US intelligence is helping Ukraine kill Russian generals

WASHINGTON-The United States has provided intelligence to Russian units that allowed Ukrainians to attack and kill many of the Russian generals killed in action in the war in Ukraine, according to senior U.S. officials.

Ukrainian officials say they have almost been killed 12 generals on the front lines, a number that terrified military analysts.

The targeting assistance is part of a classified effort by the Biden administration to provide real-time intelligence on the battlefield in Ukraine.

That intelligence is also included expected moves of Russian troops obtained from a recent U.S. analysis of Moscow’s secret battle plan for fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, officials said.

The functionaries they refused to specify several generals died as a result of US aid.

The United States is committed to providing the location and other details about the mobile headquarters of the Russian army, which are frequently moved.

Ukrainian officials combined that geographical information with their own intelligence, including blocked communications alerts the Ukrainian military to the presence of senior Russian officials, to carry out artillery strikes and other attacks that have killed Russian officials.

Intelligence sharing is part of an intensified flow of U.S. aid that includes heavier weapons and dozens of weapons billions of dollars in aidshowing how quickly the initial U.S. restrictions on support for Ukraine changed as the war entered a new stage that could play out for months.

US intelligence support to the Ukrainians had a decisive impact on the battlefield, validating the targets identified by the Ukrainian military and pointing them to new targets.

The flow of actionable intelligence in the Russian troop movement provided by the United States to Ukraine has some precedents.

Since failing to advance in kyiv, the capital, in the early part of the war, Russia has tried to reunite, with a more concentrated push on eastern Ukraine, which is now moving slowly and unevenly.

Officials interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of classified intelligence being shared in Ukraine.

The administration tried to keep most of the battlefield intelligence secret, for fear it would be seen as an increase and provoke the president. From Russia, Vladimir Putin, in the larger war.

U.S. officials did not describe how they obtained information about the Russian troop headquarters, for fear of jeopardizing their methods of collection.

But throughout the war, U.S. intelligence agencies used a different fonts, including classified and commercial satellites, to monitor the movements of Russian troops.

Secretary of Defense, Lloyd AustinHe said last month that “we want to see Russia weaken to the point where it can’t do the kinds of things it did by invading Ukraine.”

When asked about the intelligence provided to Ukrainians, John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said, “we will not discuss the details of that information.”

But he acknowledged that the United States provides “Ukraine with information and intelligence that they can use to defend themselves.”

After this article was first published, Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said in a statement that battlefield intelligence was not provided to Ukrainians. “with the aim of assassinating Russian generals. “

Not all attacks were carried out using US intelligence.

An attack over the weekend at a location in eastern Ukraine where Gen. Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s highest -ranking uniformed official, he has no help from U.S. intelligence, according to several U.S. officials.

USA he forbids himself provide intelligence to Russia’s top leaders, officials said.

But U.S. intelligence contributed to the deaths of other generals, officials acknowledged.

The United States regularly provides information on the movement of Russian troops and equipment and helps Ukraine confirm the location of critical targets.

Other NATO allies also provide real-time intelligence to the Ukrainian military.

The Biden administration is also providing new weapons that should improve Ukraine’s ability to attack high -ranking Russian officials.

The smaller version of the Switchblade drone, which now hits the battlefield, can be used to identify and kill individual soldiers, and can take a general sitting in a vehicle or give orders to the fronts. line.

US officials have publicly acknowledged that the United States has begun providing actionable intelligence to Ukraine in past tense in the Russian invasion on February 24.

Prior to the raid, for example, U.S. intelligence agencies warned of an imminent attack on Hostomel airport north of kyiv.

That allowed Ukraine strengthen your defenses.

Russia’s airborne forces finally they can not do it keep the airport.

Although the information provided by the United States to Ukraine has proven valuable, Russian generals have often been exposed to electronic eavesdropping by speaking into insecure phones and radios, current and former U.S. military officials said. .

“Sample poor discipline, lack of experience, pride and lack of appreciation for the capabilities of the Ukrainiansays Frederick B. Hodges, a former top U.S. Army commander in Europe who now works at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

“Is not difficult geographically locate someone on a phone by speaking clearly.

Russia’s military tactics also left senior generals vulnerable.

The top-down, centralized command hierarchy provides decision-making authority at the highest level only, compared to America’s more decentralized structure that drives many battlefield decisions down to senior enlisted personnel and junior officers, who force to Russian generals to make dangerous trips to the front lines to solve logistical and operational problems.

“When there are problems, general officers have to fix it,” Hodges said.

While the administration remains wary of inflaming Putin to the point that he has exacerbated his attacks (President Joe Biden has said he will not send U.S. troops to Ukraine or establish a “no- fly zone “there), current and former officials told the White House found some value in warning Russia that Ukraine has the weight of the US and NATO behind him.

Some European officials believe that despite Putin’s rhetoric that Russia is at war with NATO and the West, so far he has not been prevented from starting a broader war.

U.S. officials are less sure and have been debating for weeks why Putin has not done anything to escalate the conflict.

Officials said Moscow would have to weigh its own calculations, even if it could cope with a bigger war, especially one that would allow NATO to use them. letter of defense to each other or go directly to war.

“Obviously, we want Russians to know to some degree that we are helping Ukrainians with this measure, and we will continue to do so,” said Evelyn Farkas, a former Department of Defense official for Russia and Ukraine in the Obama administration.

“We will give them everything they need to win, and we are not afraid of Vladimir Putin’s reaction there. We will not decide for ourselves. ”

But sharing intelligence is considered a safe way to help because it is invisible, or at least maikakaila.

U.S. intelligence has provided confidential information to Ukraine in a wide range of areas, from the movements of Russian troops to target data, officials said.

Last month, the United States increased the flow of intelligence to Ukraine about Russian forces Donbas and Crimea, as military forces in kyiv prepare to defend against a new Moscow offensive in eastern Ukraine, U.S. officials said.

“There’s a huge amount of intelligence flowing into Ukraine from the United States,” Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Senate panel Tuesday.

“We’ve already opened the pipes.”

Michael Schwirtz contributed reporting from Ukraine.

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