The leader of the U.S. intelligence community said Russian President Vladimir Putin likely expected a quick military victory and not the high level of resistance to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine but that the Kremlin may still “escalate” and end up “doubling down.”
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, the head of the United States’s 18 spy agencies, said during a House Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday that the pushback from Ukraine’s armed forces, the flaws within the Russian military, the largely unified, U.S.-led NATO response, the provision of lethal aid from Europe, Western efforts to undermine Putin’s ability to mitigate stiff international sanctions, and the huge number of international companies pulling out of Russia likely combined to take the Russian leader somewhat off guard.
