Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,
Ukraine had stepped up intelligence sharing with the US ahead of its northeast counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region that has seen significant success, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
The report cited unnamed US officials who said Ukraine started sharing more information with the US on its planned operations. The officials said this allowed the US to give advice and share intelligence for the counteroffensive, although the details of how exactly Washington helped are not clear.
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| Image via AP |
Earlier in the war, the US had loosened restrictions to allow real-time intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Throughout the fighting, US officials claimed that this real-time intelligence had helped Ukraine target Russian forces, kill senior Russian officers, and drive Russian ammunition supplies further away from the front lines.
The US claims on how much the intelligence sharing has helped Ukraine aren’t confirmed, but it demonstrates how intimately involved Washington is in Kyiv’s war against Russia.
US officials have previously bragged to the media about how intelligence sharing helped sink Russian ships and kill Russian generals, but the claims were later downplayed, with Pentagon officials insisting they don’t pick targets for Kyiv.
Ukraine’s Kharkiv offensive has led to significant territorial gains as Russian troops have pulled out of many areas in the region. A US official told the Times that Washington had "constantly" discussed with Kyiv ways Ukrainian forces could stop Russian offensives in the east.
Retired Lt. Gen. Frederick B. Hodges, a former top U.S. Army commander in Europe, was quoted in the Times report as follows:
General Hodges said the recent success indicated that Ukraine’s efforts to retake land in the south and east could unfold more quickly than he had previously assessed, even setting the stage for an attempt to retake Crimea next year. Other experts agreed that the tide might be turning for Ukraine.
Video of two Russian Su-25 attack aircraft in a close call with two MANPADS. https://t.co/8gZ1MmBG9y pic.twitter.com/F9wXz92Q5U
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) September 13, 2022
The US had also reportedly helped Ukraine prepare for its southern counteroffensive in the Kherson region, but that push has not seen much success. Since launching the offensive at the end of August, Ukrainian officials haven’t offered much detail about the operation, and reporters are not allowed on the frontlines
