Exactly, anyone who believes there haven’t been Americans with boots on the ground since day one is incredibly naive about how modern armies fight, and not just contractors. Supporting the fires chain starts at the sensor; could be space or could be deep HUMINT which one way or another will be mediated by some kind of special operations force likely with spooks, and doing this, as well as developing targets and clearing fires is not something shitholians can do without a lot of help.
With modern open sources of satellite images, and direct access to local sources of intelligence, the Ukrainians have much better intel than some US based CIA or DOD guys.
If you know where to look you can see video and pictures posted daily of Russian military vehicle traffic from partisans behind the Russian lines. They aren't CIA guys, they are Ukrainians.