By Jonathan Landay and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin sees domestic and international developments trending in his favor and likely will press aggressive tactics in Ukraine, but the war is unlikely to end anytime soon, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure to hamper Kyiv’s ability to move arms and troops, slow defense production and force it to consider negotiations.
“Putin’s increasingly aggressive tactics against Ukraine, such as strikes on Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure, are intended to impress Ukraine that continuing to fight will only increase the damage to Ukraine and offer no plausible path to victory,” she said.
“These aggressive tactics are likely to continue and the war is unlikely to end anytime soon,” Haines said.
She and Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, were testifying before the committee on the intelligence community’s 2024 assessment of the threats facing the United States.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Idrees Ali; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
