Putin lied to? “FT”: Makes decisions based on incorrect information

Reports by Russian generals containing erroneous information, including downplaying the significance of tactical failures, were intended to convince Russian leader Vladimir Putin that the war was going his way, the British daily Financial Times reported on Monday, citing officials from Western countries.

According to “FT” informants, Russian commanders and security services regularly provide Putin with information in which the number of fallen Ukrainian soldiers is exaggerated and, untruthfully, Russia's advantage in terms of military resources is emphasized.

“Although Putin regularly meets with trusted people who explain to him that the war has become an increasing burden on Russia's declining economy, the excessively idealistic image presented at military briefings confirms his belief that he can win the war,” we read in the British newspaper.

According to sources cited by “FT”, the decision for Putin to continue attacks on Ukraine, despite “the apparently favorable terms of the peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, (…) was made as a result of erroneous information reaching the Kremlin.”

The FT reported information from the independent Russian news site Faridaily, which reported that Putin had participated in six public briefings on the situation on the front since October. This is the highest number since the beginning of the war. The portal noticed that in three of them he appeared in a military uniform.

The newspaper also recalled Putin's statement on Friday, when during a four-and-a-half-hour press conference, the leader once again emphasized that his troops had an advantage over the Ukrainian side.

Keir Giles, an expert from the British think tank Chatham House, quoted by the FT, said that this “self-reinforcing loop of disinformation” has direct operational consequences. As the most telling example, the daily cited Putin's announcement in February 2022 that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine would end within a few days, but instead the conflict has been ongoing for almost four years.

From London Marta Zabłocka (PAP)

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