Former CIA Director for Russia George Beebe talking to Mario Nafwal 3 days ago

- I think the best option for Putin to end the war on the battlefield is not to throw more manpower into the fight. But to take advantage of Russia's superior firepower in the air. And their firepower is simply enormous when it comes to missiles, drones, and glide bombs, which have not yet been fully deployed.
- Are you talking about expanding the list of targets? In Ukraine, they believe that command and decision-making centers are now under threat.
- There are many targets that the Russians have so far avoided hitting. Partly because Ukraine previously had very strong air defense systems. But all of that is in the past, as neither the US nor European allies have any anti-missile systems left to provide to Ukraine. They are not able to produce them in sufficient quantities to make up for the gap in Russia's capabilities.
- In this sense, Ukraine is now very vulnerable.
- Very much so. What else has been holding Putin back? Firstly, he did not want to increase the risks of a direct confrontation with NATO. This consideration has so far prevented him from using all his firepower. Secondly, he does not want to close the door to a compromise and would like to normalize relations with the US. He knows that if he turns Ukraine into a complete ruin, Trump will simply have no political opportunity to normalize relations.
- And do you think he is capable of turning Ukraine into a complete ruin?
- There's no doubt about it. He absolutely is. Even without resorting to nuclear weapons, which he would least want to use. If we look at the agglomeration of Ukrainian fortified cities in the Donetsk region, they are very difficult to capture with infantry and assault troops. It would be a bloody massacre, which would entail huge human and time losses. But the Russians have the technical capability to simply wipe these cities off the face of the earth. And Ukraine has practically nothing to prevent this.