The Western media fails to report that the more advanced systems being provided to Ukraine in its war with Russia require intelligence and satellite information to be effective, including the HIMARS and the M270 multiple-launch rocket systems.

So, in order for Ukrainian troops to kill the most possible Russians, the U.S. has been providing coordinates to these forces so they know the optimal time to fire the artillery at targets, The Washington Post reported last week. 

HIMARS have been used in some of Ukraine’s most successful strikes, including the 1 January attack that targeted a housing facility for Russian troops in Donetsk that killed 89.

The paper, citing three unnamed Ukrainian officials and one unnamed U.S. official, said Ukrainian forces almost never fire without first consulting these American coordinates. The report said the U.S. is producing these coordinates from a base elsewhere in Europe, and insists that the Americans just play an “advisory” role.

“You’re controlling every shot anyway, so when you say, ‘We’re afraid that you’re going to use it for some other purposes, well, we can’t do it even if we wanted to,’” one official said. 

A Ukrainian official told the paper that the country hardly ever fires its HIMARS without some coordination with the U.S. and if the coordinates are not provided, Kyiv will not fire. Ukraine wants to show that it is responsible with these weapons with the hope that the U.S. will eventually agree to provide fighter jets and the longer-range ATACMS.

TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively on how the U.S. is not conducting a “proxy” war with Russia, rather it is at war with Moscow. As we have reported, America and NATO are not in a “proxy war” with Russia, they are at war with Russia… as the weapons, training, advisors, and intelligence they have given Ukraine proves. (See “RUSSIA SENDS WARNING TO ISRAEL OVER DRONE ATTACK, HINTS THAT U.S. WAS INVOLVED” 31 Jan 2023, “RUSSIAN OFFICIALS AGREE WITH CELENTE: U.S. AND NATO ARE AT WAR WITH MOSCOW” 24 Jan 2023, and “U.S. AT WAR WITH RUSSIA: TRAINING UKRAINIAN TROOPS IN AMERICA” 17 Jan 2023.)

A senior U.S. official told the paper that Washington is concerned about the stocks of Ukrainian artillery so every shot counts. The paper said this assistance shows that the Pentagon is willing to take on a more active role in the war.

The paper noted that it took days for the Pentagon to respond to the article.

“We have long acknowledged that we share intelligence with Ukraine to assist them in defending their country against Russian aggression, and we have optimized over time how we share information to be able to support their requests and their targeting processes at improved speed and scale,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told The Post in a reply statement.

The U.S. has been providing Ukraine with intelligence, infantry training, has forces on the ground in the country, and has put sanctions in place—all in hopes to achieve its stated goal for regime change in the Kremlin.