Putin plans to wage war against Ukraine for years – US Intelligence

The American intelligence is inclined to believe that Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, is preparing for a prolonged war in Ukraine.

Source: Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence of the US, during annual threat assessment report in Congress, as reported by CNN

Details: Haines thinks that the war in Ukraine has become a "grinding attritional war in which neither side has a definitive military advantage," but said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was likely to carry on, possibly for years.

Quote: "We do not foresee the Russian military recovering enough this year to make major territorial gains, but Putin most likely calculates the time works in his favour, and that prolonging the war including with potential pauses in the fighting may be his best remaining pathway to eventually securing Russia's strategic interests in Ukraine, even if it takes years."

More details: Haines added that Russia will likely be unable to sustain even its currently modest level of offensive operations in Ukraine without an additional mandatory mobilisation and third-party ammunition sources.

But she cautioned that a potential spring offensive by Ukraine may be limited by "the extent to which Ukrainian forces are having to draw down their reserves and equipment as well as suffer further casualties" defending against current Russian operations.

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