Putin ready for long war beyond Donbas, says US
Putin ready for long war beyond Donbas, says US
President Vladimir Putin will not end the Ukraine War with a Donbas campaign and determined to build a land bridge to Russia’s controlled territory in Moldova, National Intelligence Director Avril Haines said on Tuesday.
US intelligence is also increasingly possible that Putin will mobilize the whole country, including ordering martial emergency, and relying on his perseverance to reduce Western support for Ukraine.
We consider that President Putin is preparing a prolonged conflict in Ukraine where he still intends to achieve goals outside of Donbas,” said Haines.
US intelligence thinks Putin’s decision to focus Russia’s power in the East Donbas region is “only a temporary change” after their failure to capture Kyiv in the north.
Haines, who oversees the entire US intelligence community, including the CIA and the National Security Agency, also said Putin used the “rhetoric” of nuclear to frighten the West from supporting Ukraine, according to Haines.
Fighting on the ground
Ukraine said her troops had re -seized villages from Russian troops, suppressing a large counterattack in the northeast of the country which could signify the shift in the momentum of war and endanger the main progress of Russia.
Ukrainian troops have reclaimed the Cherimkish Tyshky settlement, Ruski Tyshki, Borshchova and Slobozhanske, in a pocket in the northern Kharkiv in the last few days, according to a spokesman for the Ukrainian main forces near Kharkiv.
Luhanansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said the area was attacked 22 times for the previous 24 hours.
In the South Port City of Mariapol, Russian troops continued their attack on the Azovstal steel factory where the last defender was hiding. A city mayor’s assistant said at least 100 civilians were still trapped there.
Haines, who oversees the entire US intelligence community, including the CIA and the National Security Agency, also said Putin used the “rhetoric” of nuclear to frighten the West from supporting Ukraine, according to Haines.
Fighting on the ground
Russia hit at the vital port of Southern of Odesa which is vital in Ukraine, Ukraine officials said Tuesday, when they announced that they found 44 civilians in the debris of a building in the northeast which was destroyed a few weeks ago.
44 corpses were found in a five -story building that collapsed in March in Izyum, around 120 km from the city of Kharkiv, which had experienced a sustainable Russian attack since the beginning of the war at the end of February.
Stop to the flow of natural gas
The Ukraine natural gas network said the Russian flow to Europe through the main entry point would quit Wednesday because occupation forces interfere with the operation, a step that has the potential to reduce supply.
Ukraine gas transmission system operator said that he could no longer accept Russian gas transit through Sokhranivka from 7 am local time, according to a statement on its website.