As the Russian military operation enters its 36th day without fully controlling major cities in Ukraine, British intelligence chief Jeremy Fleming stated that President Vladimir Putin’s advisors "fear telling him the truth." In a speech given at the Australian National University in Canberra on Thursday, Fleming emphasized that Putin "made a grave miscalculation regarding the consequences of the military operation he launched against Ukraine" on February 24.
Fleming also noted that Russian soldiers "lack weapons and have low morale." He added that some soldiers "refused to follow orders and have been sabotaging their equipment, even accidentally downing their own aircraft." He expressed that "even if Putin's advisors fear telling him the truth, what is happening and the severity of these Russian miscalculations have become entirely clear to the regime."
Overestimation of Military Capability
Furthermore, he pointed out that the Russian president underestimated both the Ukrainian resistance and the strength of the international coalition formed against him, as well as the impact of economic sanctions on his country. Fleming stated that Putin overestimated his army's ability to achieve a quick victory. According to him, the commitment made by Moscow this week to "significantly reduce" its military activity around Kyiv and in the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine "may suggest that they were compelled to conduct a fundamental reassessment" of their military operation.
Misinformation
This comes after a senior U.S. official also confirmed that the Russian president received misinformation about the course of the war in Ukraine, as his advisors fear to inform him of the military and economic losses suffered by the country. It was clarified that recently declassified U.S. intelligence indicated that "Putin was not even aware that his army was recruiting volunteers and losing them during the fighting in Ukraine, demonstrating a clear break in the flow of reliable information to him."
It should be noted that the Russian military operation against its western neighbor, which began on February 24, has now entered its 36th day without the Russians fully controlling any major Ukrainian city, except for the advances made in the northeast. Several Western countries have confirmed that Moscow has sustained heavy losses in recent weeks, both material and human. They also hinted at disagreements between the Kremlin and some military leaders, mentioning detentions and dismissals as well.
