We want to focus on Ukraine now, where military officials say Russia launched an air attack on the capital overnight using Iranian made drones City officials say Kiev's air defenses destroyed all the drones, though. You're looking at photos of some homes that were damaged by falling debris. This is the first time the capital has been targeted with drones since the failed rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group. We want to bring in CNN's military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, great to see you on a weekend. Notable that Russia is targeting Kiev again today as we've seen all these signs of disarray following that failed rebellion by Prigozhin Yeah, that's for sure, Boris. And, you know, one of the key things to think about is that while we think of the disarray that we're seeing in Russia, we're also seeing the fact that the Russian armed forces are still conducting their missions, they're still dangerous. They're still very active in areas that can threaten the capital. And the fact that they use the shaky drones from Iran to do this indicates that the command and control is still working well enough to do something like this. They still have plenty of munitions and they still have plenty of will to take the battle to the Ukrainians. And that's something that we have to keep in mind as as things move forward. Yeah, certainly in the middle of this counteroffensive from the Ukrainians to notable that there is new reporting in the Washington Post about the CIA director and a recent meeting that he had with President Zelensky, the Post reporting that Zelensky shared plans with him to retake territory from Russia to put artillery at Crimea's border and then to open cease fire talks with the Kremlin before the end of the year. How does that plan strike you? It's very different from what we'd previously heard, at least publicly, from Zelensky Yeah, well, I think Stilinski was kind of keeping some things very close to the vest, at least until this report came out. And I do believe, though, Boris that it's a fairly realistic plan if it holds true, according to the reporting in the Washington Post. And the reason I say it's fairly realistic is the Ukrainian goal always seems to have been to, at the very least, cut the land bridge between Crimea and the Donbass region, the region that the Russians have occupied since 2014. The fact that they held that land bridge was a significant blow to the Ukrainians when this invasion started. So if they can roll that back and they move forward according to that plan, then what you will see is a pretty big change in the A table of forces, if you will, in the eastern part of Ukraine. So if they move forward with the Sea of Azov, the Ukrainians, that will then allow them to cut that land bridge and could potentially give them leverage for a potential peace talks. There's also something notable about the CIA director meeting directly with Zelensky. We've seen all sorts of top officials from the United States and Europe and around the world meeting with the president of Ukraine. But it's especially significant in part because it also happened only a few weeks before this attempt by Prigozhin to topple the leadership of the Kremlin. What do you make of the timing of that visit Well, the timing is certainly very interesting, and I think the one thing we have to keep in mind is that the director of the CIA has not only a major intelligence mission, but also a bit of a diplomatic portfolio as well. He is one of the primary interfaces between the intelligence services of other countries and our own intelligence community. And in that role and plus, given his personal experience as ambassador, a director, Burns is pretty well ideally suited to being somebody who can go ahead and have these meetings with foreign leaders like President Stilinski. I think in one way he was reassuring Zelensky that the United States is still supporting him. He was also looking at those plans from an intelligence perspective and seeing if the intelligence that we are collecting helps the Ukrainians achieve the goals of the plan that 20 allegedly laid out to to Director Burns. And on the note about ongoing support for Ukraine from the West, President Zelensky spoke last night and expressed some concern. Let's listen to what he said. Neighbors issue the most important thing for Ukraine is not to lose bipartisan support because the U.S. is a real leader in the support for Ukraine. They are the most powerful in the world in terms of weapons and financial support. And that's well understood by all of us. We cannot lose that. The enemy especially says only there are dangerous signals from some members of the Republican Party. We will have to deal with it somehow in the air. It's really notable that Zelensky doesn't just say we need bipartisan support. He specifically calls out Republicans It is very interesting. And, you know, of course it's fact based. There are people in the Republican Party who are opposed to providing aid to Ukraine. They basically think that this is not our fight. The problem with that attitude, though, is, is that if we don't support the Ukrainian president, Galinsky is very concerned that he will then have much greater difficulty in stemming the Russian advances and even rolling back the Russians, which of course, his plan calls for. Colonel Cedric Leighton, always great to connect with you and get your perspective. Have a great Fourth of July holiday weekend. Thank you, Boris. You, too.
