Russia will have to rely on nukes, cyberattacks,

and China since its military is being thrashed in

Ukraine, US intel director says

 ...

 

At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Russia "has suffered losses that will require years of rebuilding and leave it less capable of posing a conventional military threat." 

As a result, Haines said, "Russia will become even more reliant on asymmetric options such as nuclear, cyber, space capabilities, and on China." 

...

...Putin has made repeated nuclear threats as his invasion struggles to achieve its objectives...

...

Haines' comments on Wednesday echo the sentiments of other US officials on Russia's status after its war in Ukraine. In late February, a top Pentagon official told lawmakers Russia had lost the war and will emerge from war in Ukraine a "shattered military power."...

...

...top military experts have offered similar assessments. "Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been a strategic defeat. So far, the Kremlin has not been able to achieve its strategic-level objectives, and it has incurred significant costs. Russia's military is going to have to be rebuilt," George Barros, a military analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told Insider in September.