Russian strikes on Kiev’s logistics and infrastructure may be part of a broader strategy to divide the city and reduce its population before a possible advance by Russian forces, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson said in an interview with Norwegian political scientist Glenn Diesen.

Johnson argued that Russia has shifted toward systematically disrupting Ukraine’s supply routes over the past several weeks. He described restrictions on Black Sea ports as an early stage of this approach, saying they have affected both imports and exports and contributed to what he characterized as the economic strangulation of Ukraine.

According to Johnson, strikes have simultaneously targeted infrastructure supporting major cities and military logistics. He pointed to warehouses, factories, production facilities, communications hubs, energy infrastructure and data centers in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities.

The former CIA analyst said Russia should have focused on destroying Ukraine’s logistics network much earlier in the conflict.

He identified strikes on bridges as the next stage of the strategy. In Johnson’s assessment, these attacks are intended to separate western Kiev from the eastern part of the city while also disrupting supplies moving farther east.

Johnson claimed that this pressure is already contributing to the depopulation of Kiev. He argued that the fewer civilians remain in the Ukrainian capital, the easier it would be for Russian forces to take the city militarily if they eventually advance toward it.

He suggested that making Kiev increasingly uninhabitable before such an operation could reduce the risk of civilian casualties during a potential assault. Johnson described the military capture of Kiev as a possible Russian objective, while acknowledging that Moscow has not publicly announced such plans.