US intelligence helped Ukraine sink Russia's flagship cruiser Moskva
Russia's Moskva was sunk by Ukrainian forces. (Twitter: Timonthy Castantine)
The United States shared the location of the Russian warship Moskva with Ukrainian forces before an explosion that led to its sinking, according to an anonymous American source cited by the Associated Press news agency.
Ukraine attacked the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, with anti-ship missiles in April.
A US official — who spoke anonymously — said the US provided "a range of intelligence" that included locations of the ship.
On Thursday, local time, the official said the US was not aware that Ukraine planned to strike the Moskva until after Ukrainian forces had conducted the operation.
That disclosure of intelligence-sharing comes after the New York Times reported the US had provided intelligence to Ukraine that led to the killing of Russian generals.
Citing a senior US official, the New York Times said many of the Russian generals killed by Ukraine forces were able to be located thanks to US intelligence.
Washington has provided to Ukraine details on Russia's expected troop movements and the location and other details about Russia's mobile military headquarters.
Ukraine has combined that help with its own intelligence to conduct artillery strikes and other attacks that have killed Russian officers, the newspaper said.
Ukrainian officials have reportedly said they have killed about 12 Russian generals on the battlefield.
The ship was the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet. (Twitter: John Konrad)
In response to the New York Times report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US, Britain and other NATO countries were "constantly" feeding intelligence to Ukraine.
"Our military is well aware that the United States, Britain and NATO, as a whole, are constantly transmitting intelligence and other parameters to the Ukrainian armed forces," he said.
"Of course, the Russian military is doing whatever is necessary in this situation."
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby distanced the US from claims it was assisting the killing of Russian generals.
Mr Kirby said that US agencies "do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield [nor] participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military".
"Ukraine combines information that we and other partners provide with the intel that they themselves are gathering and then they make their own decisions and they take their own actions," Mr Kirby said.
Loading...AP/Reuters
