Putin launched the all-out invasion of Russia’s Eastern European neighbor nearly six months ago on February 24. The Russian president reportedly believed that his army would quickly take control of large parts of the country and easily topple the government in Kyiv. Half a year later, Putin’s forces have made relatively few gains and continue to face stiff resistance from the Ukrainian military and its people. The population has largely united in fierce opposition to Moscow’s aggression. “The Russian president’s approach to the current conflict in Ukraine has been clearly misguided. You have to assume he didn’t realize the gamble he was taking. He really thought Ukraine was going to collapse pretty quickly, and it’s hard to know why,” Freedman told The Guardian in comments posted on Sunday’s article. Above, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister of the government of Sergei Shoigu are seen Monday in Kubinka, Russia. In comments published by The Guardian on Sunday, Sir Lawrence Freedman said Putin’s Ukraine strategy has been “misguided”. Contributor/Getty Images “Even those [foreign] Analysts who thought Ukraine’s military might not do well didn’t think the Ukrainian people would capitulate,” said the professor, who wrote a book titled “Ukraine and the Art of Strategy” in 2019. Friedman added that autocracies like Putin’s Russia are prone to bad decisions. “Empires don’t have the feedback mechanism, and they’re entrenched in the belief that the advantage of autocracy is bold and decisive decision-making,” he said. “While in some cases you can tolerate a lot of bad decisions and come out OK because you have superior numbers, where it’s very tight, one bad decision or a little bit of bad luck can throw you out completely.” Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment. Contrary to the Kremlin’s belief that it would be seen as a lifeline by many Ukrainians, analysts said Moscow’s offensive has turned many previously pro-Russian Ukrainians against Putin’s government. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military forces have shown considerable prowess in defending their country, handing Moscow a series of embarrassing defeats and setbacks throughout the war. Russian troops have suffered a huge number of casualties throughout the conflict. Colin Kahl, a US Defense Department official, estimated earlier this month that Putin’s forces have seen as many as 80,000 casualties in less than six months. To put that number in perspective, the United States has seen fewer than 2,500 deaths in nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan, with fewer than 21,000 American service members injured. Retired US Navy Admiral James Stavridis, former commander of NATO’s Allied Operations Command, slammed Russia’s “bad strategy” in Ukraine during a Thursday interview on MSNBC. His comments came after a segment outlining design flaws in Russian tanks, which the Ukrainians are exploiting to make them more easily destroyed. “Remember when the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet blew up and sank? It killed 500 Russians,” Stavridis said. “This is a Slava-class cruiser. It has dozens of cruise missiles on top of its bridge, if you will. It’s like driving around in your car with 5-gallon gas cans surrounding you in the front seat. What do you think is going to happen?” Ukraine managed to sink Russia’s guided-missile flagship Moskva, carrying 510 crew members, in mid-April. It was seen as a deeply embarrassing loss for the Kremlin, as it was the largest Russian warship sunk in battle since World War II. “Just bad planning, bad tactics, bad strategy,” Stavridis said. Although the retired admiral said Russia still has “a lot of firepower and a lot of potential,” he added that “Putin’s hand of cards [is] it is not enviable at this point.’ Retired US Army General Mark Hertling pointed out in a Saturday Twitter thread that Russia’s initial goals in the war were beyond its capabilities. “Reducing targets didn’t help. Now, RU is defending in more places against a growing UA conventional threat and an expanded guerilla war. UKR has gone on the offensive and can choose where to attack. RU is now on the defensive,” Hertling wrote . Russian officials have tried to justify their so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine with the outlandish claim that the country is run by “neo-Nazis” and needs to be “de-Nazified”. They also claim there is a “genocide” of native Russian speakers in the Eastern European country. In fact, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is Russian-speaking and Jewish, who had family members die during the Holocaust perpetuated by the Nazis during World War II. He was elected with about three-quarters of the vote in 2019, when Ukraine’s prime minister was also Jewish, which would counter Russia’s claims that Ukrainians have adopted a “Nazi” ideology. Putin also referred to the former Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, suggesting that Moscow has a right to Ukraine and other territories that were previously part of its historic territory. Meanwhile, Ukraine is set to celebrate its independence day on Wednesday, marking 21 years since it declared its independence from the now-defunct Soviet Union.
