Uncertainty surrounds future of two-way partnership that has been vital for front-line troops and saved civilian lives
05 March 2025
The suspension of US military aid dealt a devastating blow to Ukraine. The halt of intelligence sharing is potentially even more catastrophic.
The munitions freeze will undoubtedly affect Ukraine’s ability to wage war against the invading Russians over time, but thanks in part to healthy stockpiles, the impact might not be felt for several months. The loss of vital intelligence, however, will make its mark immediately.
It will, simply put, blind Ukraine.
The intelligence partnership between Washington and Kyiv has repeatedly proved vital not just to Ukraine’s ability to attack its enemy or defend itself but also in saving the lives of its citizens.
Attacking targets within Russia, providing vital intelligence to Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines and giving civilians in Ukraine’s cities sufficient warning to get to bomb shelters will now be much harder.
Donald Trump’s latest move against Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, will also cause disquiet in US intelligence circles. Ukraine is one of the CIA’s most important intelligence-gathering hubs anywhere in the world, with Ukrainian spies often handing over first-class intelligence about the Russians to their US counterparts.
What has been frozen?
The extent of the intelligence-sharing freeze, which appears to have been imposed alongside the halt in military aid Mr Trump announced on Monday, initially appeared to be limited.
Ukrainian sources told Sky News that at first only selective intelligence was withheld, hampering Ukraine’s ability to strike military and industrial targets within Russia itself. However, information helping Ukraine to target Russian forces on occupied Ukrainian territory was meant to continue.
This would have been bad enough, severely hampering Ukraine’s ability to identify and strike Russia’s military-industrial complex. Missile and drone strikes on munitions factories and air bases inside Russia have helped alleviate pressure on Ukraine’s front lines in recent months, significantly slowing the rate at which Russian forces have been able to advance.
But by Wednesday afternoon it became clear that the Trump administration, ignoring overtures from Mr Zelensky the previous evening, had gone much further. A military intelligence officer in Kyiv told The Telegraph that the freeze amounted to “more or less a total blackout”.
The totality of the shutdown was confirmed by senior officials in the US government, with Mike Waltz, Mr Trump’s national security adviser, telling CBS news: “We are pausing… everything across our security relationship.”
John Ratcliffe, director of the CIA, later confirmed that the US president had ordered a freeze, telling Fox Business: “Trump has a real question about whether President Zelensky was committed to the peace process, and he said let’s pause.”
What will be the impact of the freeze?
The extent of US intelligence support to Ukraine is classified, but some details are known.
On the battlefield, US information from satellite images, electronic surveillance and communications intercepts gives Ukrainian commanders live intelligence on the enemy’s movements. Ukrainian forces are therefore able to make judgments about how, for example, they might defend themselves against a Russian offensive.
When it comes to longer-range and more daring operations, US intelligence has proved even more vital.
It has allowed Ukrainian soldiers to track Russian spy satellites, listen in on the conversations of Russian commanders and monitor where Russian air defences are and how best to evade them, The New York Times reported last month.
The CIA and other US agencies have provided vital intelligence for targeted missile strikes since early in the war, contributing to some of Ukraine’s biggest successes, such as the sinking of the Moskva, the former flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
More recently, after Britain and the US lifted a ban on using their missiles within Russia itself, US intelligence is believed to have played a key role in attacks hundreds of miles into Russian territory.
In one of many such examples, US Global Hawk surveillance drones and Poseidon naval reconnaissance planes operating in the Black Sea are believed to have assisted in a successful Ukrainian attack on the Primorsk-Akhtarsky airbase in the Russian region of Krasnodar on Feb 6.
Russia uses the base to launch kamikaze drones and support Russian troops fighting in the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
What other US intelligence does Ukraine rely on?
It is not just for offensive operations that US intelligence has been so important. It has also allowed Ukraine to respond to a wide variety of Russian threats against civilian populations and key energy infrastructure.
As a result, Ukraine can monitor Russian warplanes as they take off or missiles as they launch, identify their likely targets and sound air raid sirens in towns and cities across the country, allowing civilians the time to reach shelter or take cover.
The CIA has also been instrumental in training a new generation of Ukrainian spies who operate in Russia, gathering vital human intelligence, from the location of weapons to the movement of senior Russian generals.
It is not a one-way street, either. US and Ukrainian intelligence agencies have been working together for more than a decade. The CIA and Ukrainian intelligence agencies operate a network of spy bases and listening posts, many of them along the Russian border, gathering vital information for the security of the United States.
In addition, Ukraine’s spy agencies have often given Washington vital information they have gathered independently, from the design specifications of Russia’s nuclear submarines to the activities of Kremlin-backed hacker groups operating inside the United States.
How long will the freeze last?
How long the halt in intelligence-sharing will last depends on Mr Trump’s unpredictability. Some of his top lieutenants were making soothing noises on Wednesday, with Mr Waltz suggesting the pause could be lifted if Ukraine moved towards negotiations and “put some confidence-building measures on the table”.
While Mr Waltz gave no hint about what measures might be expected, such a demand to make unilateral concessions will undoubtedly cause dismay in Kyiv, where officials will fear their position has been weakened even before negotiations begin.
By contrast, Mr Ratcliffe, the new CIA head, struck a more upbeat note, saying he believed the pause would be lifted and that “we will work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have to push back on the aggression that’s there”.
The ‘random countries’ lining up to protect Ukraine
Canada
Experience: 72 military operations since 1947, including Afghanistan.
Military strength: 100,000 personnel of which around 20,000 are reservists; 74 tanks; 73 vessels; 350 aircraft.
