Destroyed Russian vehicles and tanks at Mykhailivska Square on November 19, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians are facing severe power outages following recent Russian drone and missile attacks that are believed to have knocked out nearly half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. disabled and should be repaired when the temperature drops.
Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images News | beautiful pictures
US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on Saturday said Russian forces in Ukraine are burning ammunition faster than the country’s defense industry can replace.
Haines told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell at a panel at the Reagan Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, that Russia is running out of ammunition “quite quickly,” prompting Moscow to look to other countries for help. , including North Korea.
When asked how quickly Russia runs out of ammunition, Haines said: “I don’t think I can give you exact numbers in this forum. But pretty quickly. I mean, it’s real. rather extraordinary.”
She added: “And our sense is that they are not capable of indigenous production of what they are spending at this stage.
So that’s going to be a challenge.”
The Pentagon said last month that Russia was firing 20,000 shells a day, even as it suffered a series of defeats on the battlefield. Recalling previous statements by Biden administration officials, Haines said that Russia is using up precision ammunition even faster than conventional ammunition.
The Biden administration has previously said Russia has turned to North Korea to secure additional supplies of artillery shells. Haines said that the extent of North Korea’s support appears limited but that is something the intelligence community will continue to monitor closely.
“We’ve shown that we’ve seen some movement, but it’s not much at this stage,” she said of North Korea’s role.
Haines said ammunition shortages are just one of the challenges facing the Russian military, citing morale and logistical problems.
The intelligence chief said that the tempo of the war in Ukraine appears to be slowing as winter begins and the militaries of both countries will try to reset and regroup to fight more in the spring. However, she said the intelligence community had “a fair amount of skepticism” that Russian forces would be fully prepared for new clashes in March.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was “surprised” by the military’s disappointing performance following the February invasion of Ukraine, according to Haines.
“I do think he’s getting a better understanding of the challenges facing the military in Russia. But it’s still not clear to us that he has a full picture of the extent of the challenge at this stage. ,” Haines said.
Haines said Putin has not changed his political goals to effectively control Ukraine, but it is unclear whether he will accept downsizing his military ambitions.
“I think our analysts would say he might be willing to do that on an interim basis with the idea that he could come back to this later,” she said.
According to Haines, although the recent protests pose no serious challenge to Putin’s authority, criticism of waging war inside Russia is growing from political figures. and that could influence his decision about the conflict.
“I think it’s fair to say, from our point of view, that Mr. Xi’s voice on this issue would obviously be one of the most convincing for Putin on this issue,” Haines said.
“I think it’s fair to say, from our point of view, that Mr. Xi’s voice on this issue would obviously be one of the most convincing for Putin on this issue,” Haines said.
China and Tik Tok
As for the recent protests in China over Covid-19 quarantine rules, Haines said public displays of anger pose no risk to overall stability or the regime’s survival. But she said, “How it develops will be very important to Xi’s standing.”
Haines said the widespread protests contradict the Chinese government’s narrative of how the country has run more smoothly than in more chaotic democracies and that Covid-19 restrictions have had a negative effect. to the Chinese economy, Haines said.
Despite the challenges of balancing containment of the virus, addressing public anger over quarantine procedures, and ensuring economic growth, she said, Mr. Xi was “not willing to accept a better vaccines from the West.”
The US intelligence chief, the first woman to hold the post, also said there was good reason to be concerned about the Chinese-owned Tik-Tok.
When asked if parents should be worried about their children using the popular video platform, Haines said: “I think you should be worried.”
China is developing frameworks for foreign data collection and has the ability to “turn it around and use it to target audiences for information campaigns or for other things, but also have it for the future.” hybrid so they can use it for a variety of vehicles.” that they care about,” Haines said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray recently warned that he has serious concerns about Tik-Tok, saying that the Chinese government could use it to collect data on millions of users or to control the algorithm. proposals, which can be used to intentionally influence public opinion.
Haines said that more than two months of women-led protests in Iran were “remarkable” but that the Iranian regime did not see the unrest as an imminent threat to staying in power. However, a worsening economy and protests over time can cause instability and instability, she said.
According to Haines, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s intelligence agencies have adopted an “extremely aggressive” stance against critics both at home and abroad.
Haines’ office is overseeing an assessment of the potential risk to national security from the release of documents taken from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. But she and other intelligence officials declined to comment on the case, which is a Justice Department investigation.
NBC News’ Mitchell asked Haines what would happen if an intelligence officer removed classified documents and then refused to hand them over.
After a long while, Haines laughed and said, “Please don’t do that!”
