‘Everybody loves a winner’: US-Ukraine intel sharing surges as Kyiv racks up wins

KYIV, Ukraine — U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine has rebounded to full strength as Kyiv’s mid- and deep-range strikes continue to hammer Russia’s oil industry .

The CIA has worked closely with Ukraine’s intelligence services since Russia’s 2014 invasion, growing a partnership built on assistance and training into a two-way exchange of intelligence, according to Forbes . However, the relationship nearly collapsed in February 2025, when a contentious Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ended with Washington temporarily cutting off the flow of intelligence and weapons to Kyiv.

But Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the Senate Intelligence Committee’s ranking member, said this month that the two countries have moved past previous hurdles and returned to a strong intelligence partnership.

“I don’t want to get into any specifics, but it has improved,” Warner told Politico .

The CIA has spent more than a decade and millions of dollars training and equipping Ukrainian intelligence officers, building around a dozen secret forward-operating bases along the Russian border, ABC News reported in January 2025, citing former U.S. officials.

The senator said the current arrangement has helped Kyiv gain an edge, with long-range drones and missiles now hitting targets far inside Russia.

While American weapons deliveries have taken the spotlight in what Washington gives Ukraine, intelligence is the one U.S. asset Kyiv cannot replace, especially for the long-range strikes now making headlines.

That intelligence reaches directly into the strike campaign, including “the targeting packages for strikes on Russian-troop positions in Ukraine and on energy infrastructure inside Russia,” The Atlantic reported, citing American and Ukrainian sources.

Those sources called intelligence “the one thing the United States still provides free of charge,” crediting CIA Director John Ratcliffe with keeping it that way.

Zelenskyy seems to have risen in Trump’s estimation as Ukraine increasingly fights on its own terms, redefining modern warfare by crafting new tech and strategies, clawing back territory and taking the war deep into Russia — leaving Kyiv looking less dependent and more like an ally with something to trade.

“Trump doesn’t like losers,” one Western intelligence official told the outlet.

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, another intelligence committee member, and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Politico they see a direct connection between the White House’s view of Ukraine’s battlefield successes and Kyiv’s access to intelligence.

“It sure seems like that,” Cornyn said. “Everybody loves a winner and looks like Ukraine has turned the tide.”

The strengthening relationship between Washington and Kyiv is apparent on multiple fronts.

Trump’s negotiators to end the war, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, plan to head to Ukraine for the first time later this month, a trip that coincides with the country’s independence celebrations, according to Radio Free Europe .

The intel trade is going both ways, with Zelenskyy stating publicly as early as March that Kyiv had proof of Moscow passing intelligence to Iran that he later promised to put in front of Trump.

“We have irrefutable evidence that the Russians continue to provide intelligence to the Iranian regime,” Zelenskyy wrote on X . “Russia is using its own signals intelligence and electronic intelligence capabilities, as well as part of the data obtained through cooperation with partners in the Middle East.”

Katie Livingstone is the Ukraine correspondent for Defense News and Military Times. Based in Kyiv, she has covered Russia's full-scale invasion since its first days. She is a former Fulbright fellow whose award-winning work has appeared in outlets across Europe and the U.S.

乌克兰基辅——随着基辅的中程和远程打击继续重创俄罗斯石油工业，美国与乌克兰的情报共享已全面恢复。

据《福布斯》报道，自2014年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰以来，美国中央情报局（CIA）一直与乌克兰情报部门密切合作，双方最初以援助和培训为基础，发展成为双向情报交流的伙伴关系。然而，2025年2月，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普与乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基在椭圆形办公室举行了一次充满争议的会晤，会晤结束后，华盛顿方面暂时切断了对基辅的情报和武器供应，导致双方关系几乎破裂。

但参议院情报委员会资深成员、弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员马克·沃纳本月表示，两国已经克服了之前的障碍，恢复了牢固的情报伙伴关系。

“我不想透露任何细节，但情况已经有所改善，”华纳告诉 Politico。

据美国广播公司新闻网 (ABC News) 2025 年 1 月报道，美国中央情报局 (CIA) 花费了十多年时间和数百万美元，对乌克兰情报人员进行培训和装备，并在俄罗斯边境沿线建立了大约十几个秘密前沿作战基地。该报道援引了美国前官员的话。

这位参议员表示，目前的安排帮助基辅获得了优势，远程无人机和导弹现在可以打击俄罗斯境内很远的目标。

虽然美国向乌克兰提供的武器援助一直是华盛顿关注的焦点，但情报却是基辅无法替代的美国资产，尤其是在目前频频登上新闻头条的远程打击方面。

据《大西洋月刊》援引美国和乌克兰消息人士报道，该情报直接影响到打击行动，包括“针对乌克兰境内俄军阵地和俄罗斯境内能源基础设施的打击目标方案”。

这些消息人士称情报是“美国仍然免费提供的唯一东西”，并赞扬中央情报局局长约翰·拉特克利夫保持了这一现状。

随着乌克兰越来越多地按照自己的方式作战，通过研发新技术和新战略重新定义现代战争，夺回领土并将战争深入俄罗斯腹地，泽连斯基在特朗普心目中的地位似乎有所提升——这使得基辅看起来不那么依赖俄罗斯，更像是一个有东西可以交换的盟友。

一位西方情报官员告诉该媒体：“特朗普不喜欢失败者。”

参议院情报委员会成员、来自德克萨斯州的共和党参议员约翰·科宁，以及参议院军事委员会主席、来自密西西比州的共和党参议员罗杰·威克告诉 Politico，他们认为白宫对乌克兰战场胜利的看法与基辅获取情报之间存在直接联系。

“看起来确实如此，”科宁说道。“人人都喜欢胜利者，而乌克兰似乎已经扭转了局势。”

华盛顿和基辅之间日益加强的关系在多个方面都显而易见。

据自由欧洲电台报道，特朗普的结束战争谈判代表史蒂夫·威特科夫和贾里德·库什纳计划在本月晚些时候首次前往乌克兰，此次访问恰逢该国的独立日庆祝活动。

情报交换是双向的，泽连斯基早在3月份就公开表示，基辅掌握莫斯科向伊朗传递情报的证据，他后来承诺会将这些证据提交给特朗普。

泽连斯基在X网站上写道：“我们有无可辩驳的证据表明，俄罗斯继续向伊朗政权提供情报。俄罗斯正在利用其自身的信号情报和电子情报能力，以及通过与中东伙伴合作获得的部分数据。”

凯蒂·利文斯通是《防务新闻》和《军事时报》的乌克兰特派记者。她常驻基辅，自俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰之初便开始报道此事。她曾是富布赖特学者，其获奖作品发表于欧洲和美国的多家媒体。