US Intelligence Helped Ukraine Sink Russia's Navy Flagship Moskva
American intel official reveals help in destroying Russian missile cruiser in Black Sea
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Democrat Joe Biden's administration gave intelligence to Ukraine to help locate and sink Russia's Navy flagship Moskva in the Black Sea last month, according to reports.
A US official confirmed that the Biden admin shared intel with Ukraine in a stunning blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's offensive.
The American official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the effort on Thursday.
The official said that the US shared intelligence about the location of the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet prior to the April strike by Ukraine.
The official claims that the US did not know Ukraine planned on striking the Moskva and was not involved in Kyiv's decision, NBC News reported.
The huge 600-foot-long Soviet-era missile cruiser had roughly 500 sailors on board when it was struck.
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The intel was given to Ukraine to help them defend themselves from attacks from Russia on its southern port city of Odesa.
Officials have been tight-lipped about what specific information was passed along to Ukraine but one official told the New York Times that the information went beyond simply a report on the ship’s location in the Black Sea.
While some of the crew members were evacuated it is still unclear how many Russians were injured or died in the attack.
The US Navy used its new marine surveillance aircraft to provide accurate targeting data to Ukrainian forces to sink the Russian flagship in the Black Sea on April 13.
According to The Times, a US marine surveillance P-8 Poseidon aircraft was tracking Moskva in the hours before it was attacked before supplying its location to the Ukrainian military.
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The Biden admin is yet to directly address the reports about the Moskva.
However, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby denied earlier media reports that the US was providing information about the locations of senior Russian generals on the battlefield so that Ukrainian forces could kill them.
"We do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military," he said.
Kirby said Ukraine combined information that the US and others provided with their own battlefield intelligence.
"Then they make their own decisions, and they take their own actions," he said.
The White House National Security Council (NSC) also denied the US was helping Ukraine target senior Russian officers.
"We do not provide intelligence with the intent to kill Russian generals," NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.
