Ukraine Attempted 'Decapitation Strike' Of Russia's Top General, Even As US Tried To Stop It

In its new reporting, the Times says that last Spring, Russia's top military brass decided it was necessary for generals to make trips to the front lines due to worsening morale: "But the generals made a deadly mistake: They positioned themselves near antennas and communications arrays, making them easy to find, the Americans said." NYT describes further as follows in this key section of the report, thus allowing US intel to begin identifying top commanders' whereabouts on the Ukrainian battlefield:

"Ukraine started killing Russian generals, yet the risky Russian visits to the front lines continued. Finally, in late April, the Russian chief of the general staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, made secret plans to go himself."

The US apparently knew of the 'secret' trip in real-time, leading to the dilemma of whether to share the information with the Ukrainians. But the Times' sources say Washington "kept the information from the Ukrainians, worried they would strike."

The driving concern was that a provocation of that magnitude would increase the likelihood of direct war between nuclear-armed superpowers. The NY Times reveals what happened next:

The Ukrainians learned of the general’s plans anyway, putting the Americans in a bind. After checking with the White House, senior American officials asked the Ukrainians to call off the attack.

"We told them not to do it," a senior American official said. "We were like, ‘Hey, that’s too much.’"

The message arrived too late. Ukrainian military officials told the Americans that they had already launched their attack on the general's position.

Dozens of Russians were killed in the strike, officials said. General Gerasimov wasn’t one of them.

Gerasimov is the equivalent of Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest-ranking military officer...

The shelling of Donetsk continues.

In the morning, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired on the Kuibyshevsky, Kyiv and Voroshilovsky districts of Donetsk, said the head of the administration, Alexei Kulemzin.

Europe has lost about $1 trillion due to the energy crisis - Bloomberg.
Agency analysts believe that “there will be no respite from high prices”, and the situation on the energy market will remain tense until 2026.