US says Putin’s inner circle is ‘too afraid to tell him the truth’ about his invasion in Ukraine

The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed about how poorly his troops are performing in Ukraine, officials revealed on Wednesday.

The result is tension between the Russian leader and his Ministry of Defense, according to newly declassified intelligence.

Details emerged on day 35 of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, where the main Russian advances have been stalled for weeks. 

But Putin has been oblivious that his armed forces were using and losing conscripts, according to the official.   

‘We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, which has resulted in persistent tension between Putin and his military leadership,’ said White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield, confirming an earlier briefing by an unnamed official.

‘We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions because his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth.’    

Officials said that Putin felt that he had been ‘misled’ by the Russian military, triggering tension between him and his Ministry of Defense over the war in Ukraine

Ukrainian fighters have developed effective tactics to halt Russia’s armored advance. Ukrainian soldiers patrol next to a destroyed Russian tank in Lukianivka near Kyiv

Ukrainian soldiers are operating in small, mobile groups with anti-tank weapons to launch hit and run attacks that have so far been effective in stopping the Russian advance

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby also confirmed the broad findings but said he would not discuss intelligence. 

‘We would concur with the conclusion that that Mr. Putin has not been fully informed by his ministry of defence at every turn over the last month,’ he told reporters.

‘Now, I want to caveat that we don’t have access to every bit of information that he’s been given or every conversation that he’s had.’

But he said it was ‘disconcerting’ to think that Putin was not being kept in the loop.

‘It’s his military. It’s his war. He chose it,’ he said.

‘And so the fact that he may not have all the context, that he may not fully understand the degree to which his forces are failing in Ukraine, that’s a little discomforting.’

That might make finding a negotiated settlement more difficult, he added. 

‘If he’s not fully informed of how poorly he’s doing, then how are his negotiators going to come up with an agreement that is enduring?’

Putin’s state of mind and grasp of the unfolding situation have been a constant source of speculation as his long-planned invasion appeared to sputter.

The spirit of Ukrainian resistance has surprised senior U.S. officials and prevented Russian troops from taking the capital in a lightning assault.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said it was ‘disconcerting’ to think that Putin was not being told the truth and that it would undermine the prospect of negotiating an enduring peace

This week, Moscow said it was scaling back military operations around Kyiv and another northern city in a move that analysts warned might be less a climbdown than a chance to reorganize its forces.

But Russian forces shelled Kyiv and Chernihiv on Wednesday. 

‘It’s not true,’ Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a video address to EU regional officials. 

‘The whole night we listened to sirens, to rocket attacks and we listened to huge explosions east of Kyiv and north of Kyiv.’  

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about the latest intelligence during his visit to Algeria. 

‘One of the Achilles’ heels of autocracies is that you don’t have people in those systems that speak truth to power or have the ability to speak truth to power, and I think that’s what we’re seeing in Russia,’ he told reporters.

Meanwhile, Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. was sending another $500 million in direct aid for his government.