But the sudden burst of interest reflects a sense among some intelligence officials that Putin’s decision-making in Ukraine has been out of character — perhaps due to what some previous intelligence reports suggest has been protracted isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Everything US has [is] in [the] realm of conjecture because Putin’s decisions and statements don’t seem to be making sense,” said one source familiar with recent intelligence reporting on the topic. “For years, decades Putin has acted according to a pretty specific template.”

In a classified briefing for lawmakers on Monday evening, Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, said the US intelligence community does not have good insight into Putin’s state of mind, according to a lawmaker who was present…

The source behind the report told the FBI that Putin “expressed extreme anger” over Western sanctions put in place in response to his attack on Ukraine and “felt that the sanctions had escalated the situation faster than he expected and beyond what he considered to be appropriate.” Precisely which sanctions so infuriated Putin is unknown; that portion of the report is redacted.