The Biden administration sought to clear things up on Thursday after The New York Times reported that the U.S. has provided Ukraine with intelligence that helped it target Russian generals during Moscow’s invasion.
Where this started: Senior administration officials told The New York Times on Wednesday that the U.S has provided intelligence to Ukraine’s armed forces and that it has been used to help kill Russian generals who have died during the country’s ongoing war.
While not specifying how many Russian generals have been killed thanks to U.S. assistances, sources told the newspaper that the information was part of a classified program that aims to help Ukrainians provide real-time intel. Ukraine maintains that it has killed 12 Russian generals.
The Times reported that Ukrainian officials have combined location details from the U.S. plus their own intelligence to conduct strikes that have helped kill members of the Russian forces.
White House’s perspective: Asked about the report, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson acknowledged that the U.S. shares intelligence with Ukraine but slammed The Times for the way it framed its story.
“The headline of this story is misleading and the way it is framed is irresponsible,” Watson said. “The United States provides battlefield intelligence to help the Ukrainians defend their country. We do not provide intelligence with the intent to kill Russian generals.”
Pentagon weighs in: Without directly criticizing the story, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby later told reporters that the U.S. provides intelligence to help Ukraine.
Kirby declined to elaborate further from the podium. However, he added that Ukraine can also gather its own intelligence, and that it receives intelligence from other partners aside from the U.S.
“Ukraine combines information that we and other partners provide with the intelligence that they themselves are gathering, and then they make their own decisions and they take their own actions,” he said.
Multiple generals killed: Multiple generals from the Russian army have been killed by Ukrainian forces during the ongoing conflict between the two countries, which began on Feb. 24.
Most recently, Russian authorities confirmed the death of the commander of the 8th Army, Maj. Gen. Vladimir Petrovich Frolov, last month, saying that he died during infighting with Ukrainian troops, with St. Petersburg Gov. Alexander Beglov citing the late general as a hero.