The unclassified report does not assess the value of the information or provide details beyond citing two captured Iraqi documents that say the Russians collected information from sources "inside the American Central Command" and that battlefield intelligence was provided to Saddam through the Russian ambassador in Baghdad.

A classified version of the Pentagon report, titled "Iraqi Perspectives Project," is not being made public.

A duty officer with Russia's Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the report late Friday evening and said questions must be faxed in advance before any answers would be given.

No one answered the phones at the Defense Ministry.

Pavel Felgenhauer, a respected independent Moscow-based military analyst, said the report was within the realm of possibility.

"It's quite plausible," he told The Associated Press.

He said a unit affiliated with the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Department, known by its abbreviation GRU, was actively working in Iraq at the time of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The unit apparently was shut down after Baghdad fell during the U.S.-led invasion.

There also was an Internet site in Russian called "The Ramzay Files" that caused a stir in Moscow's military and diplomatic community at the time, Felgenhauer said.

The site, which also shut down after the invasion, posted striking insights, predictions and analysis into U.S. military activities as well as Iraqi military and intelligence activities.

He said former GRU officials told him the type of information that was being posted _ both on the Iraqis and on the Americans _ appeared to be the kind that only highly placed Russian intelligence officials in Iraq would have.

According to the Pentagon report, one piece of Russian intelligence _ whether by chance or design _ actually contributed to an important U.S. military deception effort.

By telling Saddam that the main attack on Baghdad would not begin until the Army's 4th Infantry Division arrived around April 15, the Russians reinforced an impression that U.S. commanders were trying to catch the Iraqis by surprise.

The attack on Baghdad began well before the 4th Infantry arrived, and the Saddam regime collapsed quickly.

The Pentagon report also said the Russians told the Iraqis that the Americans planned to concentrate on bombing in and around Baghdad, cutting the road to Syria and Jordan and creating enough confusion to force Baghdad residents to flee.

Felgenhauer said the release of the report was coming at an inauspicious time, given the marked cooling in Russian-U.S. relations in recent months, and could be "the beginning of a real degradation in relations" between Washington and Moscow.

"This could reflect this ongoing confrontation and now the Pentagon is sticking its finger into the pie," he said.