WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States says it has shared intelligence with Ukraine on the location of Russia’s missile cruiser Moscow before the strike that sank the warship, an incident that is a high-profile failure for the Russian military.
A US official said on Thursday that Ukraine had decided to direct and sink the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s flagship using its own anti-ship missiles. But given Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s sea coast, the United States has provided “intelligence” that includes the whereabouts of those ships, said the official, who is not authorized to speak in public or speak on condition of anonymity.
The Biden administration has stepped up intelligence sharing with Ukraine, along with arms and missile supplies, to help repel Russia’s invasion. The revelation of US support in the Moscow coup comes when the White House is under pressure from Republicans to do more to support Ukraine’s resistance, and polls suggest Americans doubt whether President Joe Biden is tough enough on Russia.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in February, the White House has sought to balance support for Ukraine, a democratic ally, against doing nothing that appears to provoke a direct war between Putin and US and NATO allies. As the war continues, the White House has stepped up its military and intelligence support, removing certain time and geographical constraints on what it will say to Ukraine about potential Russian targets.
A spokesman for Thursday said the United States did not know Ukraine was planning to strike Moscow until the operation was carried out. NBC News first reported on the US role in the sinking of the ship.
Speaking earlier Thursday in a New York Times report on the US role in supporting Ukraine in the assassination of Russian generals, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said U.S. agencies “did not provide intelligence on the whereabouts of senior military leaders on the battlefield.” and do not participate in decisions to direct the Ukrainian military. “
“Ukraine combines the information that we and other partners provide with the information that they collect themselves and then they make their own decisions and take their own action,” Kirby said.
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