| The U.S. has reportedly provided intelligence that has helped Ukrainians target and kill many of the Russian generals
who have died in action in the Ukraine war. The targeting help is part of a classified effort by the Biden administration to provide real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine, including anticipated Russian troop movements from recent U.S. assessments of Moscow’s battle plan for fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the officials said. Officials declined to specify how many generals had been killed as a result of U.S. assistance. Ukrainian officials said they have killed approximately 12 Russian generals on the front lines.
The U.S. has focused on providing the location and other details about the Russian military’s mobile headquarters, which relocate frequently. U.S. officials would not describe how they have acquired information on Russian troop headquarters, but U.S. intelligence agencies are believed to have used a variety of sources, including classified and commercial satellites, to trace Russian troop movements. Ukrainian officials have combined that geographic information with their own intelligence — including intercepted communications that alert the Ukrainian military to the presence of senior Russian officers — to conduct artillery strikes and other attacks.
Not all the strikes have been carried out with U.S. intelligence assistance, such as a strike over the weekend at a location in eastern Ukraine where Gen. Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, had visited. Officials said the U.S. prohibits itself from providing intelligence about the most senior Russian leaders. Asked about the intelligence being provided to the Ukrainians, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, “We will not speak to the details of that information,” but acknowledged that the U.S. provides “Ukraine with information and intelligence that they can use to defend themselves.”
Meanwhile, the CIA this week published instructions for how Russians can covertly volunteer information using an encrypted conduit to the agency’s website in an effort to attract intelligence from disaffected Russians. To ensure the would-be informants are not caught by Russian state security, the CIA provided detailed Russian-language instructions in three social media posts on how to use the Tor Internet browser, which lets users move online anonymously, as well as virtual private networks, or VPNs. The steps will open a dedicated channel to the CIA that is more secure than navigating to the agency using an ordinary Web browser or Internet connection. The instructions are aimed at “those who feel compelled to reach us because of the Russian government’s unjust war,” a CIA spokesperson said in an email, adding, “Our global mission demands that individuals can contact us securely from anywhere.” Sources : New York Times, The Hill, Washington Post |