Putin’s senior generals are most likely skirting around the ‘disastrous realities’ of war in order to avoid embarrassment

With the battle now in its fourth week, Moscow looks to have failed in its aim of a quick conclusion to the invasion, which it thought would take only a few days. The Kremlin has now claimed that it would scale back its attack on Kyiv after failing to gain any foothold in the city due to stiff opposition from Ukrainian defence troops.

Western diplomats now believe Putin has been duped by his senior generals, who are afraid to tell him the reality about the devastating losses and lack of progress.

“Even if they were capable of influencing him, would they be willing to tell him the truth about the very terrible progress of this campaign?” one Western official said.

“I believe we’re considerably less confident that he’s receiving an accurate picture on the ground.”

“I think it’s also possible that inside the Russian system, many components will be blaming each other for the lack of success, which will exacerbate the task of getting the facts through,” another source said.

“People will be quite defensive about their own shortcomings and, I believe, will be eager to cast the finger at others.”

Moscow forces’ “tactical withdrawals” demonstrated “just how terribly President Putin misjudged,” they continued.

On a personnel level, Putin has also lost several top ranking officers on the battlefield, with reports of Colonels and Generals being killed practically daily.

It has also been estimated that Russia has lost up to 15,000 troops since the invasion began.

Add to it the multiple losses of tanks, helicopters, fighter aircraft, and other equipment, and Putin is quickly realising that his aspirations are being dashed.

Huge disparities have also begun to develop among Russia’s famed intelligence organisations.

Putin has placed some top FSB officials under house arrest, blaming them for intelligence blunders during Ukraine’s invasion.

According to reports, Russians believe Ukrainians will welcome them across the border.

There have also been reports that spies who realised the dangers of war were too afraid to notify their bosses.

“There’s a lot of self-reflection in the intelligence services; they misread the Ukrainian national sentiment badly,” an official said.

“They got it correct to a point, but they didn’t express it well.”

Analysts have frequently argued that Russian forces were misinformed about their objective in Ukraine, with some being told they were rescuing the nation from Nazis while others were told they were on training missions.

The majority of Putin’s forces are made up of inexperienced conscripts with limited tactical expertise, guided by senior commanders who are readily targeted by Ukrainian defences.

Many of the Russian soldiers detained by Ukrainian forces have indicated that they are unsure of their objectives and have complained about hunger, cold, and a lack of resources.

Putin is now counting on air dominance in the conflict, attacking Ukrainian cities with heavy missiles and air strikes.

Ukraine has reminded Russia that its plans to back down over Kyiv are another deception, and has continued to seek Western assistance.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently spoke with other leaders, according to a spokeswoman for Number 10, and they “agreed on the continuous need to assist and sustain the people of Ukraine in their battle against Russian savagery.”

“The Prime Minister emphasised that we must assess Putin’s administration by their deeds, not their rhetoric,” she continued.