U.S. intelligence played a role in the sinking of the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship Moscow Ukraine last month, NBC News reported late Thursday, just days after the New York Times hinted that US-supplied information had become a factor in Ukraine's military's relentless success. Taking Russian generals off the battlefield.
Ukrainian military authorities have claimed to have killed a dozen Russian generals since the February 23 Russian invasion. U.S. sources, according to the Times, declined to say how many of them were killed.
Reported targeted assistance is part of a classified effort under which the Biden administration provided real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine, the Times reported. The Times quoted U.S. officials as saying that information on the movements of Russian troops and the Pentagon's assessment of Moscow's plans for an attack on the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine had also been relayed to the Ukrainian military.
The United States has reported that sharing any information that is a direct role in reducing any suggestion is more routine.
Maritime U.S. intelligence has reportedly shared information about Moscow with Ukraine, saying the ship had been identified and helped confirm its location. According to sources quoted by NBC News, the United States played no role in the decision to attack Ukraine's Russian flagship, which sank after hitting two missiles while being transported to a port in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Russia has admitted that the ship caught fire and sank while docking.
Views: The Kremlin has acknowledged that at least one serviceman was killed and dozens were missing after the Moscow sinking.
Officials at the Biden administration have expressed concern that public discussion and explicit confirmation of the role played by US intelligence in Ukraine's defense could be considered growing by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with unknown consequences.
