Današnji članek v New York Timesu o delovanju ameriške obveščevalne službe CIA prek 12 baz v Ukrajini od leta 2014 (ki so služile za pridobivanje ruskih obveščevalnih informacij, za koordniranje ukrajinskih napadov v Donbasu in ukrajinskih napadov z droni v Rusiji itd.) ni presenečenje. Vprašanji sta le dve: (1) zakaj NYT (ki je asset ameriških obveščevalnih služb) to objavlja prav zdaj, ko ukrajinska obrambna linija kolapsira, in (2) če je bilo to sodelovanje tako uspešno, zakaj je moralo umreti stotisoče Ukrajincev?
Ad 1: Odgovor se najbrž skriva v tem odstavku:
Now these intelligence networks are more important than ever, as Russia is on the offensive and Ukraine is more dependent on sabotage and long-range missile strikes that require spies far behind enemy lines. And they are increasingly at risk: If Republicans in Congress end military funding to Kyiv, the C.I.A. may have to scale back.
Vendar dvomim, da je to pravi odgovor, kajti ameriška administracija je financirala povečano dejavnost Cie v Ukrajini tudi, ko je bil na njenem čelu Donald Trump. Morda gre za prepričevanje zaveznikov, da nadaljujejo financiranje vojne v Ukrajini, ker sploh nič še ni izgubljeno, saj CIA učinkovito obveščevalno brani Ukrajino.
Ad 2: Če je CIA vedela, da bo Rusija napadla Ukrajino zaradi ameriške zavrnitve ruskega predloga sporazuma o neširjenju Nata v Ukrajino (jesen 2021), zakaj so ZDA zavrnile ta ruski predlog sporazuma in Ukrajino efektivno porinile v vojno brez najmanjšega izgleda zmage? Zakaj se je ameriški administraciji zdelo vredno žrtvovati Ukrajino in usodo njenega prebivalstva, medtem ko je tedne pred rusko agresijo umaknila svoje diplomatsko osebje? Uspešno sodelovanje bi iz vidika Ukrajine pomenilo, da se ji prihrani vojna in gorje, ne pa da se jo porine v vojno in razpad države.
Zakaj? Ker je vse skupaj zgolj strateška igrica za ameriške administracije.
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Nestled in a dense forest, the Ukrainian military base appears abandoned and destroyed, its command center a burned-out husk, a casualty of a Russian missile barrage early in the war.
But that is above ground.
Not far away, a discreet passageway descends to a subterranean bunker where teams of Ukrainian soldiers track Russian spy satellites and eavesdrop on conversations between Russian commanders. On one screen, a red line followed the route of an explosive drone threading through Russian air defenses from a point in central Ukraine to a target in the Russian city of Rostov.
The underground bunker, built to replace the destroyed command center in the months after Russia’s invasion, is a secret nerve center of Ukraine’s military.
There is also one more secret: The base is almost fully financed, and partly equipped, by the C.I.A.
“One hundred and ten percent,” Gen. Serhii Dvoretskiy, a top intelligence commander, said in an interview at the base.
Now entering the third year of a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, the intelligence partnership between Washington and Kyiv is a linchpin of Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. The C.I.A. and other American intelligence agencies provide intelligence for targeted missile strikes, track Russian troop movements and help support spy networks.
But the partnership is no wartime creation, nor is Ukraine the only beneficiary.
It took root a decade ago, coming together in fits and starts under three very different U.S. presidents, pushed forward by key individuals who often took daring risks. It has transformed Ukraine, whose intelligence agencies were long seen as thoroughly compromised by Russia, into one of Washington’s most important intelligence partners against the Kremlin today.
The listening post in the Ukrainian forest is part of a C.I.A.-supported network of spy bases constructed in the past eight years that includes 12 secret locations along the Russian border. Before the war, the Ukrainians proved themselves to the Americans by collecting intercepts that helped prove Russia’s involvement in the 2014 downing of a commercial jetliner, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The Ukrainians also helped the Americans go after the Russian operatives who meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Vir: New York Times
DAMIJAN blog 