International News

UK spy chief says Russian soldiers disobey orders in Ukraine

FILE – Jeremy Fleming, head of the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), is photographed in London, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Demoralized Russian soldiers in the Ukraine were refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and had accidentally shot down their own aircraft, Fleming said on Thursday, March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Demoralized Russian soldiers in Ukraine were refusing to carry out orders and sabotaging their own equipment and had accidentally shot down their own aircraft, a U.K. intelligence chief said on Thursday.

Jeremy Fleming, who heads the GCHQ electronic spy agency, made the remarks at a speech in the Australian capital Canberra.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had apparently “massively misjudged” the invasion, he said.

“It’s clear he misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people. He underestimated the strength of the coalition his actions would galvanize. He underplayed the economic consequences of the sanctions regime, and he overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory,” Fleming said.

“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,” Fleming added.

Although Putin’s advisers were believed to be too afraid to tell the truth, the “extent of these misjudgments must be crystal clear to the regime,” he said.

Fleming warned that the Kremlin was hunting for cyber targets and bringing in mercenaries to shore up its stalled military campaign in Ukraine.

He praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “information operation” for being highly effective at countering Russia’s massive disinformation drive spreading propaganda about the war.

While there were expectations that Russia would launch a major cyberattack as part of its military campaign, Fleming said such a move was never a central part of Moscow’s standard playbook for war.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-europe-australia-canberra-3d72fb96191029659575e4b368b80bd1

Click to comment

You May Also Like

Business News

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that a landmark deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea amid the war won’t be restored until...

Business News

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov submitted a letter of resignation on Monday after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be...

Business News

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that defense minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced this week with Rustem Umerov, a...

Accidents

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia said Saturday its forces destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones being used in an attempt to attack a key bridge linking Russia...

Copyright © 2023 Newsworthy News | Global | Political | Local | All News | Website By: Top Search SEO

Exit mobile version