“It Has Improved”: US Intelligence Sharing With Ukraine Is Fully Restored as Deep Strikes Cripple Russian Refineries
- Fully Restored the status of US-Ukraine intelligence sharing as of August 2026 — confirmed independently by Sens. Warner, Cornyn, Wicker and Kaine — Politico, Aug. 6, 2026
- 3.8M bbl/day Russia's refining capacity after the strike campaign, down from 5.2 million barrels a day pre-war — a 21-year low — Kyiv Post
- $825,000,000 Extended Range Attack Munition sale to Ukraine — 3,350 units, ~250 nautical mile range, funded principally by Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands — Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Aug. 28, 2025
- 43% of Russian refining capacity disabled at points during the campaign — Kyiv Post / Institute for the Study of War
As of August 2026, US intelligence sharing with Ukraine has been fully restored to pre-freeze levels, Politico reported August 6 — a status independently confirmed by four senators from both parties who have been briefed on the program. Behind that restoration sits a sustained Ukrainian deep-strike campaign against Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure, one that Ukrainian and American officials now describe as materially supported by US intelligence.
The strikes have not let up. In the first two weeks of August alone, Ukraine hit refineries in Bashkortostan, Yaroslavl, Krasnodar Krai and Samara Oblast, and on August 13 a Ukrainian drone reached a target roughly 800 miles inside Russian territory — among the deepest strikes of the war. Russian officials, for their part, say Washington’s fingerprints are all over the campaign.
The arc that produced this moment runs back through a public denial, a quiet transfer of strike-approval authority, and a wartime freeze severe enough that a Ukrainian officer said it cost “hundreds of dead Ukrainians.” None of that is news anymore. What follows is how far the relationship has traveled since — and what it has cost Russia along the way.
The current depth of cooperation is easy to take for granted unless you remember how it began. On February 28, 2025, a tense Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ended in open disagreement on camera, and within days Washington paused both intelligence sharing and military aid to Kyiv. A Ukrainian officer familiar with the gap later said the freeze cost “hundreds of dead Ukrainians” — soldiers who lost early warning of Russian troop movements and missile launches during the weeks the pipeline went dark.
The freeze did not last. On March 13, 2025, following talks between US and Ukrainian delegations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Washington restored intelligence sharing — partially, and with plenty of ambiguity about what exactly had resumed. It would take another year and a half, and a great deal of quiet coordination, before Kyiv would describe the relationship as fully repaired.
By August 6, 2026, it was. “I don’t want to get into any specifics, but it has improved,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, describing the current state of intelligence sharing to reporters. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) put it more bluntly: “Everybody loves a winner and looks like Ukraine has turned the tide.” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), after a visit to Ukraine, said he came away with “more confidence in the communication” between the two governments, and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) added his own confirmation that the pipeline US officials once throttled is now running at full capacity.
“I don't want to get into any specifics, but it has improved.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chair, Senate Intelligence Committee
The restoration didn’t happen all at once, and it wasn’t only about switching intelligence sharing back on — it also meant changing who in Washington signs off on Ukrainian strikes into Russia, and arming Kyiv with weapons that reach farther than before. On August 28, 2025, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a $825,000,000 sale of 3,350 Extended Range Attack Munitions to Ukraine — missiles with a range of roughly 250 nautical miles, financed principally not by direct US appropriation but by Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands.
Less than two months later, on October 21, 2025, Ukraine struck the Bryansk chemical and rocket-fuel plant deep inside Russia with a British-supplied Storm Shadow missile — one data point in a broader pattern that, around the same time, tracked back to a change in Washington’s own chain of command. Authority to approve Ukrainian cross-border strikes moved quietly that October from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Trump administration) to Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of US European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe — putting sign-off in the hands of the officer running day-to-day coalition operations rather than the Pentagon’s civilian leadership.
The following day, the Wall Street Journal and New York Post reported that the US had lifted a key restriction enabling Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles inside Russia. The White House pushed back hard and in public:
The Wall Street Journal story on the U.S.A.'s approval of Ukraine being allowed to use long range missiles deep into Russia is FAKE NEWS! ... The U.S. has nothing to do with those missiles, wherever they may come from, or what Ukraine does with them!
