A Raid in Russia’s Belgorod Left Behind a Trail of American Humvees

On Monday morning, Russia’s Belgorod Oblast found itself under invasion—just a year after having itself served as a launchpad for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The oblast—adjacent to Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city—had already been hit by Ukrainian drones, bombarded by artillery and helicopter attacks, and even blasted mistakenly by glide bombs accidentally dropped by an overflying Russian bomber.

But such incidents are not the same as having troops pour out of a column of armored vehicles to seize multiple communities.

Two different groups of pro-Ukrainian Russians—the Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion (the latter officially part of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Force)—claimed responsibility for “liberating” the towns of Kozinka and Gora-Podol in the southwestern corner of the oblast on the Ukrainian border. These cities lay along the 14K-4 (AKA T1705) highway running from Okhtyrna, Ukraine to the Russian city of Tomarovka.

Though Ukrainian special operations forces also launched smaller-scale border incursions to the east, Ukrainian sources coyly denied involvement in the attack. Though, the sources often did so in an ironic register, referring to Russia’s own transparently false denials that it was behind separatist forces assailing Ukraine in 2014.

The attacking forces, which include at least one T-72 tank and mortars for fire support, even pushed into the larger city of Grayvoron. Drone attacks also struck other parts of Belgorod oblast, including the FSB security service headquarters. Local civilians attempted to find safety in bomb shelters, only to find them locked and inaccessible. Russia even felt compelled to evacuate nuclear weapons stored in its Belgorod-22 storage facility.

Russian defenses in the region were apparently minimal at first, with so many troops devoted to occupying territory in Ukraine. Eventually, Su-25 Frogfoot attack jets were dispatched to attack the raiding force.

The raiders eventually withdrew by Wednesday, and the extent of the damage and casualties is difficult to assess. Photos show that the attackers apparently captured a BTR-82 wheeled APC at border crossing, and destroyed an anti-tank gun and some trucks.

Russian media claims that 70 of the raiders were killed. The pro-Russian Volunteers, on the other hand, claim that none of the raiders were killed, and the Freedom of Russia legion reported 2 killed and 10 wounded. In the group’s account, resistance on the ground was limited, and Russian air and artillery strikes fell indiscriminately on local communities.

Russian sources also report that two civilians were killed and 13 were wounded.

Whatever the truth, the attackers seemingly left behind traces of their presence: three damaged M1151/1152 armored Humvees and two M1124 MaxxPro MRAP vehicles provided by the U.S. as security assistance to Ukraine. (Russia claims that the attackers also abandoned a T-72 tank, but photos confirming that claim are lacking. There is, however, footage of a Ukrainian T-72 towing an M1224.)

This was mildly awkward for the U.S., which doesn’t officially support the use of U.S. military assistance for attacks on Russian soil—though it doesn’t rule out Ukraine’s right to make attacks on military targets in principle.

The White House is reportedly investigating, as the use of these vehicles doesn’t seem to have been authorized and likely wouldn’t have been greenlit if requested. Markings on the vehicles also appear to match some seen in videos released earlier by the Ukraine-allied Russian militants.

Meanwhile, the pro-Ukrainian Russian groups claim that their attack actually recaptured three M1224s (or—presumably—four, as seen in some pictures) which Russia captured from Ukraine in Bakhmut. They also claim, however, that they had to abandon one during the withdrawal. Hypothetically, Russian forces could have staged additional losses using some of their captured Humvees and M1224s to lay the blame on the U.S.

Humvee and MaxxPro for Ukraine

Ukraine’s military actually received its first 40 Humvees from the U.S. way back in 2001, when it deployed its 95^th Airborne brigade for peacekeeping duties in Kosovo. But after Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, 500 more followed throughout January of 2022. That included many up-armored M1114, M1115B1, M1151, and M1152 Humvee models intended for combat, M1152s and M998s outfitted as ambulances, and M1025s specially modified to carry AN/TPQ-36 counter-battery radars, which have been used to target Russian artillery with great success. The Humvees were used most frequently by Ukrainian Airborne, Mountain Assault, Naval Infantry and Special Ops troops.

Following Russia’s invasion, the U.S. turned up the spigot. They have sent over 2000 Humvees to Ukraine since April 2022, and a few dozen more have been contributed by Slovenia and Luxembourg.

Starting in July of 2022, the Humvees were complemented by chunkier M1224 MaxxPro mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) armored trucks. These weigh in at a massive 15 or 16 tons, and have the classic V-shaped hull designed to maximize survival odds of the up to seven passengers against mines.

Also apparently lost was a Polish-supplied 5-ton AMZ Dzik-2 infantry mobiliy vehicle. These vehicles have the capacity to carry eight passengers and feature rotating roof-mounted turrets.

The Humvee Offensive

Humvees and MRAPs are valuable to Ukrainian military because they provide more protected transport assets for its personnel. In addition, some of Ukraine’s units are known to use Humvees very aggressively in a fast attack role. Thus, any used and lost on an essentially symbolic raid may be seen as wasteful.

However, wars also take place on a political and psychological battlefield. Ukraine and anti-Putin militants from Russia likely hope that the shocking raid will have deeply embarrassed Russia and undermined Putin’s narrative of success following the Russian forces’ capture of the city of Bakhmut. In theory, Russia might be compelled to reinforce border protection forces at the expense of those deployed to Ukraine.

Some may fear that the spectacle of American armored trucks running amok on Russian soil could carry a certain narrative weight not appreciated by the White House. On the other hand, however, a Humvee or M1224 isn’t some exotic offensive weapon like a Tomahawk cruise missile.

The real embarrassment would be that a modest force mounted on armored trucks designed for counter insurgency warfare managed to penetrate the border and seize several towns over the course of 24 hours before being chased out.

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