New intelligence shows Putin's advisers lied to him about Ukraine

Newly declassified intelligence has shown that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been misinformed by his advisors about the Russian military’s struggles in Ukraine and that there appears to be growing tension between Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, once considered one of Putin’s most trusted advisors.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told reporters in Algiers that Putin had been given false information about the state of affairs in Ukraine by his advisors, the New York Times reported.

“With regard to President Putin, look, what I can tell you is this, and I said this before, one of the Achilles' heels of autocracies is that you don’t have people in those systems who speak truth to power or who have the ability to speak truth to power,” Blinken said. “And I think that is something that we’re seeing in Russia.”

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Pentagon Spokesman John F. Kirby said the Department of Defense believed that Putin has not been provided an accurate account of the armed forces’ failures while conducting the so-called “special military operation.”

“We would concur with the conclusion that Mr. Putin has not been fully informed by his Ministry of Defense, at every turn over the last month,” Kirby said.

“If Mr. Putin is misinformed or uninformed about what’s going on inside Ukraine, it’s his military, it’s his war, he chose it. And so the fact that he may not have all the context — that he may not fully understand the degree to which his forces are failing in Ukraine, that’s a little discomforting, to be honest with you.”

Other U.S. officials have also stated that Putin’s strictly enforced isolation during the coronavirus pandemic and willingness to publicly rebuke his advisors has caused fear amongst senior military leadership – many of whom thus provide him with incomplete or unrealistic reports about Russia’s progress in Ukraine. Putin, after all, seemed genuinely unaware that the military had been sending conscripts to the frontlines or that drafted soldiers were among those killed in battle.

According to one U.S. official, the president’s ignorance showed “a clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information to the Russian president,” adding that there “is now persistent tension” between Putin and his Defense Ministry.

But the new intelligence report also noted that Putin appears to have an incomplete understanding of how hard Western sanctions have hit the Russian economy, officials said.  

The American intelligence assessment also said that Mr. Putin had an incomplete understanding about how damaging Western sanctions had been on the Russian economy, officials said.

In recent days, Ukrainian forces have recaptured towns on the outskirts of Kyiv and initiated counterattacks against Russian positions, forcing them to retreat on overextended supply lines in what Western officials believe may be a sign that momentum in the war in shifting.

According to one British intelligence report released on Friday, “Ukrainian counter-attacks, and Russian forces falling back on overextended supply lines, has allowed Ukraine to reoccupy towns and defensive positions up to 35 km east of Kyiv.”

Some experts have warned, however, that senior Russian officials are wary of delivering truthful assessments – conceivably in fear of being held responsible for the army’s battlefield blunders. Putin did, after all, place two top intelligence officials under house arrest for providing poor intelligence ahead of the invasion.

Although Russian President Vladimir Putin is alleged to have expected a quick outcome when he launched his “special military operation” just over one month ago, his forces have been unable to capture any major Ukrainian cities and have resorted instead to besieging and obliterating residential areas.

Moscow on Friday signaled that it was shifting its focus in Ukraine to instead focus on territories claimed by Russian-back separatists in the east.

As Russian bombs continue to fall on Kyiv and other major cities, however, officials have warned that the announcement was little more than a ploy and Russia is actually regrouping its forces.