Report: Moscow may arm Yemen’s Houthis over US support for Ukraine
White House said working to dissuade Putin from renewed push to transfer missiles to Iran-backed rebels, as CENTCOM chief says strikes in Yemen ‘failing’ to prevent Red Sea chaos
United States intelligence agencies say Russia could send advanced anti-ship missiles to Yemen’s Houthis in retaliation for Washington’s support for Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing US officials.
According to the newspaper, Washington is working behind the scenes to stop the arms transfer.
Meanwhile, US Central Command chief Erik Kurilla was said to warn that US-led operations were “failing” to prevent Houthi attacks on the Red Sea. In a classified letter to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Kurilla reportedly called for potentially stronger military action and a “whole of government” approach that would step up diplomatic and economic pressure on the Houthis.
“Many people found the tone of the memo to be a bit shocking,” The Journal quoted a defense official as saying. According to the official, Kurilla’s point was that “US service members will die if we continue going this way.”
The US and other nations, notably Britain, have carried out extensive airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in an effort to forestall the Iran-backed rebels’ attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea.
Middle East Eye reported in June that Saudi Arabia had talked Russia out of providing anti-ship cruise missiles to the Houthis. However, US intelligence services assess that Moscow is renewing its push to arm the Houthis after the White House approved Kyiv’s use of US-made weapons to strike targets inside Russia, the Journal said, adding that the nature of the intelligence was unclear.
The newspaper said the White House is making a diplomatic push through a third country to dissuade Russia from the arms transfer.
According to the Journal, US officials have seen recent indications that Russian President Vladimir Putin was still considering arming the Houthis.
Putin said in June that the White House’s policy toward Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022, could drive Moscow to arm US adversaries.
“The response can be asymmetrical, and we will think about that,” Putin told reporters at an international economic forum in St. Petersburg.
Two US officials told The Journal that Russia has not transferred any missiles to the Houthis, but that representatives of the Yemeni rebels were seen in Moscow. The newspaper cited officials as saying that an arms transfer from Russia to Yemen could make use of Iranian smuggling routes.
Iran currently supplies much of the Houthis’ munitions. A Houthi-launched drone that struck Tel Aviv on Friday — killing one person and injuring several others — was Iranian-made, the Israel Defense Force said.
One analyst told The Journal that munitions supplied by Russia “would represent a qualitative leap” in the Houthis’ capabilities.
Hundreds of Houthi missiles, missile launchers and attack drones, as well as dozens of storage facilities and several command centers, air defense systems, radars and helicopters, representing “a significant amount of Houthi capability,” have been destroyed in US-led strikes, a defense official said.
According to The Journal, the White House’s authorization for military action against the Houthis extends to missiles and drones about to be launched. The newspaper said the US military have also taken other limited steps, including seven planned military operations.
Amid Kurilla’s call for a more comprehensive strategy against the Houthis, the Journal cited an administration official as saying that some measures had already been taken to complement the military operations. The Journal also cited an administration official as saying that Washington had requested US Central Command to compile a broader list of targets, including specific Houthi members.
Still, some US officials who spoke to the newspaper criticized Washington’s policy in the Red Sea.
“If you tell the military to re-establish freedom of navigation and then you tell them to only be defensive, it isn’t going to work,” one official was quoted as saying. “It is all about protecting ships without affecting the root cause.”
The Iran-backed Houthis have targeted ships in the Red Sea since November, saying they are doing so in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war there. The war was sparked on October 7, when the Palestinian terror group led a thousands-strong attack on southern Israel that left nearly 1,200 people dead and saw 251 taken hostage.
Houthi attacks have harmed at least 30 merchant ships — some with no connection to Israel, the US or Britain — and sunk two.
