A former commander of the Russian ground forces offered a perspective of rare honesty on the war in Ukraine. He stated that Moscow was unprepared for war at the beginning of 2022.
Colonel-General Vladimir Chirkin said that Russian intelligence services misled the Kremlin about the political situation in Ukraine, and their inaccurate reports led an unprepared Russia to launch a large-scale invasion.
Chirkin's remarks, who led the Russian ground forces from 2012 to 2013, are unusually critical for a high-ranking Russian military official, even among those who no longer serve in the army, notes Business Insider.
"Everyone, if you remember, started saying in February 2022 that the war would end in three days. That we would now defeat everyone," Chirkin said in a November 27 interview with the Russian radio station RBC.
"But, unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. I would give our entire Russian intelligence community a failing grade," he added.
Where Moscow Went Wrong
In the mentioned interview, the general said that Moscow traditionally miscalculated the balance of forces, underestimating its enemy and overestimating the performance of its own army.
"To be fair, I don't intend to criticize anyone, but in my opinion, Russia was once again unprepared for war, as it has been in previous years and centuries," he said.
The Russian leadership was misled to believe that 70% of the Ukrainian population supported a pro-Russian government, the general pointed out. "It turned out to be exactly the opposite. 30% for us and 70% against. In the first weeks, we received an extremely harsh lesson," he added.
Russians Had the 'Tbilisi Syndrome'
In the early stages of the invasion, Russian forces probably suffered from the 'Tbilisi syndrome,' which describes a situation where troops are afraid to make tactical decisions without orders from their superiors, Chirkin mentioned.
The Russian general's assessment largely aligns with Western and Ukrainian analyses from the early months of the war, which found that Russia had misjudged its ability to conquer the Kiev region. After weeks of confusion among its troops, poor logistics, and the failure to achieve air superiority, Russian forces withdrew from the capital area at the end of March 2022.
The general's honesty seemed to surprise even his interviewer, Yuri Tamantsev, from RBC. "To be honest, I did not expect such frankness right from the beginning of our conversation," the journalist said.
Demoted for Bribery
The general's statements come in the context of Russia banning the dissemination of "false information" about the war in Ukraine, an accusation that can carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. However, human rights groups say the law has been used to punish Russians who protest or criticize the invasion.
However, Chirkin, whose military rank is roughly equivalent to a three-star general in NATO, did not criticize Moscow's stated reason for invading Ukraine.
The rest of the interview focused on how the war in Ukraine has evolved in recent years and how Moscow's troops could achieve Moscow's vision of victory.
Chirkin was dismissed from command in 2013 after being accused of bribery. He lost his rank after being convicted in August 2015 for accepting a bribe of 450,000 rubles and sentenced to five years of labor camp detention, but the sentence was commuted in December.
The Colonel-General claimed he was the victim of a fraud committed by his subordinates and was reinstated in rank.
T.D.