Morale drops among Russian troops in Ukraine, British army chief says

Morale of Russian troops fighting in Ukraine continues to suffer from growing discontent across all ranks, the British armed forces chief said, although that discontent is far from turning into a substantial uprising.

“It is not surprising that we see unrest at all levels within the Russian armed forces,” said Admiral Tony Radakin, chief of the defense staff, the UK’s most senior military officer. “You’ve seen it at the most junior level. † † We also see pressure from their tactical and operational commanders. † † and then you end up with their top commanders, who are clearly under pressure as well.”

Reports of a brigade commander being run over by his own troops, widespread videos on social media of grumbling Russian soldiers and the firing of 12 National Guardsmen who refused to fight in Ukraine have led to speculation that parts of the Russian army are close to mutiny.

But Radakin warned that “mutiny” was a strong word — “the naval officer in me trembles when I hear the word” — adding that “we’ll have to wait and see if the widely reported discontent within the Russian military” evolves into something more impact”.

Still, Radakin’s comments — made at a seminar on the future of the British military — contribute to an overall picture of the mounting pressures facing Russia’s armed forces, both within its ranks and between senior commanders and President Vladimir Putin.

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Putin is “isolating himself”, adding that there is “some indication that he has fired some of his advisers or placed them under house arrest”.

But Biden warned that reports of reprisals against those senior Russian officials had not been independently confirmed, adding: “I don’t want to put too much weight on this at this point.”

Still, British spy chief Jeremy Fleming, chief of intelligence GCHQ, said earlier on Thursday that Russian soldiers “refused to carry out orders, sabotaged their own equipment and even accidentally shot down their own plane”.

Fleming added: “While we believe Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what is going on and the magnitude of these misjudgments should be crystal clear to the regime.”

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the US also believed Putin was not getting the full picture from his advisers about the performance of his troops.

“The fact that he [Putin] may not have all the context that he may not fully understand the extent to which his troops are failing in Ukraine, that’s a little inconvenient,” Kirby said on Wednesday.

One of the reasons Putin may not be fully aware of events on the ground is because a growing game of blame between various parts of the Russian military and intelligence services has made it more difficult to uncover the truth, Westerners said. officials.

“Who is to blame is an inter-agency and inter-level question, with everyone blaming other organizations and different command levels,” said an official.

The official said the Russian military and intelligence services misjudged the invasion of Ukraine “catastrophically” and, even if they read it correctly, may not have communicated it properly to Putin.