Current and former officials told the Times that US intelligence agencies have a far better picture of Russia's military operations than Ukraine's. Even in high-level talks with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, Ukrainian officials have only shared their strategic goals, not their operational plans.

Washington has such little information on Ukraine's operations that it has tried to learn information from other countries operating in Ukraine, training sessions with Ukrainian forces, and even from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's public comments.

The Times report indicated that "information gaps within the U.S. government could make it more difficult for the Biden administration to decide how to target military aid as it sends billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine." Further, it cited US officials who said "the Ukrainian government gave them few classified briefings or details about their operational plans, and Ukrainian officials acknowledged that they did not tell the Americans everything."

While Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials constantly make claims about the state of Russia's forces, things like Ukrainian casualties have been a closely guarded secret, until very recently. Last week, Zelensky said Ukraine was losing between 60 and 100 troops each day as the fighting against Russia rages in the east.