CIA Kept Ukraine Fight Alive as Military Aid Faltered

While the Pentagon halted weapons deliveries and temporarily suspended intelligence sharing after President Trump ordered an aid freeze in March, the CIA was granted an exemption. 

CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned the White House that a full cutoff would endanger U.S. officers operating inside Ukraine, prompting approval for continued intelligence sharing on Russian threats.

With long-range missile strikes using ATACMS effectively curtailed, the CIA shifted focus to Ukrainian drone operations.

The agency provided targeting intelligence and operational support for strikes against critical parts of Russia’s war economy, including:

• oil refineries,
• “energetics” factories producing explosive chemicals,
• and Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers in the Black Sea and Mediterranean.

Early drone attacks had limited impact due to poor coordination and Russian electronic warfare. In June 2025, CIA and U.S. military officers restructured the campaign, narrowing targets to refinery components that are difficult to replace, forcing facilities offline for weeks.

According to a U.S. intelligence estimate cited in the report, the refined campaign inflicted losses of up to $75 million per day on the Russian economy.

Fuel shortages followed, with gas lines forming in several regions of Russia.

The CIA deliberately avoided supplying weapons or hardware that Pentagon officials wanted redirected to Asia or the Middle East, relying instead on intelligence support and Ukrainian-produced drones.

Ratcliffe briefed President Trump on the operation, which officials said the president favored because it offered pressure on Russia without overt escalation.

The covert nature of the campaign provided Washington with deniability while weakening Russia’s ability to sustain the war.

A senior U.S. official quoted in the report said:

“We found something that is working.”

The CIA’s approach contrasted sharply with Pentagon policy, where munitions were restricted and Ukraine-focused officials were sidelined.

The result was a divided U.S. posture: overt military aid stalled, while covert intelligence operations quietly intensified to buy time for Ukraine.