প্রকাশ: 05/05/2022
Intelligence provided by the United States has helped the
Ukrainian military target several Russian generals since Moscow's invasion, the
New York Times reported Wednesday.
Citing multiple senior US officials, the newspaper said that
of the approximately dozen Russian generals killed by Ukrainian forces,
"many" had been targeted with the help of US intelligence.
The US National Security Council slammed the assertion that
the United States was helping Ukraine kill Russian generals as
"irresponsible."
"The United States provides battlefield intelligence to
help the Ukrainians defend their country," NSC spokesperson Adrienne
Watson told AFP in an email.
"We do not provide intelligence with the intent to kill
Russian generals."
The heavy loss of high-ranking Russian military officers has
stunned Western security officials, who last confirmed an official tally of
seven generals in late March, though Ukraine has since announced more.
In March, Western officials had cited low morale as a reason
Russian generals would be so close to the front.
They also pointed to potential communications and logistics
issues on the Russian side, which could lead senior officers to use unencrypted
channels and expose themselves to Ukrainian forces.
But the report by the New York Times points to direct
assistance from the United States and other Western intelligence services as a
major factor in the Ukrainian success.
The daily said the United States had provided details on the
Russian military's mobile headquarters, which frequently change location, and
that Ukrainian forces used that information in tandem with their own to conduct
attacks on senior Russian officers.
President Joe Biden's administration has kept the military
intelligence it is providing to Ukraine under wraps out of concern it could
compromise its sources as well as be taken as a sign by Russia of direct
hostility.
Earlier in the conflict, the Pentagon was similarly cautious
about noting that only "defensive" weapons and equipment were being
provided to Ukraine.
But it has since announced shipments of offensive weapons
like heavy artillery, helicopters and attack drones.
It has also talked of training Ukrainian troops, including
in Germany, to use the weapons they are receiving.
And instead of saying, as it did in February, that it wants
only to help Ukraine survive, Washington now says its goal in the war is to
debilitate Russia for the long term.
"We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it
can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine," US
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said after a visit to Kyiv in late April.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to request for
comment on the Times report.
- BSS/AFP
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