© REUTERS / Shuran Huang/RIA NOVOSTI
The influence of Americans in and on Ukraine has been growing steadily for all the eight and a half years since the Maidan revolution. Gradually, Washington has removed its rival EU partners, with their positions even seemingly preferable at first, away from the steering control levers over Ukraine. Then, however, considerable "equity stakes" went to other frenemies – Ankara and London. But now the Americans are once again demonstrating unwillingness to give their "controlling stake" to anyone, while introducing an increasing number of colonial practices in the long-suffering Ukrainian territory, demonstrating that sky is not the limit for them.
Even before Russia’s special operation began, news like the one Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense released in early January became commonplace. Back then, its policy directorate employed Americans Chris Rizzo and Todd Brown to act as "advisers" (in fact, curators) and provide advisory assistance in carrying out defense reforms. Now Washington is no longer going to veil its military-political governance of Ukraine even verbally.
Two weeks ago, America’s broadsheet The Wall Street Journal reported, referring to its sources in official circles, that the Biden administration is soon going to officially proclaim a long-term military mission to support Ukraine and appoint a "two- or three-star" general (that is, a major general or lieutenant general) in charge of sending aid to Ukraine and training its servicemen. The mission’s name will become a legal recognition of US military strategy, just like it was in case with Iraq or Afghanistan (Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, etc.).
WSJ notes that appointing a two- or three-star general implies the creation of a command center responsible for coordinating efforts, which differs from the mostly temporary measures to train and aid Ukrainians in the past few years. Also, the mission’s official status is important for everyone involved in personal and pragmatic terms, because it implies substantial funding for the entire work period, awards, distinctions, payments and other freebies. And this is certainly one of the important points of similarity with Iraq and especially Afghanistan, where US departments, structures, companies and individuals managed to obtain hundreds of billions of dollars from their own budget. But the most remarkable thing is putting Ukraine on a par with explicitly colonial raiding operations in the Global South.
Ukraine’s political leadership remains tightly controlled, especially in terms of governing military operations and making strategic decisions. An illustrative example is as follows. Zelensky's team is known to be greatly dissatisfied with headstrong commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhny, who ranks high among the population. Therefore, the "presidential administration" is actively seeking to replace him, with the Armed Forces looking for any embarrassing evidence against him. The American embassy is unhappy about such a do-it-yourself approach. According to Ukrainian Telegram channels, Ambassador Bridget Brink recently had “presidential administration” head Andrii Yermak on the carpet to scold and make him justify himself.
At the same time, the United States is stepping up weapons supplies to the combat zone. Its yet another "assistance package" embraced six NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems with additional ammunition, up to 245,000 155-millimeter shells and up to 65,000 120-millimeter mortar shells. Moreover, the previously covert supply of high-speed anti-radar HARM missiles was officially recognized after the Russian military had found their remnants. According to Politico, Washington keeps transporting a number of top-secret arms to Ukraine like the Excalibur guided artillery shells. The outlet got acquainted with the official release handed over by the US administration to the Congress amid allocating the nth aid package to Kiev, stipulating that weaponry supplied are "not limited" to those listed.
But intensified military-technical flow also implies tighter control. Recently, America’s CBS News released a film on the issue questioning the possible formation of a huge "gray" weapons zone in Ukraine following the conflict. The film featured former Marine Corps special force commander Colonel Andrew Milburn, who had previously admitted that the logistics of delivering US weapons to the front are unreliable and poorly organized. He reiterated that the US loses control over all the military cargoes crossing the border, which requires a system to supervise those. However, given Milburn’s direct linkage to structures engaged in sending weapons, equipment, and mercenaries to Ukraine, his message is quite understandable: supervision should be carried out by "the right people" like himself.
The very fact of military support for the Kiev regime and its further necessity remains the matter of American consensus, albeit not the most impressive one. According to a Reuters/Ipsos survey, 53% of US citizens agree that their country has to proceed with assisting Zelensky and his ilk until "Russia withdraws all of its forces from Ukraine." 18% are opposed to such a scenario.
Democratic Party voters are most willing to support Ukraine – two-thirds of respondents against half of those supporting Republicans. Former Republican Senator from Virginia Richard Black was brutally candid in his description of the United States’ Ukraine strategy. "We don’t care how many Ukrainians die. Not civilians, not women, not children, not soldiers. We do not care. It’s become a great football game, and we want to get the biggest score… Ukraine has anything to do with the decision about peace or war. The decision about peace or war is made in Washington DC. As long as we want this war to continue, we will fight that war using Ukrainian as proxies and we will fight it to the last Ukrainian death," the politician said.
Responsible processes like forcing Ukraine to commit suicide in its fight against Russia requires special supervision, that’s a clear thing. This is what Washington has done.
