A Senate bill linking funding to Ukraine with funding for the border and Israel was declared invalid on arrival in the House and is stalled in the Senate. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) expressed hope for eventual funding, saying, “We’re going to talk about dealing with Ukraine going forward. That hasn’t been waived.”
But whatever bill passes, it is unlikely to be similar to the current Senate version. Spending $60 billion abroad in an election year could end the careers of several people in Washington. However, as Chairman Johnson said, “We cannot allow President Vladimir Putin to march through Europe.”
It’s time to look at war from a different perspective. Congress needs to mandate a new strategy. Instead of driving the United States into bankruptcy with endless spending, tell Ukraine to aim to fund Putin’s war machine. The HUR, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, is well placed to accomplish its mission. The HUR has a stellar record of impressive victories against strategic military and energy targets deep within Russian territory.
Cut Putin’s energy income
The lifeblood of any war is money, and Putin gets his money from the sale of fossil fuels. Reductions in US energy production have increased world prices for oil and gas and at the same time opened up international markets to be supplied with Russian production. This gave Putin the windfall he needed to finance his military adventurism.
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How Ukraine destroyed its Black Sea Fleet in two years
In two years, Ukraine succeeded in disabling Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and reopening its shipping lanes. All was accomplished virtually without a navy.
U.S. policymakers should take note of the dramatic successes of this small, underfunded military organization. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy should be encouraged to use HUR, especially in attacks aimed at disabling President Putin’s energy production and export facilities. An attack on Russia’s energy infrastructure could quickly shift the balance of military and financial power.
secret history of victory
If Putin is deprived of the foreign currency he needs to buy weapons and ammunition, his ability to wage war will be rapidly undermined, leaving other Ukrainian forces fighting to hold the front lines at bay. Dew.
Will this strategy be successful? The HUR has already won many secret victories both near the border and thousands of miles away. A simple cost-benefit analysis of these operations compared to ongoing trench warfare naturally supports a fundamental change in policy.
Here are some examples of successful attacks. Just a few days ago, HUR saboteurs blew up his Su-34 fighter jet at Chelyabinsk’s Shagol airfield, more than 2,000 kilometers (1,300 miles) behind him from the front lines. Also this month, HUR drones attacked fuel and energy facilities in Russia’s Oryol region south of Moscow. The airstrike destroyed fuel storage tanks and part of the power grid.
Last month, the target was a railway tunnel in Buryatia, the only viable supply route between Russia and China. The line brings in fuel, rockets and artillery from North Korea and China to supply the Red Army. It is more than 6,500 kilometers (4,000 miles) away within Russian territory. A few days after the tunnel was destroyed, another explosion blew up a bridge spanning a deep gorge in the tunnel’s only bypass. Both explosions destroyed military jet fuel being transported and temporarily disabled shipping routes.
Just today, a Ukrainian drone attack caused significant damage to Russia’s largest metallurgical factory in Novolipetsk. The factory’s products are supplied to a number of companies involved in the production of missiles, rockets, artillery and drones for the Kremlin, among others.
These victories are not new. They have been in place since the beginning of the war. Throughout 2022, the HUR launched drones at air bases hundreds of miles away in Russia, changing the geography of the war.
This result also has important implications for policy. These expose the hollowness of President Putin’s threats of massive nuclear retaliation for attacks on Russian soil. Russian retaliation for HUR attacks deep within Russian territory is limited to conventional missile and artillery fire against civilian areas. The Ukrainian army was emboldened by these successes, and the Russian commanders were demoralized and dismissed.
Assassination attempt on GUR chief
President Vladimir Putin is acutely aware of the role played by the HUR, and has made several attempts to assassinate the head of the HUR, Kirillo Budanov. Recently, Budanov and his wife were the targets of separate assassination attempts. Russia’s secret forces have influence inside Ukraine and are certain to use it to support the military chief’s bureaucratic opposition.
US and EU policymakers would be wise to consider HUR’s track record and mandate support for its efforts. As the U.S. government counts every dollar sent to Ukraine, it should consider directing some of that money specifically to covert efforts to deprive President Putin and his “special military operations” of revenue sources. . We should spend money to bankrupt Putin, not ourselves.
bert markova He is a former U.S. diplomat and served as Principal Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Kyiv Post.