Washington (AFP) - The United States said it shared intelligence with Ukraine about the location of the Russian warship "Moskva" before the strike that sank the Russian warship, an incident that was a painful blow to the Russian military.

An American official said on Thursday that Ukraine alone decided to target and sink the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet using its anti-ship missiles. But given the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian coast from the sea, the United States provided a "set of intelligence" including the locations of those ships, the official said, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Biden administration has enhanced intelligence sharing with Ukraine alongside shipments of weapons and missiles to help it repel the Russian invasion. The revelation of American support in the Moskva attack comes as the White House faces pressure from Republicans to do more to support Ukrainian resistance, while polls indicate that Americans are questioning whether President Joe Biden is doing enough to deter Russia from its unjustified attack.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in February, the White House has tried to balance supporting Ukraine, the democratic ally, and not doing anything that appears to provoke a direct war between Putin and the United States and NATO allies. As the war continues, the White House has increased its military and intelligence support.

Meanwhile, the official who spoke on Thursday said the United States was not aware that Ukraine planned to strike Moskva until after they carried out the operation. NBC News first reported about the U.S. role in sinking the ship.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, speaking earlier Thursday after a New York Times report about the U.S. role in supporting the killing of Russian generals in Ukraine, said U.S. agencies "do not provide intelligence on the locations of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in targeting decisions concerning Russian generals with the Ukrainian military."

Kirby added: "Ukraine collects the information we and other partners provide along with information they gather themselves and then they make their own decisions and take their own actions."

Edited by: Dima Abu Khair