The Russian military is unlikely to make “significant gains” in Ukraine by 2023, Avril Haines, director of the US National Intelligence Service (DNI), told a Senate committee on Wednesday.
The Russians intend to inflict “major losses” and President Vladimir Putin “probably better understands the limits of what his army can achieve,” he stated, adding that he currently appears to be focusing “on more modest military targets.” “.
“We do not foresee that the Russian army will recover enough this year to make significant territorial gains, but Putin probably reckons time is on his side,” he added before the Senate’s information committee during a hearing on the “global threats”. “.
From his perspective, the Russian president probably thinks that prolonging the war, with a pause in the fighting, “could be the best option he has left to protect Russia’s strategic interests in Ukraine, even if [esse objetivo] go on for years.”
“Unless Russia enacts mandatory mobilization and identifies significant third-party munitions stockpiles, it will be increasingly difficult for Russia to maintain its current level of offensive operations in the coming months,” Haines said.
As a result, and in his view, Russian troops “could certainly choose to defend the territories they currently occupy”.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14.6 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.1 million to European countries – according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At the moment, at least 18 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million people need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia to impose political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 8,173 civilian deaths and 13,620 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are well below the real ones.
Source: DN
