Top U.S. intel officials told lawmakers that the war in Ukraine could enter a more volatile and bloody chapter in the coming months, warning that Putin intends to expand the offensive beyond the eastern Donbas region.
The Russian leader's strategic goals in Ukraine "have probably not changed," DNI Avril Haines told senators.
“The uncertain nature of the battle, which is developing into a war of attrition, combined with the reality that Putin faces a mismatch between his ambitions and Russia’s current conventional military capabilities likely means the next few months could see us moving along a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory,” Haines testified. “At the very least, we believe the dichotomy will usher in a period of more ad hoc decision making in Russia.
Despite the shift in the offensive to the Donbas, where Ukrainian troops have spent years fighting Russian-backed separatists, Haines told senators Putin is intent on expanding the war beyond the country’s industrial heartland region. Haines testified alongside Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, as part of the Senate committee’s annual worldwide threats hearing. The pair faced questions about the war in Ukraine as well as how the response to the invasion may inform China’s calculus on invading Taiwan and threats posed by Iran, North Korea and transnational terrorism.
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