Russia uses munitions in Ukraine faster than it produces them - US Director of National Intelligence Haines

This was reported by Reuters with reference to the annual Reagan National Defense Forum.

“I do think he (Putin - ed.) is becoming more informed of the challenges that the military faces in Russia. But it's still not clear to us that he has a full picture at this stage of just how challenged they are ... we see shortages of ammunition, for morale, supply issues, logistics, and a whole series of concerns that they're facing,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said.

Haines also added that Putin's political goals in Ukraine do not appear to have changed, but US intelligence agencies believe he may be willing to scale back “on a temporary basis with the idea that he can return to them later.”

The head of the US National Intelligence Service emphasized that Russia is “very quickly” using ammunition stocks in Ukraine.  According to American estimates, Russian forces “are not capable of independently producing what they are using at this stage.”

“That's why you see them going to other countries effectively to try to get ammunition ... and we've indicated that their precision munitions are running out much faster in many respects,” she explained. 

As an example, Haines cited the facts documented by US intelligence about the supply of munitions to Russia from North Korea, “but so far there have been few”, as well as Moscow's efforts to obtain certain types of high-precision munitions from Tehran, which can “cause great concern in terms of their power.”

• The US states that it is highly likely that Russia will continue to launch missile strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure in the near term, but that the dynamics of fighting on the frontline in Ukraine will subside during the winter months.