Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Cotler and Madam Kara-Murza, for your opening remarks.
Madam Kara-Murza, I want to convey, I think on behalf of all members of this committee, our thanks for your being here and for your bravery, your dedication and your stoicism in the face of the persecution of your husband. We very much appreciate your taking the time to testify in front of us today.
You're one of the few people who have come to our committee with eyes and ears on what is going on in Russia today. Most of the contact with the outside world has been cut. I know that we talked about this earlier privately, but I'd like to go on the record about it today.
The New York Times reported this week that western intelligence has estimated that about a third to half of all the 200,000-strong invasion force are casualties. That's an astounding number of some 67,000 to 100,000 casualties that the Russian military has suffered since it began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
My question is this: What are your Russian contacts telling you about the impact of these casualties on the Putin regime?