US and UK officials say intelligence suggests Vladimir Putin was “misinformed” about how poorly Russia’s military is doing in Ukraine, partly due to “yes man” advisers who are “too scared to tell him the truth.”
Why it matters: Western allies have repeatedly declassified and released confidential information about Russia to undermine Putin’s strategy. The latest example comes as Russia claims it is withdrawing from its offensive near Kyiv, which failed thanks to strong Ukrainian resistance.
What you say: “[I]It increasingly appears that Putin has grossly misjudged the situation,” Jeremy Fleming, the head of Britain’s spy agency GCHQ, said in a major speech in Australia on Wednesday.
- “We have seen Russian soldiers – without weapons or morals – refusing to obey orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own plane,” Fleming claimed.
- “And while we believe that Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, the regime needs to be clear about what is going on and the extent of these miscalculations,” he added.
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield confirmed to reporters, “We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, which has led to ongoing tensions between Putin and his military leadership.”
- The release of this information “helps to understand that this was a strategic mistake for Russia,” Bedingfield said when asked why the US is now releasing this information.
Between the lines: There is probably “no greater insult” than to call Putin, a former KGB officer, “misinformed” about the state of his own military. Remarks Russia expert Dmitri Alperovitch.