Posted on 03/05/2025 8:08:49 AM PST by bimboeruption
Fears President Zelensky’s forces may be left unable to defend the country from Russian missile attacks without American input...
America has severed intelligence-sharing with Kyiv in what could be a huge blow to Ukraine’s ability to fight back against the Russians and defend itself from incoming missiles.
The UK has also reportedly been blocked from sharing any intelligence provided by the US with its Ukrainian allies.
There are fears such a decision could make it difficult to use weapons supplied by Britain and Europe, in addition to hampering Ukrainian efforts to carry out strikes behind Russian lines with US weapons that are already inside the country.
John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, confirmed the intelligence-sharing suspension on a US morning show.
There were some suggestions the suspension was “selective” and would not apply to information that could be used to attack Russian forces in Ukraine.
Instead, Sky News said it related to any intelligence that could be used to carry out attacks inside Russia.
“We are still trying to understand it,” a Ukrainian military source told The Times.
The Trump administration had already halted military aid deliveries to Ukraine on Monday after the tense exchange in the White House between the US president and President Zelensky. Any US equipment in neighbouring countries en route to Ukraine will not cross the border.
Ratcliffe also suggested the “pause” in US support would “go away”.
“Trump had a real question about whether President Zelensky was committed to the peace process, and he said, ‘let’s pause, I want to give a chance to think about that’ and you saw the response that President Zelensky put out,” he added.
“So I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause that allowed that to happen, I think will go away.”
Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, said the president was prepared to consider lifting the suspension of military aid to Ukraine if negotiations progressed.
“I think if we can nail down these negotiations … and in fact, put some confidence-building measures on the table, then the president will take a hard look at lifting this pause,” he said in an interview with the Fox & Friends programme.
The Ukrainians are reliant on the intelligence provided by US satellites and other state-of-the-art US equipment in order to hit their targets accurately.
Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said if the suspension applied to all intelligence it would mean reduced early warning of Russian missile and drone attacks.
Information about the movement of large groups of Russian forces would also be affected, he said.
“It would make the targeting of Ukrainian deeper attacks, using long range artillery, missiles and drones, more difficult, because the US provides the data no one else can,” he said.
He said the move did not mean the Ukrainians could not carry out deep strikes behind enemy lines but that they would be less timely and accurate.
“The chances of Ukrainian deeper attacks accidentally inflicting damage on civilian casualties and causing collateral damage has just gone up,” he said.
Britain’s Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which have been used inside Russia’s Kursk region by Ukraine, are reliant on US data to hit their targets.
John Healey, the defence secretary, is on his way to Washington to meet his counterpart, Pete Hegseth, to try to overturn the suspension of military aid to Ukraine.
He will also seek to receive US assurances on a security “back stop” in the event of a peace deal.
The UK wants the US to provide “air cover” to any peacekeeping force in Ukraine, such as aircraft or Patriot missile batteries.
British security officials were also alarmed by reports that Hegseth had ordered US spies to stop cyber-operations against Russia.
Because of the extensive collaboration between the UK and America, there are fears it could potentially leave the UK more vulnerable to Russian cyberattacks, which have previously targeted critical national infrastructure.
Analysts have also warned of a more widespread effect on the sharing of intelligence concerning Russia given the rhetoric from the Trump administration.
According to reports in the New York Times, Hegseth ordered US Cyber Command to halt offensive operations against Russia as part of a broader effort to draw Putin into a new relationship with the US.
Meanwhile a recent memo at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, set out priorities including China but did not mention Russia.
UK cyberoperations are intertwined with their US counterparts. In 2021 the two countries announced they were joining forces to “impose consequences” on shared adversaries including Russia.
The National Cyber Force, a partnership between defence and intelligence, works closely with US Cyber Command.
The Daily Mail revealed on Wednesday that the UK had been stopped from sharing US intelligence with its Ukrainian counterparts.
The Ministry of Defence would not confirm whether that was the case.
