• US intelligence agencies predict that the combat in Ukraine will continue to wane through the upcoming winter.
• Even though Russia has lost more than half of the territory it had conquered, the war in Ukraine is already in its ninth month.
• The majority of the fighting is currently taking place near the eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Donetsk, Ms. Haines stated at a defense forum in California.

US intelligence agencies predict that the combat in Ukraine will continue to wane through the upcoming winter. However, according to US head of intelligence Avril Haines, there hasn’t been any indication of Ukrainian forces’ resistance weakening.

Both sides, according to her, would endeavor to “refit, replenish, and reconstitute” for any springtime counteroffensive.

The crucial energy infrastructure of Ukraine had already been attacked by Russia.

Even though Russia has lost more than half of the territory it had conquered, the war in Ukraine is already in its ninth month. The majority of the fighting is currently taking place near the eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Donetsk, Ms. Haines stated at a defense forum in California.

Following Russia’s withdrawal of troops from the west of the Kherson region last month, she claimed that fighting had subsided.

“We’re seeing a kind of a reduced tempo already of the conflict… and we expect that’s likely to be what we see in the coming months,” she said.

She claimed that after the winter, both the militaries of Russia and Ukraine would be looking to get ready for any counter-offensive.

“But we actually have a fair amount of skepticism as to whether or not the Russians will be, in fact, prepared to do that,” she said.

“I think more optimistically for the Ukrainians in that time frame.”

According to Ms. Haines, US intelligence believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is now unaware of the full extent of his military’s difficulties.

“We observe ammo shortages, morale problems, supply problems, logistics, and a host of other issues that they are dealing with.”

On the other hand, on Saturday, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky referred to a price cap imposed on Russian oil exports by his Western partners as “weak” and said it was not “serious” enough to harm the Russian economy.

The cap, which is set to take effect on Monday, aims to prevent nations from paying more than $60 (£48) a barrel for Russian crude oil that is transported by sea.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, stated that although Moscow had planned for the action, it would not sell its oil under the quota.

A club of the major oil-producing nations in the world is anticipated to adhere to its oil output objectives at a virtual summit on Sunday.

The Opec+ group, which consists of nations such as Russia and the United Arab Emirates, decided to restrict output by two million barrels per day beginning in November in an effort to support higher oil prices during their most recent ministerial meeting in October.

The United States and other Western countries were offended by the action, and Washington accused the organization of siding with Russia.

Because of sluggish global growth and increased interest rates, oil prices have fallen since October. According to Opec sources, the group will probably consent to a policy rollover.

The government of Kyiv is reportedly imposing sanctions against 10 senior members of the Orthodox Church who it claims were complicit in Russia’s invasion, according to the security service of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government’s most recent action against religious organizations deemed potentially subversive is the imposition of sanctions that will freeze their assets for five years.

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