Article extensively quotes "a senior analyst working at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)", among other sources.

Keep in mind that the US and UK have already said as much to Zelenskyy in private that him joining NATO is a non-starter, all the while telling him to continue the conflict. These ghouls are ready to force Putin to make the choice of going scorched earth, or relenting. The media will have you believe that Putin is already committing war crimes on a massive scale to keep public fervor up for continuing the conflict.

Some quotes:

United Nations human rights specialists say that some 900 civilians have died in the fighting (U.S. intelligence puts that number at least five times UN estimates).

I haven't seen any reason to believe US estimates of casualties so far. 900 is still 900 too much. Completely avoidable loss of life.

But, the analyst says, the damage associated with a contested ground war involving peer opponents shouldn't blind people to what is really happening. (The analyst requested anonymity in order to speak about classified matters.) "The heart of Kyiv has barely been touched. And almost all of the long-range strikes have been aimed at military targets."

This tracks way more with what we've been seeing with outlets like ASB and others that are supposedly paid Russian propagandists.

"If we merely convince ourselves that Russia is bombing indiscriminately, or [that] it is failing to inflict more harm because its personnel are not up to the task or because it is technically inept, then we are not seeing the real conflict."

This is the part that kills me about the media coverage. In the same breath, Russia is incompetent and losing the war, and also a killing machine that is already well on its way to genociding a large population.

As of the past weekend, in 24 days of conflict, Russia has flown some 1,400 strike sorties and delivered almost 1,000 missiles (by contrast, the United States flew more sorties and delivered more weapons in the first day of the 2003 Iraq war). The vast majority of the airstrikes are over the battlefield, with Russian aircraft providing "close air support" to ground forces. The remainder—less than 20 percent, according to U.S. experts—has been aimed at military airfields, barracks and supporting depots.

Queue the insecure libs and chuds that excitedly point out how quickly the US devastated Iraq compared to how the inept Russian army (that is also killing civilians at unprecedented rates supposedly) has been with getting Ukraine to fold. Guess it's really easy when you're bombing indiscriminately.

Russia did not bomb stationary air defense emplacements protecting cities. U.S. analysts say Putin's generals were particularly reluctant to attack urban targets in Kyiv. As a result, regardless of the Kremlin's plans—whether Russia was actually seeking air superiority or intended to limit damage in Kyiv—there is no question that Putin has had to revise the long-range attack plan.

Again, restraint.

"The fact that the mobile S-300 SAM systems are still operating is a powerful indictment of Russia's ability to conduct dynamic or time-sensitive targeting," the Atlantic Council asserted this week in a military brief.

Should tell you something that ghoulish think tanks are crafting the narratives, while State Dept employees speak anonymously

And the so-called peacekeeper training ground [in Yaroviv] was hit because it was the place where the 'international legion' was to have trained," the officer says. "Moscow even announced that."

Still waiting on actual evidence of that theater in Mariupol too.

Rest of the article is more of the same. It's quite lengthy, but definitely worth the read. The hysteria over this is unprecedented, and it's insane and impressive at the same time to see the machine at work.