Trump's intelligence halt leaves Ukrainians vulnerable

"As a result of this pause, there are hundreds of dead Ukrainians. It’s really causing an advantage for the enemy on the front line," said one Ukrainian officer to the magazine. He stated that the AFU are forced to fight without some basic weapon systems due to the "Americans' refusal" to meet their commitments, which is seriously affecting the morale of Ukrainian soldiers.

The most challenging situation is in the Kursk region, where the AFU are trying to hold onto territory gained during the August offensive. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, sees this region as a valuable asset in future peace talks with Russia and hopes to leverage it in potential exchanges.

A source in the president's office confirmed that the greatest impact on operations in the Kursk region has indeed been the loss of access to American intelligence data, because Ukrainians can no longer detect incoming Russian bombers and other military aircraft. As a result, the AFU have limited time to warn civilians and soldiers of an air raid or missile attack threat.

Earlier reports indicated that the Russian army made significant advances in the Kursk region, reclaiming 17% of the territory held by the AFU within a week. According to "The Telegraph," these actions have placed 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers at risk of encirclement.

By March 7, Russian forces had nearly divided Ukrainian units and cut off the main group from a key supply line, described as a narrow land corridor approximately 0.6 miles long and just under 547 yards wide, reported by the Deep State project associated with Ukraine's Ministry of Defense.

Russian troops also utilized the inactive Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhgorod gas pipeline to approach AFU positions in the Sudzha area.

However, judging by reports from the Ukrainian General Staff and pro-Russian war channels, this attempt was unsuccessful. The AFU stated that the Russian group was "detected in time" by air reconnaissance units of airborne-assault troops. Meanwhile, pro-Russian blogger Vladimir Romanov reported that some Russian soldiers suffocated in the narrow passage (the pipe has a diameter of 4.6 feet, and the route length is 9 miles) because they lacked specialized equipment.

The situation in the Kursk region remains tense. Chief Sergeant of the 47th Mechanized Brigade "Magura," Oleh Chaus, said that the road in the Sudzha area is about 3 miles long, and that section is entirely controlled by Russian FPV drones.

"If we are talking about the number of them, then it should be said here that you can see 7-8 of these drones in the sky in 10-15 minutes. That is, they just swarm there," he told "Time" magazine.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that during the offensive, the Russian army captured the village of Lebedivka on the Loknia River, 3 miles from the border with Ukraine and 6 miles northwest of Sudzha, as well as the settlement of Novenke in the Sumy region.

On March 3, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the suspension of all military assistance to Ukraine, including aid already in transit. By March 5, it became evident that this decision also included intelligence data and satellite imagery. As a result, all Western specialists who were assisting in obtaining and analyzing such information at the military headquarters in Kyiv left Ukraine.

Commenting on his decision, Trump stated that he wants to "stop the killing." However, following the suspension of U.S. military aid, Russia launched massive attacks on Ukraine. Despite this, Trump said he still believes in Russian President Vladimir Putin's desire to end the war. He acknowledged that Russia is "bombing the hell out of Ukraine," taking advantage of the situation, but emphasized that Putin is "doing what anybody else would do," as he allegedly wants "to end the war."