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The New York Times newspaper published earlier today (Sunday) a comprehensive investigation about the war in Ukraine and the days leading up to the invasion that changed the face of the region.
According to the investigation, which is based on both Western and Russian intelligence sources, alongside many documents that were leaked online and conversations with soldiers from both sides.
The investigation reflects the fact that the Russian president acts on his own accord, and the power in his hands is very concentrated. In addition, in the investigation it seems that Putin was not aware of the real power of Ukraine.
The investigation states that the Russian president made the decision to invade Ukraine almost without sharing the decision with senior officials in Russia. For example, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, a senior person and very close to the Russian president, knew about the invasion only moments before the actual invasion of Ukraine about ten months ago.
It was also noted that the commanders who carried out the invasion in the area were also fed by messages that there would be no invasion and only instructions were given to approach the border and prepare for shelling.
Only a few hours before the invasion, the commanders in the field were informed that the Russian president would soon order the invasion of Ukrainian territory.
It also appears that senior officials in the Russian army and cabinet raised with Putin the fear of the development of the war, but Putin rejected the claims and said that the war in Ukraine would be like a “walk in the park”.
In the first days of the invasion, the Russian president chose to send a team responsible for dispersing demonstrations, thinking that the force would be enough to occupy large parts of Ukraine, but these encountered a significant backlash and many members of the force found their deaths, which led Putin to increase the professional military forces as time passed.
Inside the bag of one of the dead Russian soldiers was found a document printed from ‘Wikipedia’ in which instructions were given for fighting in the shadow of a lack of food.
It was also noted that the commanders were equipped with very old maps, from the 1980s and 1960s, maps that have changed a lot since then and made it difficult for the Russians to advance – this alongside the fact that Russian intelligence encountered many difficulties.
According to a timetable captured by one of the captives, Russia was supposed to be at the entrance to Kiev within 24 hours of the invasion, something that lasted much longer – when to this day, ten months after the invasion, Russia has not been able to reach the goal it set itself to fulfill within a day.