U.S. spy agencies have struggled to intercept telltale communications in which Russian leaders, military commanders or front-line troops have indicated their military plans, said U.S. officials.
Intelligence officials are using an array of intelligence tools, including imagery and human sources to discern Russia's next moves.
Russia is often very good at operational security and may be working actively to not voice intentions because they know they might be overheard, U.S. officials say.
A U.S. official said the U.S. is tracking the Russian efforts closely and has "visibility into the Russian troop buildup along the Ukrainian border."
The senior Obama administration official acknowledged the difficulty of collecting intelligence about Russian intentions, calling the country a "hard target."
I have to wonder what insights into our intelligence gathering capabilities that Snowden provided to the Russians to help them hide activities and intentions.
And worse than hiding what they do from our ears and eyes, what Russian actions are we observing that Russia fully intends for us to see?
