Ukrainian officials told The Washington Post on Thursday they require coordinates provided or confirmed by the United States and its allies for the vast majority of strikes using its advanced US-provided rocket systems.
The previously undisclosed practice reveals a deeper and more operationally active role for the Pentagon in the war, noted the newspaper.
The disclosure, confirmed by three senior Ukrainian officials and a senior US official, comes after months of Kyiv’s forces pounding Russian targets — including headquarters, ammunition depots and barracks — on Ukrainian soil with the US-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and other similar precision-guided weapons such as the M270 multiple-launch rocket system.
One senior Ukrainian official told The Washington Post that Ukrainian forces almost never launch the advanced weapons without specific coordinates provided by US military personnel from a base elsewhere in Europe.
A senior US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, acknowledged the key American role in the campaign and said that the targeting assistance served to ensure accuracy and conserve limited stores of ammunition for maximum effectiveness.
The official told The Washington Post that Ukraine does not seek approval from the United States on what to strike and routinely targets Russian forces on their own with other weapons. The US provides coordinates and precise targeting information solely in an advisory role, the official said.
The senior Ukrainian official described the targeting process, generally: Ukrainian military personnel identify targets they want to hit, and in which location, and that information is then sent up to senior commanders, who then relay the request to US partners for more accurate coordinates. The Americans do not always provide the requested coordinates, the official said, in which case the Ukrainian troops do not fire.
Ukraine could carry out strikes without US help but because Kyiv doesn’t want to waste valuable ammunition and miss, it usually chooses not to strike without US confirmation, the official said, adding that there are no complaints about the process.
The Washington Post report noted that the Ukrainian government has for months been lobbying Washington for longer-range precision weapons.
Kyiv currently possesses HIMARS launchers and a similar weapon, the M270 multiple-launch rocket system, each of which fire a US-made rocket that can travel up to 50 miles.
Ukrainian officials also have sought the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), a munition that can be fired from the same launcher and travel up to 185 miles. Biden administration officials have declined to provide that weapon, which is in limited supply and seen by senior US officials as an escalation that could provoke Russia and drag the United States directly into the war.
Ukraine has also sought to receive F-16 fighter jets from Western countries, but US President Joe Biden recently ruled out sending those jets to Ukraine.
Biden officially announced late last month that the US will send 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, reversing months of persistent arguments that the tanks were too difficult for Ukrainian troops to operate and maintain.
The US decision came on the heels of Germany agreeing to send 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from its own stocks. Germany had said the Leopards would not be sent unless the US put its Abrams on the table, not wanting to incur Russia’s wrath without the US similarly committing its own tanks.