The UK-US intelligence sharing relationship is like no other. Although the UK provides crucial intelligence to the Ukrainians, through its defence intelligence hub in the Ministry of Defence, the US is able to supply the bulk of the information.
It would be extremely difficult for the UK’s security agencies to untangle intelligence provided by the US and the UK.
RAF surveillance aircraft, such as Rivet Joint, are also flying over territories near Ukraine gathering huge amounts of intelligence. Information provided by Rivet Joint is fed directly back to the Americans.
The prime minister’s official spokesman suggested that the UK would continue sharing military intelligence with Ukraine. He said: “We have been clear previously that we will do everything to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position across all aspects of our support, particularly around defence and security, and that position hasn’t changed.”
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I'll explain it to you: President Trump ain't Biden. Trump puts America's interests first...ALWAYS.
Let’s see how Z does against Russia without the help of America.
Maybe the EU will help as much.
(sarcasm)
Awww. The grifting Europeans neglected to build their own reconnaissance satellites network. What a shame! I wonder if the sponging Eurotrash reptiles ruling Europe with an iron fist will have to crawl on their hands and knees to get Musk to put their satellites in the orbit?
Good!
Hey Z. Did you hear when President Trump said his help has allowed you to act like a tough guy? Now do you get it?
I’d bet the British are feeding Ukraine intelligence.
The “5 Eyes” program also needs to be terminated. Why should we be helping repressive and incipient islamofascist regimes spy on their own citizens?
“The UK wants the US to provide “air cover” to any peacekeeping force in Ukraine, such as aircraft or Patriot missile batteries.”
Oh, so they want a USAF no fly zone over the eastern front, directly engaging with Russians. Our Brit “allies” again.
They weren’t willing to sacrifice to forego the cheap Russian oil. They only want the US to sacrifice.
Unlink Starlink too.
Or as Trump explained to Z - “You have no cards!”
Excellent! This war will now be ended very soon. Mothers in Yookland and Russia will soon be rejoicing. But Zeepers will scream and screech and cry for more death, horror, ruin and, most importantly, war porn to help fill up their boring lives with, along with their “Special Zelenskyyyy Socks.
So basically we’re hampering Ukraine’s ability to carry out offensive operations in Russia, not their ability to defend against Russian forces in Ukraine. Makes a lot of sense, especially as Trump forces these two nations toward peace talks.
Yep. Zeepers love Death and Bloodshed
As long as it is NOT THEIR Blood Being Shed.
“I wonder if the sponging Eurotrash reptiles ruling Europe with an iron fist will have to crawl on their hands and knees to get Musk to put their satellites in the orbit?”
Sorry to disappoint you, but, no, they won’t. France has launched many satellites, including military communication satellites.
My guess is that the Europeans (collectively) could fill the gap. The issue is that it would take time. If, within NATO, the U.S. was doing something, then it would make sense for other alliance members not to duplicate the effort. There comes a point where there’s no benefit to having more satellites (as opposed to, say, having more tanks). If U.S. intel is no longer available, Europe can build and launch replacements, but that can’t happen overnight.
Ukraine has absolutely no chance without US weapons and intelligence.
what took so long?
now turn off starlink.
its ok to give missiles to Argentina if they want to retake Falklands!
.
broken link
here’s another article
https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-us-stops-sharing-intelligence-information-with-ukraine
They aren't capable of doing so.
The don't have the missiles or ammo to fill the gap.
Any intelligence given by the Europeans will be inferior to what we're giving at best.
Getting the Russians out of the Donbas will literally take a world war to do it.
The EU probably are furnishing Z with the info. It’s all on them now. We’ve washed our hands of the little dictator.
Biden should have been sending him Barney the Purple Dinosaur videos:
He’s talking ‘bout please and thank you
They’re called the magic words
If you want nice things to happen
They’re the words that should be heard
Remember please and thank you
‘Cause they’re the magic words
Use ‘em in the morning, at noon and night
‘Cause it’s a great way to be polite
Please and thank you, they’re the magic words
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