FT: US has been helping Ukraine attack critical targets in Russia for months

For several months now, the United States has been helping Ukraine launch long-range strikes against Russian energy facilities. This was reported by Financial Times, citing information from numerous unnamed Ukrainian and US officials.

According to them, these are coordinated actions aimed at forcing Russia's dictator Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. U.S. intelligence has helped launch several strikes on important Russian energy facilities, including oil refineries far from the front line.

The sources said that support has increased since mid-summer. U.S. intelligence is helping Kyiv determine the route, altitude, timing, and a number of other decisions that allow the drones to evade Russian air defense. According to three people with knowledge of the matter, Washington was directly involved in all stages of planning.

"Ukraine chose the targets for long-range strikes, and Washington then provided intelligence on the vulnerability of these targets," said one anonymous official .

The move is the "latest sign" that US President Donald Trump has stepped up his support for Ukraine amid growing discontent with Russia, the FT says. The change comes after his phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in July, officials familiar with the conversation said .

According to the two interlocutors, the White House chief made it clear that he supports the strategy of forcing the Kremlin to negotiate. He also favors making the Russians "feel the pain.".

Shortly after this phone call, four people familiar with the Ukrainian operation reported that more detailed intelligence began to flow from Washington to Kyiv. As a result, the Defense Forces were able to draw up an improved map of Russian air defense.

At the same time, other knowledgeable individuals reported that the United States has identified priority targets for Ukrainians. One of them called Ukrainian drones a tool to help Washington undermine the Russian economy.

• Ukraine regularly attacks Russian critical infrastructure. On the night of October 4, drones attacked the Leningrad region locals reported explosions at one of the largest refineries. Later, the General Staff confirmed that the Defense Forces had hit one of Russia's largest refineries - Kirishnefteorgsintez, a missile ship and a command post.
• as reported by Reuters, on October 6, Kirishnefteorgsintez shut down its largest unit after the attack.
• On October 9, the Defense Forces hit the largest gas processing plant in southern Russia - Korobkovsky, as well as the line-production dispatch station Efimovka in the Volgograd region.
• On October 11, an interlocutor of LIGA.net said that SBU drones had hit an oil depot in Bashkortostan, 1400 km from Ukraine. This is the third diplomatic strike of the Service in this republic of the Russian Federation in the last month .