The Kremlin leader is far from reality
Environment shields Putin from bad news
12/24/2022, 10:10 pm
In February, Putin hopes for a quick victory in Ukraine. But the resistance is stronger than expected. According to a report, the wrong assessment of the situation is due to the environment of the Kremlin leader. Accordingly, the Russian president has been drifting further and further away from reality over the years.
A statement “Wall Street Journal“(WSJ) suggests that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has only a limited understanding of the real situation with his troops in Ukraine. The Kremlin boss has surrounded himself with a small circle of advisers who reinforce and moderate or moderate his bellicose worldview. Clear up the bad news.
The American newspaper is based on interviews with former and current Russian officials and people close to the Kremlin. Interviewees described Putin as a suspicious and isolated leader who either could not or did not believe that Ukraine could successfully resist.
News of the war reaches Putin late
According to intelligence sources, Putin wakes up every morning at 7 a.m. to give a written briefing on the war, the content of which is carefully pre-filtered to highlight successes and minimize setbacks. “People around Putin are protecting themselves,” journalist Ekaterina Vinokourova told the WSJ. “They’re convinced they shouldn’t upset the president.”
Putin fears digital surveillance and criticizes internet That is why he depends heavily on the explanations prepared by his advisers. In addition, top commanders do not report directly to the president, but to the FSB, the domestic secret service, which then sends information to the Security Council, the WSJ writes. The data will then be sent to Putin by Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. However, because of the reporting chain, it can take days for information from the battlefield to reach Putin’s desk.
Russian officials say Putin is determined to bring Ukraine to its knees and is willing to mobilize Russia’s economy and people for years. According to the newspaper, representatives of arms companies and Russian pro-war bloggers have met with the Kremlin leader for talks in recent months, leaving the meetings feeling that Putin did not have a clear picture of the situation in Ukraine. .
Conversations on the Black Sea
The WSJ writes that the starting point for Putin’s overconfidence in Ukraine was the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Accordingly, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and some advisers advised against seizing the peninsula, but Putin ignored it. With the rapid success of Russian troops, Putin’s entourage shrank to a few war-loving advisers.
The coronavirus pandemic has further increased Putin’s isolation, amid concerns about his health. At his summer home on the Black Sea, Putin is said to have frequent visits with his old comrade Yuri Kovalchuk. The two are said to have repeatedly fantasized about a common idea of a Greater Russia when they met. CIA Director Bill Burns said last April that Putin’s circle of advisers had been reduced. “I amIn this small circle, it never encouraged business [Putins] “An almost mystical belief that the judgment or his destiny is to restore Russia’s influence,” Burns said.
Shoigu is the defense minister without influence
As his circle of advisers shrinks, Putin becomes increasingly paranoid, the WSJ writes. He was convinced that the United States would stop nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Chief Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Shoigu already lack the clout to moderate Putin.
Putin reportedly exchanged views on Ukraine with oligarch leader Viktor Medvechuk, who was later captured by Ukrainian security forces and later released in a prisoner exchange. For years, the billionaire wanted They had a dedicated line to the Kremlin so they could reach Putin personally at any time. It was Medvetchuk who told Putin that Russian soldiers would be warmly welcomed in Ukraine. Polls allegedly falsified by the FSB reinforced this impression of Putin.
The WSJ writes that the planning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine fell more to the FSB than the military. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Chief of Staff Anton Vaino and domestic policy chief Sergey Kriyenko were not privy to the plans.
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