- US intelligence helped
Ukraine dodge Russian strikes and protect its assets, NBC News reported. - In one case, US intel helped Ukraine shoot down a plane carrying hundreds of Russian troops, it said.
The US passed intelligence on planned Russian missile strikes to Ukraine so it could move military assets out of the way, often with moments to spare, NBC News reported, citing US officials.
"The Russian military has literally been cratering empty fields where air defenses were once set up," a US official told NBC News. "It has had an enormous impact on the Russian military's ability on the ground."
A Pentagon spokesperson told Insider: "We are regularly providing detailed, timely intelligence to the Ukrainians on the battlefield to help them defend their country against Russian aggression and will continue to do so."
In another case, US intelligence helped Ukraine shoot down a Russian transport plane containing hundreds of troops that was headed to help seize Hostomel Airport near Kyiv, NBC News reported.
The US has also passed Ukraine specific coordinates relating to the locations of Russian forces and aircraft so they can be attacked, the report said.
"From the get-go, we leaned pretty heavily forward in sharing both strategic and actionable intelligence with Ukraine," a second US official told NBC News.
"It's been impactful both at a tactical and strategic level. There are examples where you could tell a pretty clear story that this made a major difference."
Throughout the invasion, the US has said publicly that it was passing intelligence to Ukraine's armed forces, but news of its impact is rare.
The US usually maintains intelligence partnerships with its major allies, like NATO or the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, neither of which Ukraine is a member.
Washington has provided Ukraine with millions of dollars of military aid, but has ruled out sending troops to fight in the country, saying instead that it would protect NATO territory.
Even before the war, reports have detailed how the US was keeping Ukraine up to date on President Vladimir Putin's secret plan to invade.
CIA director Bill Burns met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv in mid-January, before the invasion began, and passed on intelligence that
Russia seized the airport on February 24, the first day of its invasion. By early April Ukrainian forces had reclaimed the airport, but it is now heavily damaged and non-operational.
In the wake of Russia's recent decision to launch an all-out attack on the Donbas region, in Ukraine's southeast, the US said it would increase intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
However, according to The Intercept, the US is being cautious about how much it gets involved in the Ukraine invasion so as to not anger Putin. US drones are patrol ing the borders between Ukraine and NATO countries, like Poland, searching for intelligence to pass onto Ukraine, the outlet reported.