The United States is not involved in the sinking of the missile cruiser Moskva and did not pass specific intelligence information about the ship to Ukraine, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Commenting on the relevant media publications, she noted that these reports "contain inaccurate information."

“We were not involved in Ukraine's decisions to strike the ship or carry out the operation.

We had no prior information about Ukraine's intention to target the ship.

Ukraine has its own intelligence capacity to search for and track Russian ships, ”TASS quotes a White House spokesman.

Earlier, The New York Times, NBC TV channel and a number of other American media, citing sources, reported that the Ukrainian side allegedly attacked the ship after receiving US intelligence.

“Officers declined to elaborate on exactly what information was given, but according to one of them, the data was not limited to just a message about the location of the ship,” notes The New York Times.

At the same time, government sources of the NBC television channel claim that the United States allegedly was not aware of how exactly Ukraine would use the data received.

“According to officials, the United States did not know in advance about Ukraine's intention to strike the Moskva cruiser and did not participate in the adoption of the corresponding decision.

Officials added that maritime intelligence data is being passed to Ukraine to help it defend against attacks by Russian ships.

Recall that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the night of April 14 reported a fire on the cruiser Moskva, which led to the detonation of ammunition.

Later, the military department reported that the ship sank while being towed in a storm.

As a result, one soldier died, another 27 crew members went missing during the fight for the cruiser's survivability.

The remaining 396 people were evacuated to the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and taken to Sevastopol.

Note that Pentagon spokesman John Kirby previously evaded answering the question of whether the United States passed specific information to the Kyiv regime to target the Moskva cruiser.

“Ukraine has its own intelligence capability to track Russian naval vessels and target, as it did in this case,” Kirby said, adding that the US side is not involved in the selection of targets.

“They make their own decisions.

And they are taking action."

At the same time, The Washington Post notes that this statement by a Pentagon representative is not a refutation.

According to the publication, from the point of view of Washington, the fact of transferring data to Kyiv about the situation in the region, on the basis of which Ukraine decides to attack, is not considered to be providing information about the target.

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At the same time, the head of the US Congressional Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, said that Washington was transferring intelligence data to Kyiv in order to ensure the "success" of its actions.

“We are providing Ukraine with real-time intelligence to help it defend itself.

I don’t think the administration wants to go into details about the circumstances, but we want to ensure the success of Ukraine’s actions,” Schiff told The New York Times.

Reconnaissance for a strike

Earlier, the American media have already reported that Washington is transmitting intelligence data to the Ukrainian side, which is used to strike at the Russian military.

The same The New York Times, citing sources in the US government, wrote that the United States supplied Kyiv with real-time information about the location of the mobile headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces, which Ukraine used to strike.

The newspaper emphasized that the Joe Biden administration is seeking to keep much of the intelligence about the hostilities secret, fearing that this will be seen as an aggravation of the conflict and provoke Moscow into more extensive action.

However, the Pentagon denied this publication.

“We do not provide intelligence on the whereabouts of senior military leadership on the battlefield and do not participate in decision-making on target designation of the Ukrainian armed forces,” said John Kirby.

The US National Security Council also called the material untrue, emphasizing that Washington did not transfer intelligence to Ukraine in order to eliminate Russian military leaders.

"Normal Practice for Proxy Wars"

Moscow also responded to reports from the American media about the transfer of intelligence to Kyiv.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov stressed that the Russian Federation is aware of such interaction between the West and the Kyiv regime.

“Our military is well aware that the United States, Great Britain, NATO as a whole are constantly transmitting intelligence and other parameters to the Ukrainian armed forces.

Together with the flow of weapons that these same countries and the alliance are sending to Ukraine, these are all actions that do not contribute to the quick completion of the operation.

But at the same time, they are not capable of hindering the achievement of the set goals during a special military operation, ”Peskov said.

He added that the Russian military is doing everything that is necessary in this situation.

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According to a number of experts, in the case of the death of the Moskva cruiser, there is still no certainty that the fire on board the ship was the result of an attack by Ukrainian forces.

At the same time, as Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies of the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in a RT commentary, the very fact that the Americans transferred intelligence to Ukraine is not a sensation.

This once again confirms that Washington is de facto in a state of indirect or so-called proxy war with Russia, the analyst stated.

“Some historical parallels can be drawn with the situation in Vietnam, when the USSR and the PRC supported the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the partisans who fought the pro-American regime in Saigon.

One can also draw parallels with Afghanistan, when the Americans supplied the Mujahideen who fought against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet contingent.

Of course, they also shared intelligence there, which is a normal practice for proxy wars, this is happening now, ”Batiuk explained.

According to him, Washington is trying to harm Russia as much as possible by refraining from direct participation in the conflict in Ukraine.

“The US executive branch, which determines foreign and military policy, represented by Biden and his entourage, has repeatedly stated that it does not intend to go into a direct clash with Russia.

This means that they will not send their troops to Ukraine, but will continue to act according to the chosen strategy, ”the analyst argues.

From the point of view of the leading expert of the RISS Research Coordination Center Sergey Ermakov, the publications of the American media about the transfer of intelligence to Kyiv only confirm the thesis of the Russian authorities that, as part of the special operation, the Russian Federation is facing opposition not only from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but primarily from NATO.

He believes that the comments of Pentagon and White House officials only confirm that the US is afraid of being drawn into a direct confrontation with Moscow.

“They are very cautious in commenting that their information was used by the Ukrainian side and claim that it was Kyiv that ordered the strikes.

This just shows that the Americans are trying to relieve themselves of all responsibility.

They plan to continue to wage such a war, and this is what they have been preparing Ukraine for all these years, ”says Yermakov.

So far, Russia has shown a restrained and adequate response that limits the conflict to the territory of Ukraine, preventing it from growing to a global scale, the analyst added.

“In fact, the West, primarily the United States and the leading NATO countries, is afraid of a direct clash with Russia.

They are trying in every possible way to avoid this and intend to continue to fight with the hands of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

For its part, Russia is taking all the necessary measures: diplomatic, political, economic - in order to make it clear to the West that its efforts will lead to nothing, and the goals of the special operation will be fulfilled, ”the expert concluded.