Can Europe fill the gaps?
If the freeze remains in place, Ukraine’s other Western allies will be left scrambling to fill another US hole. Given that, for the moment, they are forbidden from passing on to the Ukrainians US intelligence to which they have access, the task will be harder still.
Britain and its European allies have already been sharing intelligence with Ukraine and supporting its forces on the battlefield. RAF RC-135V Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft and French surveillance planes operate in the Black Sea and both countries would be able to offer some intelligence.
But it would not be of the same quantity, quality or timeliness as the Americans – with far less “live” information likely to be made available.
The access to speedy, real-time US intelligence has been one of the most important aspects of Ukraine’s survival in its three-year campaign to defend its territory from Russian aggression. Without it, Ukraine’s soldiers and civilians will be facing a far more perilous future.
Ukraine’s troops dying because US cut aid, say soldiers on front line
Morale is ‘dangerously low’ on the battlefield and the fighting has become ferocious, warn combat medics
In Dnipro
05 March 2025
Ukrainian soldiers are dying because of Donald Trump’s decision to end military aid to Ukraine, front-line troops have told The Telegraph.
Soldiers revealed how they were feeling the pressure of dwindling American supplies and the looming summer months, when battles usually become more ferocious, and fear they have lost any initiative.
But their view on the war has become even more pessimistic following President Trump’s announcement on Wednesday that the US would cease to provide intelligence to Ukraine, leaving morale dangerously low.
“We are not the ones advancing over the last few months,” said combat medic Slava, 27, speaking from a village on the border between the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions.
“It’s sad to say, but we don’t have initiative on the battlefield any more.”
US support is a crucial component of Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russian missiles and launch long-range strikes.
Intelligence from Washington, meanwhile, has proved vital not just for Ukraine’s ability to attack deep-lying Russian positions or defend its own, but also in protecting civilians.
“I am going to say honestly how it is: everything is bad and it’s going to be worse, but we need to keep working and pushing,” said Artem – not his real name – a 30-year-old medic who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons.
Artem, who ferries injured soldiers to and from the front lines, said that he had noticed a “20 per cent” increase in casualties in recent weeks.
“I think that the number will rapidly grow even more,” he added. “On top of this, it is getting warmer. Better weather conditions means a higher intensity of fighting.”
The White House said on Wednesday that it would consider restoring military aid if President Zelensky returned to the negotiating table.
It was later reported that Mr Zelensky had agreed to further peace talks with the Trump administration after Washington ceased its sharing of battlefield intelligence.
But those serving on the front lines in Donetsk said even if the aid resumed, it could be too late to hold off further Russian advances.
“The front line is not stable any more. It is not a line, but a zigzag, which makes it more difficult to defend,” said Slava.
“Drones are the main issue. It is impossible to drive to evacuation points often and impossible to stop driving to give a patient the full care they need.”
“I want the world to know that more people are dying because of it,” said Artem, referring to the dwindling US support.
Slava added that now was “not the time” to suspend the sharing of intelligence, saying that the move was a “gamble” with the fate of her country.
“It’s not the time to appease the enemy. This step shows once again that the Republicans are for Russia.”
According to Artem, the intensity on the battlefield has become increasingly ferocious since the end of US aid.
“The workload is absolutely insane. I have been in touch with other medics and everyone is saying they are overwhelmed,” he said. “We all have an empty look in our eyes because of everything.”
Aleksander, a 34-year-old soldier who has served on the front line for three years with no rotation, said morale was running low.
“Honestly, the morale situation is tough in the third year, but we are holding on. I did not go to fight for just anyone. I went for my family.”
On Wednesday, Mr Zelensky said he wanted to see “an end to the war once and for all” and agreed to return to the negotiation table.
But Artem said that any deal with Russia that did not acknowledge the damage inflicted on Ukraine by Moscow’s armies would be a mockery of those who died defending their country.
“In that case, I would wonder what it was all for,” he said. “Freedom is not free.”
Those serving on the front lines vowed to The Telegraph that they would keep fighting until a deal was agreed that they believe was fair to their country.
“There is no other way for us. It’s either we keep fighting, or we cease existing,” said Slava.
Aleksander said that although Ukraine’s prospects looked bleak, its soldiers had managed to pull through before.
“I want to say that as long as this war continues, we have a single chance to win – because we may never get another one,” he said.
“The Russians thought they would take Kyiv in three days, but they failed, and now this has been going on for three years. We need to get through this period.”
Slava expressed fears that Ukraine was now “the country that stops the overflow of Russian influence” and wondered what a deal that favours Russia could mean for Europe.
“Once our defence is destroyed, the rest of Europe is next. Russia will never stop.”
Trump has for the second time enabled mass murder of Ukrainian troops and civilians.
This psychopathic decision has got the putinaZis gloating.
It’s more than a shame that an entire continent with such a powerful economy and 500,000,000 people are second tier in everything to the US. This is the result of having slacked off in defense spending for decades. Although everyone knew that the orange fascist will return to the White House, everyone was still caught with their pants down.
Those who will suffer most are the civilians who are still alive today and may be dead tomorrow, thanks to the wickedness that sits in the White House.
Combat medic Slava:
“Once our defence is destroyed, the rest of Europe is next. Russia will never stop.”
This quote is from a second DT article that I bolted on to the first one.
Only completely blind and naive fools don’t know what’ll happen after Ukraine.
This is incredibly negligent and heartless. This further adds to the growing amount of blood the annoying Orange has on his hands.😠