Washington became a “part of the kill chain” by providing invaluable intelligence and strategic support, one official told the paper
The administration of US President Joe Biden was far more deeply involved in helping Ukraine’s fight against Russia than previously acknowledged, a New York Times investigation has claimed, stressing that Washington’s intelligence was indispensable in Kiev’s military operations.
The lengthy report released on Saturday offers a deep dive into an “extraordinary partnership of intelligence, strategy, planning and technology” that became Kiev’s “secret weapon” in countering Russia.
While the Pentagon supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars in military aid, it also provided crucial intelligence that enabled Kiev to attack Russian command and control centers and other high-value targets starting in mid-2022, the NYT said.
According to the article, the heart of this partnership lay at the US Army facility in Wiesbaden, Germany, where American and Ukrainian military officers set targeting priorities each morning. However, the military officials reportedly avoided calling these priorities “targets,” opting instead to call them “points of interest” for fear of appearing too provocative.
The NYT also revealed that American and Ukrainian officers planned major counteroffensives together and launched massive long-range high-precision strikes using Western-supplied weapons on Russia’s Crimea. The strikes using Western-supplied missiles have led to civilian casualties, with one ATACMS attack on a Sevastopol beach in June 2024 killing four and injuring more than 150.
The US also dispatched dozens of military advisers to Ukraine, some of whom were allowed to travel close to the frontline.
In 2024, the US allowed Ukraine to carry out limited long-range strikes using American-supplied weapons in internationally recognized Russian territory – something that had been considered a “red line” for months. Washington provided Kiev with the targeting data for the strikes.
One European intelligence official was shocked by the level of US involvement in the conflict, telling the Times, “they are part of the kill chain now.”
The cooperation, however, was at times tenuous due to disagreements over overall strategy and objectives, especially in the run-up to Ukraine’s botched counteroffensive in the southern sector of the front in the summer of 2023.
American officials reportedly viewed their Ukrainian counterparts as too ambitious and dismissive of strategic advice, while the Ukrainians accused the Americans of being overly cautious. During the 2023 counteroffensive, the Ukrainian leadership was split between competing objectives – pursuing an assault toward Melitopol and defending Artemovsk (Bakhmut). This reportedly undermined the unified strategy developed in Wiesbaden.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Ukraine “cannot exist” without outside support. Moscow has repeatedly denounced Western involvement in the conflict, saying it would only prolong the hostilities without changing their outcome.
However, the administration of US President Donald Trump has engaged with Russia with the aim of ending the conflict. Moscow has praised the engagement as productive.
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