US officials have reportedly confirmed they are providing intelligence that has helped Ukrainian forces target and kill many of the Russian generals who have died in the Ukraine war.
The claim reported in the New York Times, quoting unnamed defence officials, appears to confirm suspicions the US is supplying actionable intelligence in real time to help the Ukrainian military select high-value targets.
Appearing to confirm the claims, the Pentagon spokesperson, John Kirby, acknowledged the US was providing “Ukraine with information and intelligence that they can use to defend themselves”, although Adrienne Watson, a national security council spokesperson, said intelligence was not provided “with the intent to kill Russian generals”.Advertisement
The acknowledgment of US intelligence assistance in targeting Russian forces, which comes on top of another $20bn (£16bn) in promised weapons to Ukraine from Washington, is a further escalation in what is increasingly becoming a proxy war between the US, with its western allies, and Russian forces in Ukraine.
While Russia has already said it is targeting western arms shipments arriving in Ukraine, it also warned of “lightning fast” retaliation after the UK defence minister James Heappey defended Ukraine’s striking of targets inside Russia.
According to the US officials, Washington has given Ukraine details on Russia’s expected troop movements and the location and other details about Russia’s mobile military headquarters, and Ukraine has combined that help with its own intelligence to conduct artillery strikes and other attacks that have killed Russian officers.
Ukrainian officials said they had killed about 12 Russian generals on the battlefield. The most recent fatality apparently occurred at the weekend with the reported death of Maj Gen Andrei Simonov, a Russian electronic warfare commander, who Ukraine claims to have killed near the city of Izyum in the Kharkiv region, which is occupied by Russian forces.Sign up to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BSThttps://www.theguardian.com/email/form/plaintone/morning-briefing
Justifying the sharp increase in military assistance to Ukraine last month, the US president, Joe Biden, made it clear Washington wanted to help shape conditions to assist Ukrainian forces in the current phase of the war, as Moscow has pivoted from its failed attempt to take Kyiv to focus on eastern and southern regions of the country.
The New York Times reported the Biden administration had sought to keep much intelligence secret to avoid provoking Vladimir Putin into a wider war.
That cautious calculation appears to have changed in recent weeks, as countries have voiced overt support for Ukraine including in supplying far more lethal equipment including much-needed artillery and ammunition.
Summing up that mood last month, the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said the US wanted “to see Russia weakened to the degree it cannot do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine”. Boris Johnson, in an address to the Ukrainian parliament earlier this week, framed the fight in Churchillian terms.
