Washington speeds more weapons to Ukraine as Moscow moves past its mercenary mutiny

(Originally published June 28 in “What in the World“) The abortive mutiny against Moscow by its mercenary Wagner group hasn’t interrupted the war in Ukraine—or the stream of weapons supplying it.

Russian forces lobbed a missile into a popular pizza joint in Donetsk province’s Kramatorsk, killing four people and injuring more than 40, even as Wagner forces were returning to their barracks in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk province. They may end up on Ukraine’s northern border in Belarus, where their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has been granted some kind of asylum.

Wall Street seemed to interpret Wagner’s mutiny as a sign Ukraine might not need as many Western weapons for as long investors thought. But U.S. Senate hawks are using the mutiny to justify sending Ukraine more arms even faster, arguing that Prigozhin’s tantrum is a sign that U.S. weapons are working. They’re looking for ways around the caps on next year’s defense budget baked into last month’s deal to lift the U.S. debt ceiling.

In the meantime, the White House announced another $500 million in weapons for Ukraine. This batch of weaponry will come from the Pentagon’s existing stockpiles and will include more armored vehicles to replace those Russia destroyed in the counteroffensive, as well as more missiles for Ukraine’s U.S.-supplied Himars launchers. The latest aid brings to $40.5 billion the total military aid the U.S. has given Ukraine since Russia invaded.