According to unnamed Ukrainian and U.S. officials cited by the FT, American intelligence supports Ukraine in planning routes, altitude, timing, and other mission details to help long-range drones evade Russian air defences. “The United States is closely involved in all stages of planning,” the newspaper said, quoting three people familiar with the operation.
One U.S. official told the FT that Ukraine selects the targets for long-range strikes and Washington then supplies intelligence on the targets’ vulnerabilities. Two U.S. officials also told Reuters earlier this month that Washington would provide Ukraine with intelligence on long-range energy infrastructure targets in Russia.
The same officials said the U.S. had asked NATO allies to offer similar support. Moscow responded this month by accusing the United States and NATO of systematically providing intelligence to Ukraine.
“The supply and use of the entire infrastructure of NATO and the United States to collect and transfer intelligence to Ukrainians is obvious,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on Saturday that he discussed Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy system in a “positive and productive” call with U.S. President Joe Biden. “We discussed opportunities to bolster our air defense, as well as concrete agreements that we are working on to ensure this. There are good options and solid ideas on how to truly strengthen us,” Zelenskiy posted on X.
The White House, Zelenskiy’s office and Ukraine’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Russia’s foreign ministry also did not provide any immediate comment.
Source: Financial Times.
