Austin says US may train Ukrainian soldiers remotely: report

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reportedly told lawmakers that the Pentagon was considering ways to train Ukrainian forces remotely if Russia seized control of Ukraine.

Austin told House members that officials were looking to provide more equipment to Ukrainian troops. However, doing so is harder with Russian troops fighting in the country, officials on the call told Axios.

The report comes as Ukrainian forces fight to fend off Russian troops as Moscow’s military incursion against the former Soviet state enters its second day.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special military operation” early Thursday morning, a move which was met with vast sanctions and export controls from the U.S. and European allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday evening that 137 people had died and 316 others were wounded after the first day of fighting. 

Fears are reportedly growing among U.S. intelligence officials that Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million people, could fall to Russia within days.

The Biden administration provided over $650 million in defensive aid to Ukraine last year—the largest amount since 2014, when Russia first annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula.

Washington has also sent thousands of U.S. forces in recent weeks to bolster NATO’s defense capabilities along the eastern flank. However, President Biden has been clear that no U.S. forces would be sent directly into Ukraine.

Asked about the report, the Pentagon told The Hill it had nothing to add beyond what Austin has already said.