But Russian military bloggers appeared to confirm the intelligence leak by Google, publishing screenshots that, they claimed, showed new air defence systems ringing an airport near Kyiv.
These were identified as US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missiles from a Google satellite photo dated Sept 28 2023. They were missing in an earlier Google satellite photograph.
One so-called Z blogger, a term used to describe pro-war Russian nationalists, reposted Lt Kovalenko’s complaint and then, next to a laughing emoji, wrote: “Tomorrow will come and then you will be killed.”
The Telegraph contacted Google for a response but neither it nor its parent company Alphabet were immediately available for comment.
The intelligence leak of Ukrainian missile defence systems is the latest setback for Kyiv’s forces.
Over the weekend, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military said that his soldiers were now facing down one of the most intense Russian offensives since the start of the war.
Adding to concerns, Western intelligence said up to 13,000 North Korean soldiers are poised to join the fight for the Kremlin under a “mutual military assistance” deal agreed between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un.
The troops are expected to enter into battle in Russia’s Kursk region which Ukraine invaded in August but are waiting for Russia’s Upper House of Parliament to rubber-stamp the deal between Kim and Putin.
However, Lt Kovalenko said on Telegram that North Korean soldiers had already come under fire in the Russian village of Kurshchnya.