Russia shows ‘reckless disregard’ for Ukraine civilians, U.S. spy chief says

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) – U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on Thursday that Russian forces are operating with “reckless disregard” for civilians as they face stronger-than-expected resistance in Ukraine and American intelligence agencies are tracking their actions to hold them to account.

“The Russian military has begun to loosen its rules of engagement to achieve their military objectives,” Haines told the Senate Intelligence Committee’s annual hearing on worldwide threats to U.S. security.

Haines said U.S. intelligence officers were documenting Russia’s actions in order to hold to account the government in Moscow and those responsible for assaults on civilians.

“Russian forces are, at the very least, operating with reckless disregard for the safety of civilians as Russian units launch artillery and airstrikes into urban areas – as they have done in cities across Ukraine,” Haines said

U.S. officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris, have offered support to calls for an international war crimes investigation into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They cite examples including the bombing of a maternity hospital in the southern city of Mariupol. read more

Russia has denied targeting civilians. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbor’s military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists. Ukraine and its allies say that is a baseless pretext to invade a country of 44 million people.

Three weeks into the conflict, Haines and the other intelligence leaders said that Russia was surprised by the strength of Ukrainian resistance. Haines said the resistance deprived Russia of a quick victory it thought would have prevented the United States and NATO from providing meaningful military aid to Ukraine.

Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Doina Chiacu and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Will Dunham

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