Putin is 'being misled' about Russia's war by his advisers
US intelligence believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is being deceived by his advisors who are "too afraid to tell him the truth".
Putin's advisors are reportedly feeding him misleading information about Russia's military performance in Ukraine, the White House confirmed.
The White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said she is not a spokesperson for the Kremlin, nor could she speak to "what is in Vladimir Putin's head".
However, she confirmed the US has information Putin is feeling misled by the Russian military and as a result, there is "persistent tension" between him and his military advisors.
"We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisors about how badly the Russian military is performing, and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth," she said.
"So it is increasingly clear that Putin’s war has been a strategic blunder that has left Russia weaker over the long term and increasingly isolated on the world stage."
A US official, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity said the administration was hopeful that divulging the findings would help prod Putin to reconsider his option in Ukraine.
However, Ms Bedingfield said having Putin reconfigure his approach in Ukraine was not the White House's intent.
"Our intent is simply to make the information available so that there is a full understanding of what kind of strategic blunder this has been for Russia and for the Russian people," she said.
Russian soldiers defying orders
The head of Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) spy service has said there is intelligence to suggest some Russian soldiers in Ukraine are refusing to carry out orders.
Some soldiers have sabotaged their own equipment and accidentally shot down one of their own aircraft, the intel suggests.
GCHQ director Sir Jeremy Fleming spoke at the Australian National University in Canberra on Thursday and said it has become more apparent Putin has "massively misjudged" the situation in Ukraine.
"It’s clear he misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people. He underestimated the strength of the coalition his actions would galvanise," he said.
"He underplayed the economic consequences of the sanctions regime. He overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory.
"We’ve seen Russian soldiers – short of weapons and morale — refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft."
Sir Fleming also said GCHQ believes Putin's advisors are afraid to tell him the truth.
He pointed out just this week, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation said publicly there would be a reduction in combat operations in Kyiv and a city to the north.
However, Russia launched attacks in both those places and it is not clear if this was an issue of mixed messages or deliberate misinformation.
"It all adds up to the strategic miscalculation that our leaders warned Putin it would be," Sir Fleming said.
"It’s become his personal war, with the cost being paid by innocent people in Ukraine and increasingly, by ordinary Russians too.
"The great irony is, of course, that through his actions, Putin has brought upon himself exactly what he was trying to avoid – a Ukraine with a renewed sense of nationhood, a NATO that is more united than ever, and a global coalition of nations that condemn his actions."
With Associated Press and Reuters
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