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The UK's former ambassador to Russia said Russian citizens were shocked that the country's military had been "inept" during the invasion of Ukraine.
Andrew Wood, who was the UK's ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1985 to 1989 and its ambassador to Russia from 1995 to 2000, made the comments to Sky News on Tuesday.
"It has been a shock for the Russians to reveal themselves as being so inept militarily," he said.
He added that Russians would have thought their military would be able to quickly seize Ukraine and that Russia could then rule over it — a scenario that has not played out about 40 days later.
"It is also a complete contrast to what they not only expected but relied on — it wasn't just the speed of their victory, they supposed, but also that it would be possible thereafter for them, in effect, to rule Ukraine," he said.
Wood added that he thought many Russians believed the war-crime accusations against Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite state censorship around the invasion.
"I think a large proportion of the Russian people will suspect that it's true and that all sorts of emotional forces will be making them very, very anxious to deny it," he said. "They had great trust in their armed forces, greater trust in them than the government in general. And this is such a terrible shock for them."
The US, the UK, and other Western countries have shared intelligence assessments that say Russia expected to make quick progress in capturing Ukraine.
Instead, Russia's efforts have stalled amid fierce Ukrainian resistance and apparent problems with logistics, planning, and coordination among Russian forces. Ukraine has also retaken some areas from Russian forces.
Russia has also faced heavy losses of its troops, including a high number of generals.
Andrew Wood, who was the UK's ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1985 to 1989 and its ambassador to Russia from 1995 to 2000, made the comments to Sky News on Tuesday.
"It has been a shock for the Russians to reveal themselves as being so inept militarily," he said.
He added that Russians would have thought their military would be able to quickly seize Ukraine and that Russia could then rule over it — a scenario that has not played out about 40 days later.
"It is also a complete contrast to what they not only expected but relied on — it wasn't just the speed of their victory, they supposed, but also that it would be possible thereafter for them, in effect, to rule Ukraine," he said.
Wood added that he thought many Russians believed the war-crime accusations against Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite state censorship around the invasion.
"I think a large proportion of the Russian people will suspect that it's true and that all sorts of emotional forces will be making them very, very anxious to deny it," he said. "They had great trust in their armed forces, greater trust in them than the government in general. And this is such a terrible shock for them."
The US, the UK, and other Western countries have shared intelligence assessments that say Russia expected to make quick progress in capturing Ukraine.
Instead, Russia's efforts have stalled amid fierce Ukrainian resistance and apparent problems with logistics, planning, and coordination among Russian forces. Ukraine has also retaken some areas from Russian forces.
Russia has also faced heavy losses of its troops, including a high number of generals.
