Moskva missile cruiser
Moskva missile cruiserREUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak/File Photo

The White House denied on Friday reports that U.S. intelligence was involved in helping the Ukrainians sink a Russian Navy guided missile cruiser.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued the denial after a reporter asked her about whether the allegation about the sinking of the Moskva could increase already heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia, the Washington Examiner reported.

"Let me first say, to speak to the reports, they're inaccurate," Psaki said. "We did not provide Ukraine with specific targeting information for the Moskva. We were not involved in the Ukrainians' decision to strike the ship."

Psaki added that the Ukrainians have the intelligence capabilities to track Russian ships on their own, and have greater intelligence gathering services in the region than U.S. agencies.

But according to NBC News, U.S. officials confirmed that the U.S. had identified the location of the Moskva and provided the information to the Ukrainians after they were asked about the identity of a ship in the Black Sea in mid-April. Ukraine then used the provided information on April 13 to launch two Neptune missiles at the ship, which sank the next day.

Psaki did say that the U.S. provides a certain amount of intelligence to the Ukrainians.

"We do provide a range of intelligence to help them understand the threat posed by Russian ships in the Black Sea and to help them prepare to defend themselves against potential sea-based assaults," she said. "But they take our intelligence, and they combine that with what they have access to. In this specific report, it's just not an accurate depiction of how this happened."

The Moskva was the largest Russian warship to be destroyed in a war since World War II.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)