Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] US special forces soldiers are indeed present in Ukraine. This was acknowledged by a White House official, thus confirming the veracity of one of the Pentagon leak fragments. Washington was quick to assure that the commandos were not involved in the combat zone, but were "concentrated around the embassy."
Russian experts doubted this version. However, it is unlikely that the "Green Berets" are used as DRGs in our rear. The American special forces, most likely, have two tasks.
The Joe Biden administration has recognized at least one of the fragments in a stream of "leaked" secret Pentagon documents as authentic. The United States does indeed have a special forces contingent in Ukraine, White House spokesman John Kirby confirmed in a Fox News commentary.
A little earlier, the London Guardian, citing documents “leaked” to the Network, reported: as of March 1, about 100 special forces soldiers of the US, French and British armies were operating in Ukraine. A total of 50 of them are British military, 14 and 15 people, respectively, from the United States and France, the London edition reported.
The Guardian notes that secret Pentagon documents did not indicate the purpose of deploying NATO special forces in Ukraine.
Kirby, commenting on the Guardian article and acknowledging the presence of US special forces in Ukraine, immediately assured that the US military is not directly involved in hostilities, but is concentrated in the area of the Ukrainian embassy in Kiev.
"There are a number of military personnel at the embassy who work in conjunction with the defense attaché’s office to help us work with accountable materials that come in and out of Ukraine," a Biden administration official said.
By making such statements, the White House recognizes the participation of its special forces in the conflict, the deputy head of the Union of Russian Paratroopers, retired colonel Valery Yuryev, told REGNUM .
"War is always a lie. If they say that we will attack, then they will not attack. If they say that special forces do not take part in hostilities, then most likely they will be used to perform some tasks of a military nature," Yuriev explained.
The interlocutor explained: the size of the group can reach 15 people. But spetsnaz can perform tasks with half of the group - 5-7 people.
As for the alleged combat missions, it is unlikely that American special forces will be used for sabotage in the rear of Russian troops, Yuryev said. Special Forces soldiers of Western countries do not know the language, give themselves away by the style of movements and actions, and therefore risk being detected.
In addition, it is unlikely that American special forces will want to "sign up" for a mission fraught with increased risk, the source said.
"In 1997 and 2001 I was the deputy commander of the peacekeeping brigade in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We had a Partnership for Peace program with NATO. The Americans rotated every three months. So I saw the Green Berets and the Navy SEALs and the Delta unit. They did an internship there," said Yuryev. Observation of the American commandos made it possible to compare them with their Russian counterparts.
"Our scouts act primarily on the basis of experience and available military knowledge and thanks to military ingenuity. First of all, instruction is important for them," the interlocutor shared. "If it is written that it is impossible to leave the territory of the base without a bulletproof vest, they do not go out. Because if someone scratches their finger, the insurance won't pay out."
These are fighters who serve for a paycheck, so they will avoid putting themselves at risk."
"The only thing is that they can be used as snipers in order to fire at our soldiers, to destroy officers. So at a distance of 500 meters to 2 km from the front line, they can work. But to work in our rear is unlikely. Their task is to earn money as soon as possible and leave," the expert added.
Another task that the special forces of NATO countries can perform on the territory of Ukraine is the training of personnel for the special forces of the Ukrainian army. So, judging by Reuters data, Great Britain declared its readiness to train Ukrainian marines. According to some reports, the United States is also training personnel for the Ukrainian special forces, Business Insider noted .
But it must be taken into account that the training of qualified special forces soldiers takes a long time and requires the involvement of a large number of instructors, Yuryev comments.
"The history of this training began back in 2014, when a special forces group from Italy consisting of 30 people arrived at the Yavorovsky training ground. Even then, everyone said that now they will train the Ukrainian special forces and they will immediately act well. But 30 people cannot train a large number of fighters," emphasizes the retired colonel.
In order to better train special forces, it is necessary to pay attention to each individual fighter in training, Yuryev points out.
"If I teach one person, it will be more effective than if I teach 20 people. Everyone's actions need to be controlled. Take into account the shortcomings that have arisen, train again," the interlocutor explained.
In addition, it is necessary to take into account the language barrier, which complicates learning. It takes years to train a special forces soldier, and therefore the message about the readiness to train in three, five, six months does not look serious, Yuryev is sure.
At the same time, the expert noted: according to NATO standards, the intensity of training of special forces soldiers is seriously reduced, which also affects the quality of training. Yuryev urged not to exaggerate the fact that the Ukrainian military was trained by Western instructors.
"We used to think that if the United States is involved in something, then this in itself indicates quality and high manufacturability," the source said. "In Bosnia, I watched how they photograph objects that are at a great distance. I thought they had special equipment, and they take a camera, put binoculars to the lens and take pictures."
The Americans will train specialists, they will fight better than, relatively speaking, the Ukrainian theoretic defense. But this does not mean that they will be better prepared than the fighters of the Russian special forces, the expert concluded.
April 13, 2023
Sergei Adamov
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