“Looks like a failure to me” – The CIA chief’s assessment of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

After six months of fighting “a very difficult war”, Ukraine has begun counter-attacks and the Russian invasion can only be seen as a failure, its leader has said C.I.AWilliam Burns, speaking at the Billington CyberSecurity conference in Washington.

Referring to the counterattacks in the south and around Kharkiv, and in Kherson in the southeast UkraineWilliam Burns said that the Russian President Vladimir Putin seriously underestimated the courage and capabilities of Ukraine to fight.

While the war’s final chapter has yet to be written, “it’s hard to see Putin’s account of the war as anything other than a failure,” Burns said.

Burns said Putin is surrounded by advisers who are unwilling to raise objections and that the Russian president mistakenly believed that European resolve would falter and American attention wander the longer the conflict dragged on.

“Putin’s bet right now is that he’s going to be tougher than the Ukrainians, the Europeans, the Americans,” Burns added.

That will have long-term consequences, Burns said.

“Not only has the weakness of the Russian military been exposed,” he said, “but it will have long-term consequences for the Russian economy and generations of Russians.”

RES-EMP

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