Not only was the decision to invade Ukraine made by the Russian president, but western military officials now say Putin is engaged in battlefield decision making “at the level of a colonel or brigadier” as the Donbas offensive in eastern Ukraine unfolds.
In part, the observation is not very surprising. Any idea that the Russian president - as commander in chief - would not be involved in the battle plans, particularly once the war started going badly, would be impossible to believe. Autocratic regimes tend not to favour military decentralisation.
But it also comes at a point of embarrassing military failure. An attempt to encircle Ukrainian forces last week resulted in nearly 500 killed and the loss of more than 70 armoured vehicles in a disastrous attempt to cross the Siverskyi Donets river, which took place, western sources said, not under the cover of darkness but in the broad light of day.
This story is from the May 18, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the May 18, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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