He’s been beaten down and, I feel, standing up and just answering criticisms he probably hears/reads a lot in comments by saying, to paraphrase, “Actually with me its not just [anonymous] ‘officials say’, I know the people in charge of the Kursk operation and I know how they think..”.

I feel this is not unreasonable commentary by Ritter, who has traveled extensively in Russia and is not just an armchair guy, to speak up like this. Moreover, this kind if commentary is likely made at some personal risk.