GCHQ commander Sir Jeremy Fleming says Russian military is a bloody mess, shoots down private jet

Vladimir Putin “massively misjudged the situation” when ordering the invasion of Ukraine and certainly knows how badly things are going for Russian forces despite his closest advisers. is hiding the truth from him, according to the head of Britain’s spy agency.

In a speech at the Australian National University in Canberra on Thursday morning, GCHQ Director Sir Jeremy Fleming said the Russian leader’s “unprovoked and targeted attack on Ukraine” was “shocking in the every meaning of the word.” He also said that Putin, a former KGB officer, was completely calm by what he found.

“Clearly he misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people,” Fleming said. “He underestimated the power of the alliance his actions would incite. He underestimated the economic consequences of the sanctions regime. He overestimated his army’s ability to guarantee a quick victory. We have seen Russian soldiers – lacking in weapons and morale – refuse to carry out orders, sabotage their own equipment and even accidentally shoot down their own plane.”

Over the course of the past 36 days, Putin has been repeatedly misled by top Russian military and intelligence officials about the military’s progress in Ukraine, according to declassified US intelligence. During a stopover in Algiers on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Putin’s insides did not tell him the truth about the war and the true extent of economic sanctions on the Russian economy. An unnamed senior US intelligence official told the AP news agency that Putin’s advisers were “scared” of providing him with an accurate version of events and that those who deceived him included the foreign minister. Sergei Shoigu’s room.

However, Fleming said on Thursday, “what is happening and the extent of these misjudgments must be made clear by the regime.”

“The great irony, of course, is that through his actions, Putin has brought for himself exactly what he is trying to avoid – a renewed nationalist Ukraine, a more united NATO than ever before. time runs out and a global alliance of Fleming speaks to the audience.

Since the invasion has been around for about a month, “it’s too early to confidently map out all of the effects of this crisis,” says Fleming. But he discussed some notable aspects of Putin’s war that he has stood out so far.

First, the Russian disinformation game is very powerful.

“Their purpose is to publish misinformation,” continued Fleming. “To sow distrust in the evidence and amplify false stories. It’s also to make sure that the real picture of what’s going on isn’t exposed inside Russia… We know Putin’s campaign is beset with problems — low morale, logistical failures and the high number of Russian casualties. Their command and control is chaotic. We have seen Putin lie to his people in an attempt to hide his military incompetence. And all of that means, he’s seeking brutal control over media and internet access, he’s seeking to shut down opposing voices, and he’s investing heavily. heavily on their secretive and propaganda agencies. “

Once again, Putin misjudged Ukraine’s fierce resistance, Fleming continued. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has become a global beacon of democracy, with support from governments as well as Bono. Businesses worldwide have pulled their operations out of Russia due to the invasion, and tech companies have rushed to help Ukraine connect with the outside world.

At the same time, Russia is raising its ranks with foreign fighters and mercenaries from private contractors such as the Wagner Corporation, which is closely linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a confidant of Putin.

“They are looking at redeploying forces from other conflicts and recruiting new fighters to bolster numbers,” Fleming said in his speech. “These soldiers are likely to be used as cannon fodder to try to limit Russian military losses.”

Russia has long been hostile to NATO, viewing the allied alliance as an existential threat. However, the invasion of Ukraine “certainly turned NATO members as well as non-members such as Japan and Australia” to the side, in Fleming’s words.

“It also shows that it is surprising that countries choose to support Putin or abstain from voting,” he said. “And those choices will affect the global order and our national stocks for decades to come.”

Putin, for now, is sticking to his plan for better or for worse, according to Fleming, who describes it as mostly worse. Now, the fear is that Russia moves into Putin’s “Plan B”, which Fleming warns will be “more barbaric towards civilians and cities”.

“Obviously, he plays by different moral and legal rules,” he said. “Too many Ukrainians and Russians have lost their lives. And beyond this number, many, many others have had their lives ruined. The United Nations estimates that in just over a month, more than 10 million people have been displaced from their homes. It is a humanitarian crisis that has never happened. And it’s not over yet.”