By American Military News. U.S. military personnel are now on the ground in Ukraine, keeping track of and inspecting weapons the U.S. has shipped to Ukrainian forces, a senior defense official announced during a Pentagon background briefing on Monday. These U.S. personnel are some of the first the Pentagon has acknowledged have entered Ukraine since Russia launched its large scale invasion of the country in February.

The senior defense official who spoke on background during an official Pentagon event, said, “U.S. personnel have recently resumed on-site inspections to assess weapon stocks in country whenever and wherever the security conditions allow.” The official said “the return of our defense attaché and Office of Defense Cooperation personnel in country has allowed us to resume this critical function.”

The U.S. Defense attaché for Ukraine is U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Garrick Harmon.

The Biden administration ordered U.S. troops out of Ukraine in February just days before Russia launched its invasion. The Associated Press reported the administration did return some troops to provide security at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv earlier this year. (Read more from “U.S. Forces Now on the Ground in Ukraine” HERE)

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Most Troops Deployed for Ukraine Response Still in Europe

By Military Times. Roughly 20,000 U.S. troops were mobilized throughout central and eastern Europe in the early months of this year, first in anticipation of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and then in response to it.

Most of those troops are still posted in partner nations, training with local troops and otherwise assuring NATO countries that the U.S. will respond if Russia takes the fight beyond Ukraine.

“So right now, the intent is to keep troop levels at the same level as they’ve been,” a senior military official told Military Times on Monday during a background briefing. “We have no announcements to make in terms of any changes to that in the near term.”

A small number of those originally mobilized have since redeployed, according to the latest numbers.

The remaining members of the 300-soldier XVIII Airborne Corps headquarters deployment returned from Germany over the weekend, the unit announced Monday. (Read more from “Russia Deploys ‘Killjoy’ Hypersonic Ballistic Missiles to Belarus, UK Intel Says” HERE)

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Russia Deploys ‘Killjoy’ Hypersonic Ballistic Missiles to Belarus, UK Intel Says

By Washington Examiner. Russia has deployed some of its feared hypersonic ballistic missiles to Belarus, according to U.K. intelligence.

The AS-24 Killjoy, or “Kinzhal,” is seen by many as the pride of the Russian military, being one area in which Russia possibly surpasses the capabilities of the United States. The missile, launched from a MiG-31K fighter, is nearly impossible to intercept due to its hypersonic speed, can carry either a conventional or nuclear payload, and has a range of around 1,240 miles, according to an analysis from the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

The purpose of the alleged deployment of the advanced missiles to Belarus is debated, with the most prominent theories portraying it as a warning to the West, a way to further bring Belarus into the war in Ukraine, or as a sign that it could further increase its missile strikes into Ukraine, which has battered its infrastructure in recent weeks.

“Russia has fielded KILLJOY since 2018, but it has not previously been deployed in Belarus. Russia has occasionally launched these weapons during the Ukraine war, but stocks are likely very limited,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense claimed in an intelligence update on the war in Ukraine. (Read more from “Russia Deploys ‘Killjoy’ Hypersonic Ballistic Missiles to Belarus, UK Intel Says” HERE)

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