The New York Times reported Monday that dozens of US ex-military personnel are operating on the ground in Ukraine and that retired senior US officers are directing portions of the Ukrainian war effort from within the country.

Coming after revelations that the United States was directly involved in coordinating and planning the assassination of Russian generals and the sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, the report further refutes the false claim by the Biden administration that the United States is not at war with Russia.

In its report, the Times wrote:

Americans are in Ukraine. An unknown number are fighting on the front lines. Others volunteer to be members of casualty evacuation teams, bomb disposal specialists, logistics experts and trainers. At least 21 Americans have been wounded in combat since the war started, according to a nonprofit organization that evacuates them. Two have been killed, two have been captured and one is missing in action.

In February, US President Joe Biden said, “Our forces are not and will not be engaged in a conflict with Russia in Ukraine.” In March, Biden reiterated, “The idea that we’re going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks … going in with American pilots and American crews, just understand, don’t kid yourselves, no matter what you all say, that’s called World War III.”

Since that announcement, the United States has provided over 200 armored personnel carriers and over 20 helicopters to Ukraine, as well as M109 self-propelled armored howitzers, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and HIMARS long-range missiles.

In addition to these military armaments, it is now clear that the United States has sent troops. The US military claims that these forces, including one colonel and one lieutenant colonel, are operating on their own and are not under the command of the US military.

But these denials are a lie, meant to deceive the American people, who overwhelmingly oppose their government going to war with Russia. The officers admitted as much, telling the Times that their actions give the United States “plausible deniability.”

The Times interviewed Andrew Milburn, a retired Marine Corps Special Operations colonel on the ground in Ukraine, who declared that his actions and those of the dozens of American soldiers “are executing U.S. foreign policy in a way the military can’t.”

Speaking by phone from a village about 15 miles from the front lines in eastern Ukraine, Mr. Milburn said his efforts supported US goals while insulating the United States from involvement. “I’m plausible deniability,” he said. “We can do the work, and the U.S. can say they have nothing to do with us.”

Significantly, the US officers are “helping to plan combat missions,” serving as a critical conduit for US direction of the war effort.

The Times reports of the existence of a so-called “Mozart group” of dozens of US soldiers who are actively engaged in training thousands of Ukrainian troops on how to use weapons provided by the United States, such as javelin anti-tank missiles.

The Times report does not constitute investigative reporting but rather a controlled release of information designed to condition the American population to accept the unthinkable: A “hot war” between nuclear-armed powers.

Bit by bit, Biden’s lying claim that the United States is not at war with Russia is being replaced with the reality that the United States is, in fact, at war with the world’s second largest nuclear power. The American population is simply to be presented with a fait accompli and accept the facts on the ground that they are at war.

This course of action faces overwhelming popular opposition. In a YouGov poll published this week, 40 percent of respondents said the US should be “less militarily engaged in conflicts around the world,” compared with 12 percent who said it should be “more engaged.”

In the poll, 46 percent of respondents said they “oppose the United States military becoming directly involved in combat in the Russia-Ukraine war,” compared to just 23 percent who support such a move.

Despite a series of military setbacks for Ukraine, the United States has only intensified its involvement in the war.

Congress has officially allocated $54 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine since the start of the war, translating to at least $418 million per day. The US and its allies have sent over 100,000 anti-tank weapons, hundreds of drones, hundreds of armored vehicles, and dozens of helicopters and other aircraft. Since the start of the war, the United States has permanently deployed 20,000 additional troops to Europe.

Last week, at the conclusion of the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, the members of NATO, including most European states as well as the United States and Canada, adopted a strategy document pledging to “deliver the full range of forces” needed “for high-intensity, multi-domain warfighting against nuclear-armed peer-competitors.”

This language has not been published in the New York Times, Washington Post or Wall Street Journal or cited by any of the major broadcast networks. Behind the backs of the American people the United States government is making preparations for world war, of which the conflict in Ukraine is just the opening salvo.