‘Lack of candid information’ Russian military trapped in crippling ‘blame game’

Ukraine: Russian military 'engaged in a blame game' says Steele

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Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele told LBC that the Russian military all seem to be “engaged in a blame game” over the tactical failures and heavy losses during the war in Ukraine. Mr Steele claimed that while there are some “very capable people” in the Russian government, they’re not being allowed to “call the shots” as Putin continues his autocratic reign of terror over officials.

Mr Steele said: “It’s a sort of self-fulfilling spiral, I think. The big problem with this war is there is a lack of candid information and diffusion both up and down the system. 

“People were afraid to tell Putin things he did not want to hear and I think that’s become almost uncontrollable now. 

“And although on the economic side people are prepared, like the central Bank governor, to stand up to him, the military all seem to be engaged in a blame game to blame each other. 

“And to try and avoid actually addressing the problems of this war where the Russian army has performed particularly badly and certainly much worse than any of us expected.

“I don’t think [the West] can really deal with Putin other than talking about ending the war if he’s ever prepared to do that. 

“However, I think some of the people around him, even those who are fairly hardline, could possibly be interlocutors going forwards. 

“Certainly on an interim basis before some kind of stable government is established in Russia. 

“There are some very capable people in the Russian government. It’s just that they’re not calling the shots at the moment over this war.”

The comments come as western military sources suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken over control of the Russian military. 

Ukraine claimed that Putin had sidelined the commander of the Russian armed forces General Valery Gerasimov. 

But western military experts said that Putin has decided to work closely with the general overseeing operations in Ukraine directly.

The military source said: “We think Putin and Gerasimov are involved in tactical decision making at a level we would normally expect to be taken by a colonel or a brigadier.”

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A former brigadier of the British army criticised Putin for reportedly taking over command, saying that the Russian leader “should have better things to do”. 

Ben Barry, a land warfare expert at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, said: “A head of government should have better things to do than make military decisions. 

“They should be setting the political strategy rather than getting bogged down in day to day activity”.

Following recent heavy equipment losses, Russian military bloggers have allegedly made comments on “the incompetence of the Russian military to their hundreds of thousands of followers”, according to the Institute for the Study of War. 

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