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CIA director says Russian troops survive 20, 30 minutes on Ukraine frontlines

newsJul 17, 20263157

CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Bloomberg at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit that Russian soldiers arriving on Ukraine’s front lines have an estimated life expectancy of between 20 and 30 minutes. Ratcliffe attributed those deadly conditions mainly to Ukraine’s use of artificial-intelligence attack drones. He said U.S. intelligence is consistent with open-source reporting from Ukraine on the short survival times. The remark prompted pushback and questions about his statements; MS NOW analyst David Rohde publicly demanded an explanation linking Ratcliffe’s comments to earlier claims made in political contexts.

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