U.K. says Russian troops accidentally shot down own plane

Demoralized Russian soldiers are refusing to carry out orders and sabotaging their equipment, according to a U.K. intelligence chief on Thursday.

Jeremy Fleming, head of the United Kingdom’s GCHQ spy agency, also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “massively misjudged” the invasion during his remarks at Australia National University in Canberra, Australia.

"It’s clear he misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people,” Fleming said. “He underestimated the strength of the coalition his actions would galvanize. He underplayed the economic consequences of the sanctions regime, and he overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory.”

“We’ve seen Russian soldiers, short of weapons and morale, refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft,” Fleming added.

The GCHQ monitors global communications to identify and disrupt threates to Britain, according to Reuters.

Tales of demoralization and supply chain issues that are plaguing the invading Russian forces emerged early in the Ukrainian war and continue to persist.

The spy chief said that Putin’s slow invasion had been counterproductive by uniting Ukraine and NATO.

“The great irony is, of course, that through his actions, Putin has brought upon himself exactly what he was trying to avoid—a Ukraine with a renewed sense of nationhood, a NATO that is more united than ever, and a global coalition of nations that condemn his actions,” Fleming told the audience.

Fleming highlighted how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had become a “global beacon for democracy” and the Ukrainian’s impressive “information operation” that has quickly countered Russian propaganda.

However, he warned that Putin is likely committed to seeing his invasion, shifting to a “Plan B” that will be “more barbarity against civilians and cities.”