Ukraine, US increased intelligence-sharing prior to counteroffensive: NYT

The United States stepped up intelligence-sharing with Ukraine ahead of “Kiev’s counteroffensive” against Russian forces in the east, a new US report says.

Ukraine used US information on Russian command posts, ammunition depots and other targets before the anti-Russia operation started in the Kharkiv Region on Thursday, the New York Times reported.

Ukrainian officials had earlier been reluctant to reveal operational plans to their US counterparts, over concerns that this “could highlight weaknesses and discourage continued American support,” the newspaper claimed.

Unnamed senior US officials told the NYT that, during the summer, Kiev decided that sharing plans for its counteroffensive would prompt Washington to provide Ukraine with more assistance.

This about-face allowed the US to offer “better and more relevant information about Russian weaknesses,” the sources reported.

Ukraine claims its offensive this week has led to liberation of some 3,000 square kilometers of its territory.

The large-scale Ukrainian offensive with the use of US-made weapons and ammunition came after Kiev’s attempts to advance in other areas failed.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that the withdrawal of its troops from the city of Izyum and some other areas in the region was meant to regroup in order “to build up efforts in the Donetsk direction.”

On Sunday, Moscow said its forces were hitting Ukrainian army positions in the region with precision strikes, adding that the strikes were carried out by airborne troops, missiles and artillery.

Defense Ministry: Russian troops hit Ukrainian army positions in Kharkiv

The Russian military says its troops have hit Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region.

Russia has on many occasions warned the US against providing weapons and sharing intelligence data with Ukraine, saying that the US risked becoming a party to the conflict.

Russia launched the “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, saying the operation in the ex-Soviet republic was aimed at “demilitarizing” the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk self-proclaimed republics.

Back in 2014, the two republics broke away from Ukraine, refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government there that had overthrown a democratically-elected Russia-friendly administration.

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