American intelligence pivotal in Ukraine strategy, as Trump shifts policy
The "New York Times" revealed that the role of the US in planning the operations of the Ukrainian military was much greater than previously thought. American intelligence assistance played a key role in Ukraine's strategy against the Russian invaders.
What do you need to know?
- American intelligence assistance: Data collected by American services was crucial for Ukraine's strategy and precise targeting of objectives.
- Cooperation in Wiesbaden: Since spring 2022, Ukrainian generals have been working with American military personnel in Germany, planning military operations.
- Changes in policy: New US President Donald Trump aims to limit cooperation with Ukraine and improve relations with Russia.
Behind the scenes of American intelligence assistance
The "New York Times" disclosed that American intelligence assistance to Ukraine was far more extensive than previously assumed. "A vast American intelligence-collection effort both guided big-picture battle strategy and funneled precise targeting information down to Ukrainian soldiers in the field," emphasised author Adam Entous, who conducted 300 interviews over more than a year with officials from the US and allied countries.
Cooperation began with a visit by Ukrainian generals to the US command headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany in 2022. General Mykhailo Zabrodski signed an agreement with American General Christopher Donahue. As part of the partnership, American military personnel and CIA agents helped Ukrainians identify targets, including command points of Russian units attacking Ukraine as well as ports and military equipment in occupied Crimea. In subsequent years in Wiesbaden, Americans and Ukrainians jointly drafted plans for military actions, including counteroffensives in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
"Points of interest"
In a sense, Ukraine was another in a series of proxy wars between the US and Russia, like Vietnam in the 1960s, Afghanistan in the 1980s, or Syria 30 years later - assessed the "NYT".
From the beginning, cooperation in Wiesbaden was overshadowed by fears that Russia's leader Vladimir Putin would consider it proof of the US's direct involvement in the war and fulfil his threats to use nuclear weapons. Unlike operations in the Middle East, in Ukraine, the American military could operate only remotely - highlighted the newspaper.
Due to these concerns, coordinates provided to the Ukrainian military were not called "tracks of interest," but "points of interest." "If you ever get asked the question, ‘Did you pass a target to the Ukrainians?’ you can legitimately not be lying when you say, ‘No, I did not,’" - said one of the American officials.
Trump has already begun to limit cooperation
However, not everything proceeded smoothly. In August 2024, the Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region of Russia was a "significant breach of trust" for the Americans because the Ukrainians did not inform them of their plans.
New US President Donald Trump, who took office in January, aims to quickly end the war and improve relations with Russia. He has already started limiting certain elements of US-Ukrainian cooperation in Wiesbaden.
