According to American media reports, intelligence information from the United States is said to have helped the Ukrainian armed forces sink the Russian missile cruiser "Moskva".

NBC, citing government officials, reported on Thursday that Kyiv had asked the United States for information about a ship cruising in the Black Sea.

The American secret services then identified the ship as "Moskva" and passed on its position.

However, it was not known that Ukraine would attack the ship.

Sofia Dreisbach

North American political correspondent based in Washington.

  • Follow I follow

Such information is not shared with Kyiv to enable attacks, according to the official, but to "better understand" the threats and "help Ukraine prepare to defend against potential attacks from the sea."

The "Moskva" was sunk on April 14, presumably with two Ukrainian anti-ship missiles of the "Neptun" type.

Moscow denies that. It is not known how many crew members died.

NBC reports there were "significant casualties," according to US government officials, but they don't know exactly how many people were killed.

Threat of retaliation?

Even before the news about the Moskva, the New York Times reported this week that American intelligence agencies had provided Ukraine with information that was used, among other things, to locate and kill 12 Russian generals.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby denied this on Thursday.

"We do not provide information about the whereabouts of senior military leaders on the battlefield and do not participate in targeting decisions by the Ukrainian military." Kyiv "combines information provided by us and other partners" with its own information.

Then it makes its own decisions.

However, “useful information would be made available in a timely manner”.

Kirby didn't elaborate on what exactly that means.

For the American government, these reports are sensitive.

Since the beginning of the war, she has emphasized that the United States has only provided assistance to help Ukraine defend itself.

So it was impossible from the start – President Biden keeps repeating this – that American soldiers could be stationed in Ukraine.

Now there are fears that Russia could use Washington's supply of information used in attacks as justification for direct retaliation.

The news portal "Axios" reported on Friday that EU officials had warned against "inappropriate communication" about secret service information.

This could cause an "unexpected reaction".

"Axios" quotes that one must exercise caution in what one does and says "for the security of military operations on the ground" and because one does not want a war with Russia.

The cited EU sources argue that Ukraine was not able to kill Russian generals because of American intelligence information.

Rather, it succeeded because Russia applied "old Soviet teachings" according to which generals were sent to the front, for example.