- A US official told NBC News that Putin is being fed bad information about Russia's war with Ukraine.
- "We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisors about how badly the Russian military is performing," the official said.
- The official said the advisors are "too afraid to tell him the truth" about the failures of the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely being fed bad information by his top advisors about Russia's more-than-month-long invasion of Ukraine because they are "too afraid to tell him the truth," a US official told NBC News.
"We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisors about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions, because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth," said the official told NBC News, citing declassified intelligence.
"Putin didn't even know his military was using and losing conscripts in Ukraine, showing a clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information to the Russian president," the official added.
Western officials told reporters on Tuesday Russian elites will likely blame each other for Russia's "disastrous progress" in its war with Ukraine.
"It's also likely that within the Russian system various elements are going to be blaming each other for the lack of success" in Ukraine, a Western official speaking on the condition of anonymity said.
The official added, "People are going to be being quite defensive about their own failures, and I think, looking to point the finger at others."
Additionally, that official told reporters the West is "much less certain" that Putin "is getting an honest picture on the ground" in Ukraine.
"That's one of the reasons why Western media, Ukrainian media, is important in continuing to make sure the reality of this conflict, and how it is causing not only death and destruction to the Ukrainians, but a great deal of death to the Russian forces as well," the official said.
Putin launched Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 with Russian troops surrounding and shelling several towns across the eastern European country, including civilian targets.
Yet despite Ukraine's armed forces being greatly outnumbered and outgunned by Russian troops, the Ukrainians have put up a fierce resistance, resulting in a mounting Russian death toll and a largely stalled invasion.