Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is failing and his closest aides are afraid to tell him the truth, according to Sir Jeremy Fleming of Britain’s security and intelligence agency GCHQ. According to Fleming, Russian President Putin “largely misjudged the situation” when ordering the invasion of Ukraine, and he certainly knows how badly things are going for the Russian forces, even though his closest advisers hid the truth from him.
GCHQ executive Sir Jeremy Fleming said the Russian leader’s unprovoked and premeditated decision to attack Ukraine was “shocking in every sense of the word”. Fleming also stated that former KGB agent Putin was completely taken by surprise by what was going on.
“It is clear that Putin misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people,” said Fleming.
“He underestimated the strength of the coalition his actions would set in motion. He downplayed the economic consequences of sanctions. He overestimated his army’s abilities to achieve a quick victory. We saw Russian soldiers, lacking in weapons and morale, refusing to follow orders, sabotaging their own equipment, and even accidentally shooting down their own planes.”
“WE WATCHED PUTIN LYING TO HIS PEOPLE”
Stating that Russia’s aim is to spread disinformation, Fleming explained the reason for this with the following words:
“They want to sow distrust of the evidence, multiply false narratives, and ensure that the true picture of what is happening in Russia is not revealed. We know that Putin’s invasion is fraught with problems; low morale of the army, logistical failures and high casualties of the Russians. Command and control are in disarray. We’ve seen Putin lie to his own people to hide his military incompetence. All this means it invests heavily in ruthlessly controlling the media and access to the internet, muting the opposition, and investing heavily in their propaganda and secret agencies.”
“Once again, Putin misjudged Ukraine’s fierce resistance,” Fleming continued. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has become a global beacon of democracy with similar support from governments and Bono. Businesses around the world withdrew their operations from Russia due to the invasion, and tech firms rushed to help Ukraine stay connected to the outside world.
At the same time, Russia is filling its ranks with foreign fighters and mercenaries from private contractors like the Wagner Group, which is closely linked to Putin’s confidant Yevgeny Prigozhin.
