Though they confirmed that the majority of the US troops deployed to Ukraine are indeed training in the far west of the country, Russia’s Defense Ministry claims a small portion of the US force has gone east, near the contested civil war territory, on apparent training operations there.
Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the US troops have been in sites near the contested zone, including Mariupol and Severodonetsk.
The Pentagon denied the report, saying that it was a “ridiculous” allegation. The US announced Monday that around 300 troops who arrived in Ukraine over the weekend would be training in Lviv.
As with US allegations about Russia’s presence in Ukraine, Russia offered no evidence of the US presence in the east. though they claimed footage was being shown of US troops in Mariupol on Ukrainian television.
Wouldn't surprise me that they're checking out the terrain.
Looks like the Russians just borrowed a page from the US!
If the Pentagon claim that the allegation is "ridiculous" then the allegation is almost certainly true.
I saved audio from an online video from Ukrainian TV some months back showing someone who is clearly American in uniform on the front line during the conflict. nhmakingwaves.org… can't remember exactly which show it was.
Probably part of the propaganda war but RicR30's comment is perfectly conceivable. 300 troops! That's a good start.