Vladimir Putin “has already lost the war” in Ukraine, the head of the UK’s armed forces has said.
Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radikan said the Russian president has made “a series of catastrophic misjudgments” since the invasion of Ukraine.
Putin had failed to anticipate the west’s united opposition to his military campaign, Radikan said, leaving him “a weaker and more diminished figure today than he was a month ago”.
His view was backed up by western officials, who said “it’s very clear that President Putin has already failed in his main strategic goals”.
Radikan made his comments at an event organised by the Institute for Government five weeks on from the start of the war.
He said: “The scenes coming out of Mariupol and elsewhere are horrific, and the coming weeks will continue to be very difficult.
“But in many ways, Putin has already lost. Far from being the far-sighted manipulator of events that he would have us believe, Putin has damaged himself through a series of catastrophic misjudgments.”
He added: “Like all authoritarians, he allowed himself to be misled as to his own strength, including the effectiveness of the Russian armed forces.
“And lastly, he has failed to anticipate the unity and cohesion that exists among the free nations of the world, here in Europe and obviously far beyond.
“His actions to date have done more to galvanise than divide and have shown Ukraine to have the one thing Russia conspicuously lacks – real friends.
“What is very clear is that Putin is a weaker and more diminished figure today than he was a month ago, and conversely Nato is stronger and more united today than at any time I can remember.”
His comments echo those of Sir Jeremy Fleming, head of the GCHQ spy agency, who said Putin had made a “strategic miscalculation” as he claimed demoralised Russian troops are in such disarray they are even shooting down their own aircraft.
Meanwhile, western officials backed up both of those assessments with a withering analysis of the situation Putin finds himself in.
“It’s very clear that President Putin has already failed in his main strategic goals,” said one.
“He hasn’t had the quick, clean military victory in Ukraine he was expecting. Russia is isolated and diminished on the world stage.”
The official added: “The Russians have massively misjudged the Ukrainian will to fight and therefore they’re losses of people and equipment are far far greater than they expected.”