The head of the British armed forces said President Vladimir Putin has already failed to achieve the initial objectives of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
Adm. Tony Radakin, chief of the British defense staff, told The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in London on Tuesday that he was surprised by the Russian failings in the campaign that started with poor intelligence, leading to catastrophic outcomes. He said he believed Mr. Putin was in charge of the campaign and showing traits of an autocratic leader who was becoming increasingly isolated.
“Their decision making rarely improves, and their decision making gets worse,” he said.
“We have been surprised at the way Russia has gone about this,” Adm. Radakin said. Russia expected that it could invade Ukraine, take cities in days and take control of the country in 30 days, he added. He said failing in this effort was the consequence of a “shocking intelligence failure and it’s also an incredible arrogance.” He also praised what he called the courage and ingenuity of the Ukrainian armed forces.
“Whatever their endgame is, it is drastically different from their start game,” Adm. Radakin said. The campaign started with the ambition of taking the whole of Ukraine, pushing back the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and demonstrating Russia’s power and authority. “All of those have failed, NATO has never been stronger," he said. "The notion that the Ukraine people somehow would choose to orient themselves toward Russia now looks absurd.”
“We expected a much more joined-up onslaught by Russia,” he said, adding that Russia struggles to coordinate the branches of its armed forces. It has already suffered a tactical defeat as it was forced to shift the focus of its campaign to the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. The campaign looks “incredibly risky, incredibly rushed,” he said.
Of the intelligence failures, Adm. Radakin said that “catastrophic errors tend to lead to catastrophic consequences.” He said Russia had never operated on this scale since World War II. A successful operation would have relied on synchronization and momentum that haven't occurred during the campaign.
Adm. Radakin said Russia had failed to take down Ukrainian communications, allowing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to talk to the world throughout the war. He also said Russia had failed to achieve air superiority, while its maritime, air and land forces were “siloed” and their operations weren’t dynamic. Air operations were being planned as long as seven to 10 days in advance, he said.
“The idea you would run out of fuel when you are just 100 miles into Ukraine is just slightly bizarre,” he said, speaking of Russian convoys that stalled in the early days of the war.