- U.S. officials told the Washington Post that there were restrictions on what intelligence could be shared with Ukraine.
- They said Intel was allowing senior Russian commanders and ministers to be targeted.
- U.S. officials are cautious that excessive intelligence sharing could lead to a wider confrontation with Russia.
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US intelligence agencies have not provided Ukraine with information that would allow its forces to assassinate Russia’s top commanders and ministers or attack Russia itself, officials told The Washington Post.
Officials told the publication guidelines on what kind of intelligence could be shared with Ukraine, with two key forms of information sharing banned.
First, the United States will not share information that could be used to assassinate Russia’s top military or government officials, including Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of staff, or Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defense minister, US officials said.
The second form of banned intelligence sharing is anything that would allow Ukraine to attack targets within Russia itself. According to officials, it was this rule that led the United States in March to withdraw support for Poland’s plans to supply Ukraine with more fighter jets.
The allegations come after a series of fires and explosions at sensitive fuel depots and other facilities across Russia and speculation that the incidents may be part of a sabotage campaign in Russia by Ukraine.
According to the report, the ban on intelligence sharing does not apply to all Russian military officers, with several Russian generals being killed by Ukraine in targeted killings. However, the official said location-specific information was not shared.
In remarks to the Post, a defense official objected to a New York Times report alleging that US intelligence had allowed Ukraine to kill generals, saying the United States was not “actively helping them kill generals of all kinds.” .
According to the report, there are fears that if the United States is targeted directly at Russia or its top commanders, it could trigger a retaliatory strike from the Kremlin and provoke wider conflict.
The report was followed by controversy over briefings given by US officials to publications, including the Post and Times, alleging that US intelligence was used by Ukraine to assassinate Russian generals, as well as the sinking of Russia’s flagship in the Black Sea. ” Moscow “.
President Joe Biden was reportedly outraged by the leak and made calls to officials, including CIA chief William Burns, to warn that they risked undermining US operations in Ukraine.
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