Washington, May 5: The US has assisted Kiev's forces in killing Russian generals by sharing intelligence on their location inside Ukraine, a media report said citing senior American officials.
The US reportedly provided Kiev with information on Russia's mobile military headquarters, which are said to relocate frequently in the conflict zone, said The New York Times report.
Kiev then combined this data with its own intelligence to carry out artillery strikes or other attacks that led to the deaths of commanding officers, sources told the paper, RT quoted the report as saying.
The US officials, however, declined to specify how many Russian generals exactly were killed with America's help. They also did not reveal the methods used by Washington to acquire data on Russian command headquarters over concerns that it could hamper further intelligence gathering. Russia-Ukraine War: Blasts Rock Moldova As Fears Rise That Vladimir Putin Could Be Eyeing Next Target for Invasion.
The New York Times report pointed out that throughout the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, US agencies have relied on a variety of sources, including classified and commercial satellites, to trace the movement of Russian troops.
The reported assistance in targeting the generals was part of a classified effort by President Joe Biden's administration to provide real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine, the sources said.
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson has rejected the report, insisting that American battlefield intelligence was not provided to the Ukrainian forces "with the intent to kill Russian generals".
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby acknowledged that the US supplied "Ukraine with information and intelligence that they can use to defend themselves", but refused to disclose any details of that data.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 05, 2022 04:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).