Thread by @osint_east

The US operates a global network of assets to build it's intelligence view. I don't know why presumed CIA/SOF activities in #Ukraine is thus considered a revelation; that is how the intelligence apparatus operates. This is by design.

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theintercept.com/2022/10/05/rus…

Moreover, it's presumptuous to think Ukraine alone could facilitate US #intelligence ; it surely needed initial, and ongoing, support.

This has been demonstrated by deepening integration with US/NATO #SIGINT at the theater and unit level.

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nytimes.com/2022/09/10/us/…

Perhaps one framing is to bolster support against deepening US involvement. In any regard, this belies the fact the CIA and associated SOF assets require presence everywhere; this is true for any national intelligence apparatus.

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nytimes.com/2022/06/25/us/…

Curiously, the article cites CIA/SOF assets as being repositioned/reinserted following the invasion, responding to shortcomings in their analysis, both of Russia, and Ukraine.

One conclusion, it can be argued, is an *increase* in #HUMINT would have provided greater detail.

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"The inability...to recognize the significance of Russian corruption appears to be the result of an over-reliance on technical intelligence."

An increase to HUMINT may have shifted US expectations of Ukrainian battlefield prospects, based on #Russian military capabilities.

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"Since the war began, a long list of weaknesses in the Russian military and its defense industries have been exposed."

While weakness in Russian designs are well-understood, the real story is how poorly kit has been used. That is where intelligence assets will focus most.

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