WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Protests on college campuses and the influence of potential outside agitators are only adding to the concerns of the intelligence agencies charged with protecting the U.S.
The FBI has already warned the Israel-Hamas war could inspire terrorist attacks for years to come. That’s in addition to threats already posed by homegrown extremists from countries like Iran, China and Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sees domestic and international developments trending in his favor and likely will press on with aggressive tactics in Ukraine, but the war is unlikely to end soon, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia intensified strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure to hamper Kyiv’s ability to move arms and troops, slow defense production and force it to consider negotiations.
“Putin’s increasingly aggressive tactics against Ukraine, such as strikes on Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure, are intended to impress Ukraine that continuing to fight will only increase the damage to Ukraine and offer no plausible path to victory,” she said.
Haines went on to say artificial intelligence is being used by Russia to try to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Haines was asked whether the protests on college campuses were inspired in part by disinformation from China, Russia or Iran. She said that there’s no evidence of that at this time.
Reuters contributed to this story.