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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unchallenged power has led to catastrophic “strategic errors” that have been a disaster for the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to one of Britain’s most senior spy chiefs.
Sir Jeremy Fleming, the head of the U.K.’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), is set to give a damning analysis of Putin’s leadership during a rare public speech in London on Tuesday. The boss of Britain’s equivalent of the NSA will also say that “Russia’s forces are exhausted” and are facing a dangerous depletion of supplies and soldiers, now forced to rely on prisoners and involuntarily conscripts to prop up Moscow’s shambling war effort.
“Far from the inevitable Russian military victory that their propaganda machine spouted, it’s clear that Ukraine’s courageous action on the battlefield and in cyberspace is turning the tide,” Sir Jeremy is set to say during a lecture at the Royal United Services Institute defense think tank, the Telegraph reports. “Having failed in two major military strategies already, Putin’s plan has hit the courageous reality of Ukrainian defense. With little effective internal challenge, his decision-making has proved flawed. It’s a high-stakes strategy that is leading to strategic errors in judgment.”