Putin 'failing on all of his military strategic objectives' in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin is “failing on all of his military strategic objectives” in Ukraine and his problems are mounting, the Chief of the Defence Staff has said.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said the invasion was a “strategic error” by the Russian president.

However, he stressed the conflict is likely to “grind on for a long time”.

He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “At the very outset, we said that this was a strategic error by President Putin and strategic errors lead to strategic consequences.

Vladimir Putin

“And in this instance, it’s strategic failure. Putin is failing on all of his military strategic objectives. He wanted to subjugate Ukraine, that’s not going to happen.

“He wanted to take control of the capital, we saw that that was defeated earlier on.

"We saw that he wanted to weaken Nato. Nato is now much stronger, and we have Finland and Sweden joining.

“He wanted to break the international resolve. Well, actually that strengthened over this period, and he’s under pressure, his problems are mounting.

“He’s always had a problem in terms of crewing the equipment that he’s got. He hasn’t got sufficient manpower. His forces are thin on the ground.

"And we’re also seeing a magnificent Ukrainian armed forces who have been courageous, they’re fighting for their country, and they’ve embraced the international support that all of us are providing, and that’s now having an effect on the ground.”

Despite this, Admiral Sir Tony urged caution.

He said: “I think it’s significant in terms of what’s happening on the ground. It’s really significant for Ukrainian morale. It’s significant for the impact it has on Russian forces.

“But people need to be cautious. The likely result with all of this is that it’s going to grind on for a long time.

“There’s a wishfulness when people jump to conclusions that either President Putin is weak and his power base might be undermined, or that Ukraine has gained some ground and there’s been a magnificent action in the northeast.

“But it doesn’t automatically lead on to easy victories elsewhere.”

Asked if the losses made it more likely Putin could turn to using nuclear weapons, he said: "We monitor it very carefully. We don’t see anything at this stage that alarms us.”