Russia’s navy is probably going unable to maintain its present degree of combating in Ukraine and possibly will not seize considerably extra territory this yr, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines mentioned Wednesday.
After main setbacks and huge battlefield losses, “We do not foresee the Russian military recovering enough this year to make major territorial gains,” Haines instructed a Senate listening to.
Nevertheless, Russian President Vladimir Putin “most likely calculates that time works in his favor,” Haines mentioned.
Putin seemingly believes that prolonging the battle, with intermittent pauses in combating, “may be his best remaining pathway to eventually securing Russian strategic interests in Ukraine, even if it takes years,” she mentioned.
Haines, reporting on the sum of views within the broad US intelligence neighborhood, mentioned that one yr after invading Ukraine however failing in his main targets for the operation, Putin now most likely has a greater understanding of the restrictions of his forces.
Moscow’s navy energy is now considerably constrained by troop losses and arms depletion that’s exacerbated by commerce restrictions and sanctions positioned by the United States and allies, she famous.
Putin “appears to be focused on more modest military objectives now,” she instructed the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“If Russia does not initiate a mandatory mobilization, and identify substantial third-party ammunition supplies, it will be increasingly challenging for them to sustain even the current level of offensive operations,” Haines mentioned.
As a end result, Russian forces “may fully shift” to holding and defending the territories they now occupy, she mentioned.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