That posture — declining to confirm operational specifics around strike authorizations while the war’s dynamics kept moving — has held steady in public since, even as members of Congress from both parties have gone on to describe a steadily deepening working relationship on the record.
By the summer of 2026, US officials were no longer describing the deep-strike campaign as risk-free. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Trump administration) told a Senate Appropriations panel around June 2026 that the escalation risk from strikes deep inside Russia was “real, more real than it was two years ago” — a candid acknowledgment from the administration’s top diplomat that the pressure campaign it was backing carried genuine stakes.
Moscow’s response has been to reject the entire premise. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on July 9, 2026, that escalating strikes would not bring the war closer to a settlement. “We see certain misconceptions within the White House administration — that by escalating military pressure it can help move to a peace settlement. That is a mistaken view,” Peskov said, adding a warning of his own: “The more Kyiv tries to escalate, the more we’re going to keep expanding this broader security zone, this buffer zone.” Weeks later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov went further, accusing Washington of taking a “hands-on role” in Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory, including strikes he characterized as hitting civilian targets.
On July 28, 2026, Trump and Zelensky met at the White House in what both sides described as a productive session. “Great Honor to meet with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Many things were discussed. The meeting went very well!” Trump wrote afterward.
Great Honor to meet with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Many things were discussed. The meeting went very well!
Posted the day of the Trump-Zelensky White House meeting; Ukraine struck two major Russian refineries hours later.
Hours later, the same day, Ukraine struck two of Russia’s largest oil refineries — Lukoil’s Perm facility and the Ryazan refinery — together representing roughly 220 million barrels of annual refining capacity. The pace has not slowed since. On August 2, Rubio told Fox News that Ukraine’s deep-strike capability “creates a new dynamic” that could push Moscow toward a settlement. Four days later, Politico’s report on the full restoration of intelligence sharing landed the same day Zelensky announced fresh strikes on refineries in Bashkortostan and Yaroslavl, plus hits on vessels in Russia’s Black Sea “shadow fleet.”
“Russia must feel that every day of this war will only come at a higher cost for it. We need to weaken the aggressor...”
President Volodymyr Zelensky, public remarks, late July 2026
Strikes on refineries in Ilsky, in Krasnodar Krai, and Syzran, in Samara Oblast, followed on August 7 and 8. Then, on August 8, the Pentagon abruptly relieved Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza of command of the 5th Army Corps — the unit overseeing much of the US military’s European and Ukraine-related logistics — roughly two months ahead of his scheduled rotation. The Pentagon has not disclosed a reason, and it remains an open question whether the change connects to the broader strike campaign or is unrelated personnel business. Five days later, on August 13, Ukrainian drones struck a refinery roughly 800 miles inside Russian territory. Lavrov, asked again on August 14 about Washington’s involvement, said Russia is still “awaiting a US response” on the question.
The strikes are not symbolic. Russia’s refining capacity has fallen from roughly 5.2 million barrels a day before the war to about 3.8 million barrels a day — a 21-year low, and a drop of more than a quarter — with as much as 43% of capacity disabled at points during the campaign, according to Kyiv Post reporting that cross-references Peskov’s own public pushback on the damage estimates. George Barros, an analyst with the Institute for the Study of War, has said the strikes became “significantly more effective when imbued with intelligence from the Americans” — a direct assessment of the mechanism this piece has traced: restored US intelligence sharing feeding a Ukrainian targeting campaign that is now hitting deeper, and more often, than at any earlier point in the war.
Eighteen months after a February 2025 Oval Office clash froze US intelligence sharing with Ukraine, the pipeline is running at full strength again, and Ukraine is using it to hit Russian refineries from Krasnodar Krai to Bashkortostan, some strikes landing 800 miles inside Russian territory. Along the way, strike-approval authority moved to NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, an $825 million missile sale expanded Ukraine’s reach, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Congress the escalation risk is real. Russia’s refining capacity has dropped to a 21-year low. The Kremlin says Washington has taken a “hands-on role” in strikes on its territory and is still waiting for an answer.
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- 9.Defense Security Cooperation Agency·Official notice to Congress — Extended Range Attack Munition sale to Ukraine, Aug. 28, 2025
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