Intelligence provided by the US has helped the Ukrainian military target several Russian generals since Moscow’s invasion, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Citing multiple senior US officials, the newspaper said that of the approximately dozen Russian generals killed by Ukrainian forces, “many” had been targeted with the help of US intelligence.
The US National Security Council slammed the assertion that Washington was helping Kyiv kill Russian generals as “irresponsible.”
Photo: AP
“The United States provides battlefield intelligence to help the Ukrainians defend their country,” council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in an e-mail.
“We do not provide intelligence with the intent to kill Russian generals,” she said.
The heavy loss of high-ranking Russian military officers has stunned Western security officials, who last confirmed an official tally of seven generals in late March, although Ukraine has since announced more.
In March, Western officials had cited low morale as a reason Russian generals would be so close to the front.
They also pointed to potential communications and logistics issues on the Russian side, which could lead senior officers to use unencrypted channels and expose themselves to Ukrainian forces.
However, the report by the New York Times points to direct assistance from the US and other Western intelligence services as a major factor in the Ukrainian success.
The daily said the US had provided details on the Russian military’s mobile headquarters, which frequently change location, and that Ukrainian forces used that information in tandem with their own to conduct attacks on senior Russian officers.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has kept the military intelligence it is providing to Ukraine under wraps out of concern it could compromise its sources, as well as be taken as a sign by Russia of direct hostility.
Earlier in the conflict, the Pentagon was similarly cautious about noting that only “defensive” weapons and equipment were being provided to Ukraine.
However, it has since announced shipments of offensive weapons such as heavy artillery, helicopters and attack drones.
It has also talked of training Ukrainian troops, including in Germany, to use the weapons they are receiving.
Moreover, instead of saying, as it did in February, that it wants only to help Ukraine survive, Washington now says its goal in the war is to debilitate Russia for the long term.
“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said after a visit to Kyiv late last month.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to request for comment on the Times report.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday said: “Our military is well aware that the United States, Britain and NATO as a whole are constantly transmitting intelligence and other parameters to the Ukrainian armed forces.”
This, and the supply of Western weapons, “do not contribute to the quick completion of the [Russian] operation, but at the same time are not capable of hindering the achievement of the goals set,” he told reporters.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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