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C.I.A. Chief Delivered Bleak Assessment of Russia’s War in Secretive Moscow Visit

John Ratcliffe’s meeting this week with a Russian intelligence chief was aimed at pushing the Kremlin to pursue a peace deal with Ukraine.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, delivered an urgent message to Aleksandr V. Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s F.S.B. intelligence service this week in a secret visit to Moscow.

Putin decree lets Russia take control of infrastructure damaged in Ukrainian drone attacks

25 August 2026 at 23:01
Russian President Vladimir Putin has decreed that the state can temporarily seize control of critical infrastructure facilities if private owners fail to protect them from Ukrainian drone attacks or rebuild them after the strikes.

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