Thu 31 March 2022:
The head of one of the UK’s intelligence agencies has said that some Russian soldiers in Ukraine have refused to carry out orders, adding Putin had “misjudged” the invasion.
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) chief Jeremy Fleming said there was evidence that Moscow’s troops had low morale and were poorly equipped.
“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,” he said during a speech in the Australian capital Canberra.
“It’s clear he [Putin] misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people. 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,” Fleming added.
Although Putin’s advisers were believed to be too afraid to tell the truth, the “extent of these misjudgments must be crystal clear to the regime,” he said.
On February 24, Russia ordered the so-called “military operation” in Ukraine. Since then, the invasion has killed thousands of people, displaced millions.
On one hand, such reports have claimed that the Russian forces are facing setbacks against Ukrainian resistance, but Russia’s defence ministry says its armed forces are professional and carrying out their duty in Ukraine with considerable success.
The Russian military also says that the West has spread lies about the operation in an attempt to bring down Russia.
The United States assesses that Russia is suffering failure rates as high as 60 per cent for some of its precision-guided missiles, three US officials with knowledge of the intelligence told Reuters.
There are no comments yet by Kremlin on Jeremy Fleming’s remarks.
Russian shelling and missile strikes have continued in Chernihiv despite Russia indicating an intended reduction of military activity around the area, British military intelligence has said.
Russian forces continue to hold positions to the east and west of Kiev despite the withdrawal of a limited number of units, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While Independent Press takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
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