- Russian President Vladimir Putin's advisors are "on edge" as the Ukraine war has devolved into a debacle for Russian forces, an expert told The New York Times.
- Andrei Soldatov said Russia's military failures in the war have revealed cracks within Russian leadership.
- "It looks like everybody is on edge," said Soldatov, an expert on Russia's military and security services.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's advisors are "on edge" as Russia's war with Ukraine has devolved into a debacle — with Russian troops met by stronger Ukrainian resistance than anticipated, an expert told The New York Times.
"It looks like everybody is on edge," Andrei Soldatov, an author and expert on Russia's military and security services, told the news outlet in a report published on Tuesday.
Soldatov explained how Russia's military failures in its month-long war with Ukraine have begun to reveal cracks within Russian leadership.
When Putin launched his attack on Ukraine on February 24, he expected a swift victory with the capital of Kyiv to quickly fall to Russian forces, Western defense officials have said.
It's now a month into the war and Ukraine's resistance has largely stalled the Russian military's advances. Putin's forces have since intensified their assault on multiple Ukrainian cities, including bombing and shelling residential buildings and hospitals.
"We can definitively say that nothing is going to plan," Pavel Luzin, a Russian military analyst, told The Times. "It has been decades since the Soviet and Russian armies have seen such great losses in such a short period of time."
Putin has reportedly begun purging his inner circle as the Ukrainian invasion drags on.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian media reported that Roman Gavrilov, the head of the Russian national guard, had been fired by Putin.
A Russian newspaper, Kommersant, reported that Gavrilov had resigned.
A week prior, Soldatov said the ousted officials include the top Russian intelligence official tasked with managing the recruitment of spies and diversionary operations in Ukraine, and his deputy, who have both been placed under house arrest.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who spends summer vacations with Putin and has been eyed as the Russian leader's potential successor, has even been on the outs, the Times reported, citing Soldatov's sources.
The Times said that it could not independently verify Soldatov's claims, but noted that Shoigu has not been seen meeting with Putin in person since Feb. 27 — three days after Russia invaded Ukraine.
According to the Times, some in Putin's orbit have voiced dissent over the war, including a former FSB official who said Russia had "underestimated" Ukraine and a group of Russian military officers who warned that invading Ukraine would be 'pointless and extremely dangerous' and threaten the future of Russia itself.
Ukraine's military claimed earlier this week that it has killed 15,000 Russian troops and several top generals since February 24.