White House Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken told reporters Monday that Russia is "increasing the supply of heavy equipment, weapons and fighters to the separatists across the border."
"This is well documented in what we’ve seen, it’s well documented in social media," Blinken said.
According to Blinken, the White House suspects that Russia may be trying to egg the Ukrainians into actions they could use to justify a Russian humanitarian or peace-keeping intervention--although Blinken was careful to couch "justify" and "intervention" in quotation marks.
Blinken named multi-rocket launchers, artillery pieces, tanks, and armored vehicles among the items Russia is providing separatists.
Blinken cited Ukraine's recent successes on the battlefield as the reason for Russia stepping up its aid to the separatists: "Russia’s proxies are right now on the losing end of the fight, and that’s why we think Russia’s doubling down."
