission, which one described as "ongoing."
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian government asserted that the two organizations were behind the attacks but denied that Ukraine had played any role.
Belgorod's governor said that at least one Russian civilian was killed and that eight have been wounded, and Moscow has promised to retaliate.
While the fog of war has made verifying any of the assertions surrounding the attacks in Belgorod exceedingly difficult, U.S. officials have a vested interest in determining whether American weapons and equipment were used -- both to avoid the risk of fueling escalation with Moscow and to ensure Kyiv is properly managing lethal assistance in repelling Russia's invasion.
