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| Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP |
Washington is seeking to help Kyiv defeat Moscow’s invasion while avoiding direct conflict with President Vladimir Putin
The United States is walking a fine line as it shares vast amounts of classified intelligence with Ukraine, trying to help Kyiv defeat Russia’s invasion and avoid dragging the U.S. into direct conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to current and former American officials.
U.S. intelligence-sharing policy, they say, in essence comes down to this: Washington provides data on the movement of Russian troops, tanks and ships; Ukraine, which also has its own intelligence capabilities, decides when to take a shot.
Revelations this past week that Ukraine used American intelligence to locate and strike the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva, and to conduct strikes that killed Russian generals on the battlefield have heightened focus on what the officials said is a virtually unprecedented pipeline of data being sped from U.S. spy agencies to Ukraine’s government.
While U.S. officials openly publicized declassified intelligence about Russia’s plans in the lead-up to its Feb. 24 invasion and in the war’s early weeks, they have been more cautious about describing its battlefield intelligence exchange with Kyiv. Administration spokespersons pushed back vigorously against suggestions Washington was instructing Ukraine on which Russian military platforms to attack or personnel to kill.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. didn’t give Ukraine “specific targeting information” regarding the Moskva, and didn’t have prior knowledge of Kyiv’s intent to attack the ship, which sank in mid-April after Ukrainian forces struck it with two Neptune missiles.
“We do provide a range of intelligence to help them understand the threat posed by Russian ships in the Black Sea and help them prepare to defend themselves against potential sea-based assaults,” she said. --->READ MORE HERE
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| US Air Force / Flickr |
It’s not too much to ask that Congress debate and vote on whether to authorize a U.S. march to war that’s now well underway.
The New York Times claimed this week that the United States is providing real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine that has enabled the Ukrainians to target and kill approximately a dozen Russian generals, and helped locate and strike the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet last month.
Described as a “classified effort,” the U.S. provision of targeting intelligence to Ukraine “also includes anticipated Russian troop movements gleaned from recent American assessments of Moscow’s secret battle plan for the fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine,” according to the Times.
The Times’ reporting relies on anonymous “senior American officials,” but if true it represents a sharp and unprecedented escalation of U.S. involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war, such that Congress should immediately debate and vote on whether to authorize the use of military force in Ukraine.
Indeed, providing real-time targeting intelligence brings the United States right up to the line of belligerence, and arguably over it. The Biden administration seems to understand this. According to the Times, the administration “has sought to keep much of the battlefield intelligence secret, out of fear it will be seen as an escalation and provoke President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia into a wider war.”
The White House is right to fear this outcome, because it’s entirely possible that Putin will absolutely consider this level of battlefield participation by the United States tantamount to an act of war. That’s no doubt why the Biden administration snapped into damage control mode after the Times story about targeting intelligence published on Wednesday. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:
+++++Russia-Ukraine News LATEST UPDATES: (REUTERS) (AP) (NY POST) and (WSJ)+++++
+++++US denies helping Ukraine sink Russian ship Moskva+++++
+++++US denies providing intel to help Ukraine target Russian military leaders+++++
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