Despite our already outlining each of these details the New York Times is now confirming, do not overlook the geopolitical consequences that will surface as a result of their publication.
The New York Times published two articles {HERE and HERE} revealing: 1) that U.S. military boots are on the ground in Ukraine. (2) The U.S. military is actively involved in the ongoing targeting of strikes into Russia. (3) The CIA is operating in Ukraine and conducting targeted strikes into the Russian Federation mainland.
New York Times – […] [F]or nearly three years before Mr. Trump’s return to power, the United States and Ukraine were joined in an extraordinary partnership of intelligence, strategy, planning and technology whose evolution and inner workings have been known only to a small circle of American and allied officials.
[…] The idea behind the partnership was that America’s close cooperation with Ukraine would compensate for Russia’s vast advantages in manpower and weaponry. To guide the Ukrainians as they deployed their ever-more-sophisticated arsenal, the Americans created an operation called Task Force Dragon.
The secret center of the partnership was at the U.S. Army garrison in Wiesbaden, Germany. Each morning, U.S. and Ukrainian military officers set targeting priorities — Russian units, pieces of equipment or infrastructure. American and coalition intelligence officers searched satellite imagery, radio emissions and intercepted communications to find Russian positions. Task Force Dragon then gave the Ukrainians the coordinates so they could shoot at them.
[…] In spring 2022, the Biden administration agreed to send High Mobility Artillery Systems, or HIMARS, which used satellite-guided rockets for strikes up to 50 miles distant.
In the war’s first year, the Ukrainians were extremely dependent on the Americans for intelligence, and Task Force Dragon vetted and oversaw virtually every HIMARS strike. The strikes caused Russian casualty rates to soar.
[…] Easing a prohibition against American boots on Ukrainian ground, Wiesbaden was allowed to put about a dozen military advisers in Kyiv. To avoid drawing public attention to their presence, the Pentagon initially called them “subject matter experts.” Later the team was expanded, to about three dozen, and the military advisers were eventually allowed to travel to Ukrainian command posts closer to the fighting.
[…] In January 2024, U.S. and Ukrainian military officers in Wiesbaden jointly planned a campaign — using coalition-supplied long-range missiles, along with Ukrainian drones — to attack about 100 Russian military targets across Crimea. The campaign, named Operation Lunar Hail, largely succeeded in forcing the Russians to pull equipment, facilities and forces in Crimea back to the Russian mainland.
[…] Ultimately, the U.S. military and C.I.A. were allowed to help with strikes into Russia. […] Longstanding policy barred the C.I.A. from providing intelligence on targets on Russian soil. But the C.I.A. could request “variances,” carve-outs to support strikes for specific objectives. Intelligence had identified a vast munitions depot in Toropets, 290 miles north of the Ukrainian border.
On Sept. 18, 2024, a swarm of drones slammed into the munitions depot. The blast, as powerful as a small earthquake, opened a crater the width of a football field. Later, the C.I.A. was allowed to enable Ukrainian drone strikes in southern Russia to try to slow advances in eastern Ukraine. (more)
As we have outlined for several years, including our own research by driving through Ukraine, the CIA has been operating on the ground in Ukraine from the outset of the conflict. Over time the CIA took over most of the strategic operations, and as it currently stands the United States CIA is organizing the majority of the Ukraine war against Russia.
This is where you need to understand how CIA authorization takes place.
In order for the CIA to operate in Ukraine, Joe Biden had to sign a “presidential finding memo” authorizing the CIA to conduct covert operations. This New York Times article is describing the outcome of those “finding memoranda.”
Which brings me to this Tweet I sent in response to the revelatory article:
Dear President Trump, if this NYT article is accurate (it is), there has to be a “Presidential Finding Memo” authorizing the CIA to coordinate attacks into Russia.
You might want to have CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and DNI Tulsi Gabbard pull it out of the authorization library for your review, prior to the next call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Also, to avoid embarrassment, as your team are likely aware – and possibly willing to admit, that “finding memo” was also briefed to the former Gang of Eight in congress. Which means Secretary of State Marco Rubio as vice-chair of the SSCI and Go8 member, already knew of this CIA operation, authorizing their involvement in targeting Russian Federation territory.
You might want to ask Secretary Rubio about that, and organize a way to discuss it, prior to Rubio coming face to face with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at the next meeting.
Warmest possible regards, and deepest appreciation for your ongoing “ceasefire” efforts.
Good luck
The motive is clear for the New York Times to outline how the CIA is operating inside Ukraine to target the Russian Federation.
The operatives who leak to the NYT want distance between Trump and Putin. This admission of CIA involvement puts Trump in an awkward place.
The awkwardness expands, when you understand how the CIA is authorized to conduct these operations. The President, Biden, signed a “finding memo,” authorizing the CIA to conduct missile strikes into the Russian Federation.
Senator Marco Rubio as SSCI vice-chair and a Gang of Eight member, was ‘read in’ to that CIA authorization.
Senator Rubio is now Secretary of State facing Sergey Lavrov, and the Russians know exactly how these things are done.
On one hand, the NYT article spills the beans and informs the public. On the other hand, their reason for purposefully spilling the beans is to create a problem for Trump and Rubio, and possibly between Trump and Rubio.
It makes sense now why Secretary of State Rubio was the first Trump official to publicly say the United States was in a proxy war against Russia using Ukraine as the justification.
On the upside, this creates an opportunity for President Trump to distance himself from the prior administration and withdraw all CIA operatives and admitted/revealed U.S. military boots on the ground in Ukraine.
President Trump could use this revelation, now public and widespread, to reset the U.S-Ukraine dynamic and withdraw all elements of prior Biden authorization from the conflict.
Will he?
Posted originally on CTH on March 31, 2025 | Sundance
