Putin ‘Surprised’ At Russian Military’s Struggles In Ukraine, Says US Intel Chief: It’s Not Clear ‘That He Has A Full Picture’

Russian President Vladimir Putin was "surprised" by his militarys lack of performance "and the fact that they did not accomplish more," according to the head of U.S. Intelligence.

Although the U.S. believes Putin is becoming more informed about the problems his army faces in Ukraine, it's not clear that he has a full picture at this stage of just how challenged they are, said Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence, who spoke at a defense forum late on Dec. 3.

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What Happened

The intelligence community sees shortages of ammunition, poor morale, supply issues, logistics a whole series of concerns that theyre facing, Haines said.

Putin has suffered a trifecta of heavy setbacks during his invasion of Ukraine, politically, economically and on the battlefield, but U.S. Intelligence doesnt see evidence that Putin has changed his political objectives.

He doesnt see Ukraine, and of course, he says this publicly on a pretty regular basis, as a separate country. He sees it part of, in effect, his sovereign national ambit, Haines told NBC journalist Andrea Mitchell during an interview at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California.

Russias Military Setbacks

While Putins intentions may not be wavering, protests in Russia have been on the rise. The worsening economic situation in the country due to hefty U.S. and European sanctions, along withincreasing dissent among Russian politicians, elites and oligarchs, have put Putin under political pressure.

Meanwhile, Moscows losses on the battlefield, in terms of troops, equipment and ammunition have amounted to a reduced tempo in the conflict in Ukraine and U.S. Intelligence expects the war to continue to tone down over the coming months.

Although the conflict is likely to ratchet up again in the spring, Putin may be willing to downscale what it is that hes willing to accept for now, Haines said, partly due to how fast Russia is depleting its ammunition.

Its really pretty extraordinary, Haines told Mitchellwhen asked how quickly Russia is going through its ammunition stockpiles, our own sense is that they are not capable of indigenously producing what they are expending at this stage, so that is going to be a challenge and that is why you see them going to other countries, effectively, to get ammunition.

Despite attempting to increase its stockpiles by importing weapons and ammunition from countries such as Iran and North Korea, Russias military has weakened, which has resulted in its troops being forced from regions it occupied at the start of the war. Most recently, the Russians have been forced to retreat from some illegally annexed regions ofKharkiv Obalst,Kherson Oblast and from parts of the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine.

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Photo: Courtesy ofLennart Meri Conferenceand Global Panoramaon flickr.