Ukraine claps back after counteroffensive intel leak

Officials in Kyiv are pounding their fists over leaked US intelligence that downplays Ukraine’s ability to recapture seized territory from Russia this spring.

Senior Ukrainian officials are particularly incensed by a “top secret” assessment from February suggesting Ukraine would make only “modest territorial gains” from its planned operation, according to Politico.

The Washington Post, which recently reported the document, said it was part of the growing leak of classified US intelligence on the war in Ukraine, China, Israel and other global hotspots.

Kyiv says the document shows the US is once again underestimating its military’s capabilities.

“The same people who said Kyiv would fall in three days are now leaking harmful and equally ridiculous information ahead of an offensive critically important for the entire free world,” said a person in regular contact with senior officials in Kyiv.

“There are some people who continue to be hesitant” about Ukraine’s military chances in the counteroffensive, a Ukrainian defence official said, “but we’ve proved everybody wrong.” The projections of Ukraine’s chances are “not the truth,” this official continued. “It gives us grounds for suspicion” of just how seriously the US backs Ukraine’s objectives of fully pushing Russia out of the country.

That sentiment is widespread within the Ukrainian government, per another person with similar high-level contacts in Kyiv. All three people were granted anonymity to detail sensitive internal deliberations in Ukraine.

The comments make clear that the United States and Ukraine aren’t as in sync as both countries claim 14 months into the war. It could also portend less trust between Washington and Kyiv ahead of a crucial few months of fighting that could dictate the course of the war with Russia. With Russia in control of 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory, the hope is that the counteroffensive, even with dwindling supplies, will force Moscow’s troops and mercenaries out of the country they invaded.