US administration officials warned lawmakers in classified briefings Monday that a second wave of Russian troops will likely consolidate the country’s positions within Ukraine and by sheer numbers be able to overcome the Ukrainian resistance, according to two people familiar with the briefings.
“That part was disheartening,” one lawmaker told CNN.
The officials also said Russia was likely to lay siege to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and predicted ugly scenes of urban warfare, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
Putin’s mental state: Questions about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mental state arose during the briefings, but were not clearly answered by the administration officials, the sources said.
GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, who attended the Senate briefing, confirmed Putin’s mental state came up, but he declined to elaborate on what was shared.
He did say, however, that regardless of the briefing, he personally is worried about Putin’s mental state.
The Biden administration officials were more upbeat about the unity emerging from Western countries, both in terms of sanctions as well as weapons coming from nations like Germany that were opposed to such a move just a few days ago, the sources said.
