'Are Ukrainian Forces At Any Significant Risk Of Collapse This Year?': Moran Questions DIA's Kruse

2 days ago

At last Tuesday's Senate Intel Committee hearing, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) questioned Defense Intelligence Agency Director Jeffrey Kruse and CIA Director John Ratcliffe about the Russia-Ukraine War.

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Transcript

00:00Thank You Mr. Chairman and thank you to our witnesses for being here. I want to

00:04explore a little bit about Ukraine and I'll direct this to Director Ratcliffe

00:08or Director Cruz. The ATA assesses that quote the grinding war of attrition in

00:14Ukraine quote will lead to a gradual but steady erosion of Kiev's positions on

00:19the battlefield. Are Ukrainian forces at any significant risk of collapse this

00:25year? Before I turn it over to Director Ratcliffe I think both sides are working

00:37through the equipment that they need the industrial base they need to support

00:40that and the personnel that are required to man all of that equipment and man the

00:44front lines and as we see the battle space in the various portions whether

00:49it's in Kursk whether it's in any of the four oblasts we see areas where Kiev

00:56will struggle to prevent the slow attritional grind. We do not see an

01:02imminent collapse in any of the line of control battle spaces at this point. And

01:08then vice versa that that answers my question unless you want to add

01:11something Director. Whatever advantages in manpower and material they have can

01:20Russia maintain its operational tempo without significant changes to how it's

01:24conducting the war? I think our assessment from a military perspective

01:30is that Russia has the ability to sustain its campaign longer than Kiev would. Now

01:37when that timeline hits we do not have an assessment of but I believe that if

01:44this were to go on for more than the remainder of this year both sides would

01:50have a significant challenge maintaining their defense industrial base as well as

01:55their operational ops tempo. Longer than this year? That is correct and they will

01:59each have difficulty at various points throughout the spring summer and fall as

02:04well. Thank you. Director Ratcliffe, ATA says continuing the Russia-Ukraine war

02:10perpetuates strategic risk to the United States of unintended escalation to

02:16large-scale war and heightened insecurity among NATO allies. What are

02:21the strategic risks to the United States if Russia were to achieve its maximalist

02:26objectives via peace agreement? Achieve via peace agreement? Yes. Well I think

02:35that clearly the negotiations that are going on reflect that President Trump is

02:42seeking a cessation of the war on terms that will end the war permanently from

02:47an intelligence community standpoint and specifically with regard to CIA assets

02:52we've taken steps to support that the president's goal of an enduring peace to

03:00General Cruz's comments I agree with his assessment and the generally the public

03:05assessment that Russia has the battlefield advantage is grinding

03:12forward slowly. I want to comment on that however to say that with regard to the

03:18Ukrainian resistance the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian military have

03:22been underestimated for a period of several years now and ultimately I'm

03:29convinced from my reflections in observing from an intelligence

03:35standpoint that they will fight with their bare hands if they have to if they

03:39don't have terms that are acceptable to an enduring peace. Obviously to the point

03:45of maximalist goals President Trump has communicated that he is aware of the

03:52dangers of that of Russia getting what they want and I think that the peace

03:57talks that are taking place would reflect if successful and they are

04:02making progress that both sides would not get everything that they want and no

04:09one's maximalist goals would be achieved. Thank you both. In the short time I have

04:14I'm going to skip a question and ask the that I intended to ask but ask the

04:19director of the FBI. Director I chair the subcommittee that appropriates money for

04:26the Department of Justice including the FBI. It has been our practice that the

04:31FBI director as well as the Attorney General appear before our committee each

04:36year and I would want to make certain that you do not foresee any challenges

04:43that I will have in your presence when you come to speak to when we invite you

04:49to come speak about your budget. I think when we visited in the office you made

04:53yourself often available pleased to talk to Congress. We're getting ready for the

04:58appropriations process to begin. The budget that the president intends to

05:02submit is seemingly months away, weeks away, long weeks away and we may ask you

05:09to come testify about your priorities now or sooner than that. Is that a

05:13challenge for you that I'd be aware of? From the FBI no as long as the

05:18Department of Justice and the Attorney General are good with it. Thank you.

05:21Senator Reid. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman.

'Are Ukrainian Forces At Any Significant Risk Of Collapse This Year?': Moran Questions DIA's Kruse

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