According to American intelligence, the number of Russian dead in Ukraine is largely underestimated, and tensions between leaders are at their height.
The leaks seem damning to Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime. As reported by New York TimesUS intelligence, which has visibly infiltrated many layers of the Russian administration, reported significant infighting and other dissension within Moscow’s upper echelons on the fringes of the war in Ukraine in several classified documents leaked last week.
Controversy over the dead
Among one of the points advanced by the documents consulted by the American media, the disagreements which exist between the main internal intelligence agency of Russia, the FSB, and the ministry of Defense of the country, accused of hiding the real number of Dead and wounded Russians since the beginning of the conflict.
According to New York Times which quotes U.S. intelligence, the finding highlights “the continued reluctance of military officials to pass bad news up the chain of command.”
The official figures would not take into account the dead and wounded among the Russian National Guard, Wagner’s mercenaries or the fighters deployed by Ramzan Kadyrov, the sulphurous Chechen leader. According to FSB data, 110,000 Russian soldiers have already been killed or injured since February 24, 2022.
Since the start of the war, Russian losses have been difficult to quantify and have given way to much speculation, due to a lack of official communication. Last November, Washington already put forward the figure of 100,000 dead.
Bisbille Choïgou-Prigojine
In addition to these dissensions, the American documents also highlight the disagreements that exist between first-rate personalities at the top of Russian power.
It is no longer a secret that Evgueni Prigojine, founder and leader of the paramilitary group Wagner, and Sergueï Choïgou, Minister of Defence, do not like each other. A disagreement that has erupted in public in recent months as Prigojine publicly reprimanded the army chief on social networks.
US intelligence documents show that Vladimir Putin himself had to intervene in this dispute. On February 22, the Russian president was reportedly forced to summon Progozhin and Shoigu for a meeting in Moscow.
“The meeting was almost certainly about, at least in part, Progozhin’s public accusations and resulting tensions with Shoigu,” a document said.
Irreversible situation?
Taken end to end, these tensions and dissensions are, according to the New York Timesso many reasons why Vladimir Putin and the Russian army could not secure a victory in Ukraine.
Some of these documents also claim that, contrary to Moscow’s threats, the Russian army has shown itself incapable of stopping Western arms deliveries to Ukraine.
However, the American media accompanies these revelations with several tweezers. These classified documents, shared on social networks, may have been tampered with, by the very admission of the American authorities. Some of them may also be obsolete.
