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Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of its southern neighbor has been halted on many fronts by stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces who’ve recaptured territory at the same time as civilians are trapped in besieged cities.
“We’ve got info that Putin felt misled by the Russian army, which has resulted in persistent pressure between Putin and his army management,” Kate Bedingfield, White Home communications director, advised reporters throughout a press briefing.
“We imagine that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian army is performing and the way the Russian economic system is being crippled by sanctions as a result of his senior advisors are too afraid to inform him the reality,” she mentioned.
The U.S. was placing ahead this info now to indicate “this has been a strategic error for Russia,” she mentioned.
The Kremlin made no instant remark concerning the assertions after the tip of the working day in Moscow, and the Russian embassy in Washington didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Washington’s resolution to share its intelligence extra publicly displays a technique it has pursued since earlier than the battle started. On this case, it might additionally complicate Putin’s calculations, a second U.S. official mentioned, including, “It is probably helpful. Does it sow dissension within the ranks? It might make Putin rethink whom he can belief.”
One senior European diplomat mentioned the U.S. evaluation was according to European pondering. “Putin thought issues had been going higher than they had been. That is the issue with surrounding your self with ‘sure males’ or solely sitting with them on the finish of a really lengthy desk,” the diplomat mentioned.
Russian conscripts had been advised they had been collaborating in army workouts, however needed to signal a doc earlier than the invasion that prolonged their duties, two European diplomats mentioned.
“They had been misled, badly skilled after which arrived to seek out previous Ukrainian ladies who seemed like their grandmothers yelling at them to go residence,” one of many diplomats added.
There have been no indications in the intervening time that the state of affairs might foster a revolt among the many Russian army, however the state of affairs was “unpredictable” and Western powers “would hope that sad folks would communicate up,” the senior European diplomat mentioned.
Navy analysts say Russia has reframed its battle targets in Ukraine in a manner which will make it simpler for Putin to say a face-saving victory regardless of a woeful marketing campaign by which his military has suffered humiliating setbacks.
Russian forces bombarded the outskirts of the capital Kyiv and the besieged metropolis of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine on Wednesday, a day after Russia promised to scale down army operations in each cities in what the West dismissed as a ploy to regroup by invaders struggling heavy losses.
Russia says it’s finishing up a “particular operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbor. Western international locations say Moscow launched an unprovoked invasion.
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