The lame-duck Biden administration has lifted a de facto ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine. The change had reportedly been formally approved a month before the election, but is officially taking effect now.
The move is being framed as necessary in order to maintain sophisticated equipment and defense technology provided to Ukraine by Western allies. “In order to help Ukraine repair and maintain military equipment provided by the US and its allies, DoD (Department of Defense) is soliciting bids for a small number of contractors who will help Ukraine maintain the assistance we’ve already provided,” a defense official was quoted in CNN as saying.
“These contractors will be located far from the front lines and they will not be fighting Russian forces. They will help Ukrainian Armed Forces rapidly repair and maintain US provided equipment as needed so it can be quickly returned to the front lines,” the official added.
And yet this clearly marks another huge step toward opening the floodgates for US private military firms. Already, there’s a significant presence of American foreign fighters in Ukraine, and this has already included foreign contractors on the ground.
However, American companies have never been able to operate inside Ukraine while servicing DOD contracts. US companies have so far been there under Ukrainian government contracts. […]
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