Secret US intel support pivotal in Ukraine's strategy against Russia
The "New York Times" disclosed that the role of the US in planning the operations of the Ukrainian military was much greater than previously thought. American intelligence support played a key role in Ukraine's strategy against Russian invaders.
What do you need to know?
- American intelligence assistance: Data collected by American services was crucial for Ukraine's strategy and precise targeting of objectives.
- Cooperation in Wiesbaden: Since spring 2022, Ukrainian generals have been collaborating with American military personnel in Germany to plan military operations.
- Changes in policy: New US President Donald Trump aims to limit cooperation with Ukraine and improve relations with Russia.
Behind the scenes of American intelligence assistance
The "New York Times" revealed that American intelligence assistance to Ukraine was far more extensive than previously believed. "A vast American intelligence-collection effort both guided big-picture battle strategy and funneled precise targeting information down to Ukrainian soldiers in the field," emphasized author Adam Entous, who conducted 300 interviews over more than a year with officials from the US and allied countries.
Cooperation began with a visit by Ukrainian generals to the US command headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 2022. General Mykhailo Zabrodski signed an agreement with American General Christopher Donahue. As part of the partnership, American military personnel and CIA agents helped Ukrainians identify targets, such as command points of Russian units attacking Ukraine, as well as ports and military equipment in occupied Crimea. In subsequent years in Wiesbaden, Americans and Ukrainians jointly drafted plans for military actions, including counteroffensives in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
"Points of interest"
In some ways, Ukraine was another in a series of proxy wars between the US and Russia, like Vietnam in the 1960s, Afghanistan in the 1980s, or Syria 30 years later, assessed the "NYT".
From the start, cooperation in Wiesbaden was overshadowed by fears that Russia's leader Vladimir Putin would see it as evidence of the US's direct involvement in the war and carry out his threats to use nuclear weapons. Unlike operations in the Middle East, in Ukraine, the American military could operate only remotely, highlighted the newspaper.
Due to these concerns, coordinates provided to the Ukrainian military were labeled "points of interest" rather than "tracks of interest." "If you ever get asked the question, ‘Did you pass a target to the Ukrainians?’ you can legitimately not be lying when you say, ‘No, I did not,’" said one of the American officials.
Trump has already begun to limit cooperation
However, not everything proceeded smoothly. In August 2024, the Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region of Russia was a "significant breach of trust" for the Americans because the Ukrainians did not inform them of their plans.
New US President Donald Trump, who took office in January, aims to quickly end the war and improve relations with Russia. He has already started limiting certain elements of US-Ukrainian cooperation in Wiesbaden.
