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The struggle in Ukraine has “quietly corroded” the ability of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, the C.I.A. director, William J. Burns, wrote in an essay revealed on Tuesday.
Whereas Mr. Putin’s grip on energy was unlikely to quickly weaken, Mr. Burns wrote in International Affairs, disaffection had “gnawed away on the Russian management and the Russian individuals,” permitting the C.I.A. to recruit extra spies.
The company has made a sequence of movies aimed toward recruiting Russian officers. The newest, launched final week, encourages Russians to securely present data to the C.I.A. utilizing a safe browser on the darkish internet. The newest video makes an enchantment to their anger over corruption within the Russian authorities.
Whereas the U.S. authorities won’t say what number of spies have been recruited with the movies, officers mentioned the company wouldn’t have continued to push them on Telegram and YouTube in the event that they weren’t efficient. Mr. Burns echoed this sentiment in his article.
“That undercurrent of disaffection is making a once-in-a-generation recruiting alternative for the C.I.A.,” he wrote. “We’re not letting it go to waste.”
A part of Mr. Putin’s weak point stems from his dealing with of the mutiny final yr by members of Russia’s strongest mercenary group. He seemed “indifferent and indecisive” within the face of the mutiny led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, Mr. Burns wrote.
Mr. Burns wrote that Mr. Putin “ultimately settled his rating with Prigozhin,” a reference to the mercenary chief’s loss of life in a suspicious aircraft crash. Regardless of that, the critique of Russian management that Mr. Prigozhin put in entrance of the Russian individuals “won’t quickly disappear,” Mr. Burns wrote.
“For a lot of within the Russian elite, the query was not a lot whether or not the emperor had no garments as why he was taking so lengthy to dress,” Mr. Burns mentioned.
Russia has rebuilt its army industrial manufacturing, however its economic system has been deeply wounded by the struggle, he mentioned. And long run, Russia is “sealing its destiny” to be a vassal of China, depending on Beijing for commerce and expertise.
Ukraine faces challenges within the struggle however has achieved dramatic outcomes. Russia’s efforts to modernize its army has been “hollowed out,” and 315,000 Russians have been killed or wounded, Mr. Burns wrote.
Ukraine has additionally suffered deep casualties, although Mr. Burns didn’t contact on that immediately. U.S. officers have struggled to estimate exactly what number of lives have been misplaced in Ukraine.
Mr. Putin’s technique is to proceed to grind down Ukraine and attempt to outlast Western assist. However Ukraine, Mr. Burns wrote, can “puncture Putin’s vanity” by launching strikes deeper behind the hardened entrance strains of the battlefield. Prior to now, U.S. officers have anxious that Ukraine’s assaults may trigger Russia to escalate, even probably by conducting a nuclear check as a warning to Ukraine and the West.
Mr. Burns acknowledged that issues about nuclear escalation have been legitimate however urged they shouldn’t be exaggerated.
“Putin may have interaction once more in nuclear saber-rattling, and it could be silly to dismiss escalatory dangers totally,” he wrote. “However it could be equally silly to be unnecessarily intimidated by them.”
The important thing to Ukraine’s success, Mr. Burns wrote, was to proceed offering U.S. assist.
Congress is contemplating a brand new bundle of army assist, but it surely has change into entangled with the politics of a border and immigration deal on Capitol Hill.
Reducing off Ukraine, Mr. Burns wrote, can be an enormous mistake.
“Conserving the arms flowing will put Ukraine in a stronger place if a chance for severe negotiations emerges,” Mr. Burns mentioned. “It provides an opportunity to make sure a long-term win for Ukraine and a strategic loss for Russia; Ukraine may safeguard its sovereignty and rebuild, whereas Russia can be left to take care of the enduring prices of Putin’s folly.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ushered in a brand new period for the C.I.A., Mr. Burns wrote. He spoke of the early warning of the approaching invasion that intelligence companies offered the Biden administration, Ukraine and allies.
However the brand new period, Mr. Burns mentioned, was additionally about taking benefits of recent applied sciences, together with synthetic intelligence. These have remodeled how the C.I.A. collects intelligence, permitting it to research data quicker and extra effectively.
“As a lot because the world is altering, espionage stays an interaction between people and expertise,” he wrote.
Whereas there shall be secrets and techniques that solely people can gather, Mr. Burns continued, the C.I.A. should “mix mastery of rising applied sciences with the people-to-people expertise and particular person daring which have all the time been on the coronary heart of our career.”
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