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| Putin seeking goals beyond Ukraine's east: US intelligence chief |
| 2022-05-11 |
| [Aljazeera] Russian President Vladimir Putin is still looking to achieve military objectives beyond eastern Ukraine after failing to capture Kyiv in the early stages of the war, the US intelligence chief has said. Speaking to US lawmakers on Tuesday, Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, said the shifting of Russian military operations to Ukraine’s Donbas region in the east is only temporary. "We assess President Putin is preparing for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas," Haines said. "We assess that Putin’s strategic goals have probably not changed, suggesting he regards the decision in late March to refocus Russian forces on the Donbas is only a temporary shift to regain the initiative after the Russian military’s failure to capture Kyiv." Haines said US intelligence has assessed that Putin wants to expand territory across the Black Sea coast possibly to Transnistria, a breakaway region of Moldova backed by Russia. Such a move would help Russia secure water supplies to Crimea, which it captured and annexed in 2014, and potentially deny Ukraine access to the sea. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #12 Russia has signaled intent to end 'current phase' of invasion, cut losses with Kherson referendum: expert |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-05-11 17:09 |
| #11 America is a dumpster fire economically and culturally. Bull. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2022-05-11 14:23 |
| #10 ^^^ I think that makes great sense. America is a dumpster fire economically and culturally. Enemies foreign and domestic are wreaking havoc on norms and institutions they haven't infiltrated, and the Covid passivity taught many of our fellow citizens is paralyzing the natural American urge to stand up, confront the BS and say "Enough!" across a wide spectrum of American daily life. Retrenchment, re-industrialization, economic and monetary stability, political/cultural/media realignment to traditional American values and policies, a hemispheric re-look at the Value of Monroe Doctrine 2.0, and realigning our entire educational/cultural focus to assimilation, not diversity as a normative process to blend the enormous shadow presence of illegals here now. Separation from the foreign messes that are consuming our federal government might be a good thing for all. The children who play at world leadership and are profligate with borrowed money to pose as world police while the house burns down has got to stop. Let the Chinese burn themselves out as the world sees their Sino-centricity as cancerous, and the Russians find a way back to membership in Western civilization post-Putin. We have nearly broken th greatest experiment in human political history. Our unique successes in the 20th century have grow generations of those so accustomed to plenty, privilege and power they have no idea how fragile a gift they inherited or how quickly it is breaking from lack of maintenance or even understanding it's genius. |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2022-05-11 12:21 |
| #9 My current understanding is: 1- Anything Putin succeeds at was a critical part of the original plan. 2- Anything Putin fails at -- like this genius river crossing -- was a feint, a diversion, or never part of the original plan. So Putin remains a master strategist regardless of events. It's sort of like a new math test in which any answer is acceptable. |
| Posted by: Matt 2022-05-11 11:58 |
| #8 From a practical standpoint, we shouldn't care if Putin makes Russia the perfect fortress, beyond anything we can learn about doing the same here. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2022-05-11 11:27 |
| #7 At the rate he's going, Pootie will be lucky to hang onto the Donbas puppet states. And the RuAF are going to wrecked for a decade, regardless of the outcome. |
| Posted by: Nero 2022-05-11 11:18 |
| #6 Biden is an ass puppet. And Putie-pie has been playing rope-a-dope with our presidents since W and closing those invasion corridors. Ukraine was supposed to be easy and he could really build up to take the Baltics. Didn't work out how he planed. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2022-05-11 08:17 |
| #5 The war was Putin's choice. I dislike Biden as well, but stop trying to make him into a puppet master. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2022-05-11 08:00 |
| #4 correction: "the one that got him elected in the first place" (It was Right Sector and the other fascists who tried to "eject" Zelensky. This is one reason he did a 180 and began provoking Russia with insane talk about "taking back" Crimea and joining NATO.) |
| Posted by: Glagum Clock4923 2022-05-11 06:56 |
| #3 No shit, Sherlock. The prize has always been the land bridge connecting the South with the East. Which Russia now has. Any intelligent policy would entail forcing the US puppet regime to go back to Minsk II... Except now Russia controls Azov and the Black Sea coast. Had the Biden Administration not goaded this little prick into reversing his pro-peace position -- the one that got him ejected in the first place -- this whole mess could have been avoided. So now we're on the brink of WWIII, Ukraine has been trashed, and Russia has achieved its #1 strategic objective. Brilliant. |
| Posted by: Glagum Clock4923 2022-05-11 06:53 |
| #2 Duh - this is an existential war for Russia |
| Posted by: Slenter Panda4300 2022-05-11 06:25 |
| #1 Yes, the long game. No question of his determination. |
| Posted by: Dale 2022-05-11 04:02 |