Canberra, March 31 (FN Agency) British intelligence chief Jeremy Fleming on Thursday said some Russian soldiers have refused to carry out their President Vladimir Putin’s orders in Ukraine due to shortage of weapons and morale. Speaking in Canberra, British intelligence agency GCHQ said, “It increasingly looks like Putin has massively misjudged the situation. It’s clear he misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people. “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.
“Even though we believe Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what’s going on and the extent of these misjudgments must be crystal clear to the regime.” CNN quoted Fleming as saying that Britain’s National Cyber Security Center has seen “sustained intent from Russia to disrupt Ukrainian government and military systems” and has seen indicators suggesting Russia’s cyber actors are looking for targets in countries that oppose the Kremlin’s actions.
Speaking on Russia using mercenaries and foreign fighters in Ukraine including Wagner Group, he said, “The group works as a shadow branch of the Russian military, providing implausible deniability for riskier operations. “They are looking at relocating forces from other conflicts and recruiting new fighters to bolster numbers. These soldiers are likely to be used as cannon fodder to try to limit Russian military losses.”