The New York Times claims that American intelligence is trying to prevent Ukraine from planning and carrying out an attack on the Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.
US officials learned that General Gerasimov was planning to visit the front lines secretly, but withheld information from the Ukrainians, fearing that an attempt against him could lead to war between the US and Russia.
The New York Times states that Washington opposes Kiev’s plans to kill Gerasimov for fear of escalating the conflict.
In this context, the newspaper writes that the American authorities did not share intelligence information about the general’s movements with the Ukrainian authorities, but that the Ukrainians still learned about the trip. After the US officials agreed with the White House, they directly asked for the attack to be stopped. But in response, Kyiv stated that the offensive had already begun.
“We told them not to do this,” said an unnamed US official, quoted by the NYT.
We thought, “Hey, that’s too much”. The message came too late. The Ukrainian military reported that they had already launched an attack on the general’s position. Dozens of Russians died in the attack. General Gerasimov was not one of them, ”says the source of the publication.
The source of this information was not specified in the New York Times report. Gerasimov’s trip allegedly took place in April, but his exact whereabouts were not specified.
The Russian Ministry of Defense did not report such trips of Gerasimov. In the summer, the defense ministry reported that the chief of staff controlled the troop groups involved in the military operation in Ukraine, but did not specify where.
On December 17, the Kremlin reported that Gerasimov, along with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the commander of the troop grouping in the military operation zone, Sergei Surovikin, attended a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. During the meeting, Putin learned about the work of the joint headquarters of the troops, listened to a report on the course of hostilities and held a meeting with the commanders.
Ukraine confirms assassination attempt
Aleksey Arestovich, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, confirmed the information to The New York Times. According to him, the assassination attempt was made in the second half of April or in May in Izyum, Kharkov region.
Arestovich claims that the Ukrainian army really tried to eliminate the Russian General Staff when he came to the zone of military operations in the spring.
“Let me reveal a terrible secret. Gerasimov was in Izyum and we shot Gerasimov. It happened, ”said the adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office.
He added that the Ukrainian army was “protecting the headquarters” where Gerasimov was located, but “managed to escape a little earlier”.
We didn’t hesitate to hit or hit. We hit it right away, followed it across the territory, ”Arestovich said.
Commenting on the NYT publication about Kiev’s consultations with the US authorities, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine said: “The Ukrainian Armed Forces usually do not ask if they can shoot.” But he confirmed that Ukraine could receive intelligence from the United States.
American intelligence aid
In May, the NYT reported that the United States transferred intelligence used to hit the Russian military to Ukraine. According to the publication, the information includes the expected movement of Russian troops.
At the same time, according to the NYT’s claim, the USA does not transmit information to Kiev about the actions of senior Russian commanders and officials in order not to escalate the crisis from Russia.
The New York Times writes that Ukraine is using the information it receives from the United States along with data from its own intelligence.
A month ago, the then Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, predicted that the information transmitted by the US to Ukraine could be used for offensive operations.
Source: Gazeta
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.