Ukraine asks U.S. to provide more Intelligence on targets in Russia
Ukraine has asked the Biden administration to provide more intelligence on the position of Russian forces and military targets inside Russia as Ukrainian troops struggle to hold ground in the war, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials, NYT reports.
A group of Ukrainian Parliament members also met with members of Congress in Washington to press for the United States to allow Kyiv to use American weapons in Russia.
Ukraine’s requests have become more urgent in recent weeks as Russia has taken advantage of delays in shipments of American weapons and intensified military operations in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine.
But White House officials said the administration’s longstanding policy remained unchanged: The United States is not encouraging or enabling attacks inside Russia. American officials, seeking to avoid escalating the war, have insisted they do not want U.S. weapons used in cross-border attacks or their intelligence reports used to target sites in Russia.
The latest request came in recent days, officials said, and administration officials have begun to review it. Similar appeals have been turned down in the past.
The United States provides some intelligence to Ukraine on Russian forces in Russia, for example, on troops that are massing for potential attacks. Ukraine also has access to commercial satellite imagery that allows it to see Russian activity at major military bases.
But Ukrainian officials say they need to increase the number and effectiveness of their cross-border attacks to press Moscow to end the war, according to current and former Ukrainian officials. To do that, those officials say they want more real-time intelligence and more information from allies on what U.S. and European officials think are the most critical targets.
