Intelligence sharing with Ukraine "
has had an impact both at the tactical and strategic level
," an official US source told NBC News recently
,
adding that many times, "
it has made a major difference
" in the conflict.
And in particular undoubtedly for the Ukrainian defensive success of the battle of kyiv.
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The American media reveals that the Ukrainian army was able to shoot down, thanks to information from American intelligence agencies, a Russian troop transport plane which had “
hundreds of soldiers
” on board.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: what would be the destructive capacity of a tactical nuclear weapon?
A lot of other intelligence was shared, including on the activities of Russian troops and their targets.
The Ukrainian army was thus able to move
air defense systems
in extremis , preventing Russia from acquiring the essential air superiority in the theaters of operations.
"
The Russian army literally pounded empty areas, where the Ukrainian air defense was installed before being withdrawn
," a US official told NBC.
In this constant tracking of enemy troop movements, the Americans were able to offer Ukraine in particular their significant intelligence satellite capability.
Ukraine does not have satellites capable of carrying out targeted research.
The United States, on the other hand, yes.
With more than twenty intelligence satellites in orbit, the US military has the ability to see Ukrainian soil by overcoming the constraints of “
revisit rates
” or blind spots.
Assassination attempt
The American information supplied to kyiv undoubtedly played a decisive role also in the failure of the attempts to assassinate President Zelensky at the beginning of the war.
"
According to the information we have, the enemy has designated me as the number one target
," Volodymyr Zelensky said on the second day of the Russian invasion, adding that Russia's objective was to "
politically destroy Ukraine by killing its president
.
Less than ten days later, the
Times
revealed that the Ukrainian head of state had survived, since the start of the war, three assassination attempts carried out by Chechen groups and Wagner mercenaries who had long infiltrated the capital this specific end.
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The CIA devotes significant resources to the security of the Ukrainian head of state and in particular advises his entourage "
on the best ways to move around, for example by ensuring that he cannot be located with his entire chain of command
,” an official told NBC.
This cooperation of American intelligence with regard to a non-member country of NATO, unprecedented since the beginning of the war, nevertheless began well before February 24.
As soon as Crimea was taken by Russia in 2014, American services, and more generally Western services, began to provide a lot of information to Ukraine.
With a recent rise.
“
We have been tracking all Russian movements for a year
,” an officer posted to NATO
recently explained to
Le Figaro , welcoming the effort of the allies to strengthen their intelligence capabilities and share them “
including with Ukraine
. ".
