Russian generals are reportedly “turning in on themselves” as the war in Ukraine continues to go not to plan in an effort to escape Putin’s wrath.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that Putin’s senior military brass were scrambling to dodge blame for the stuttering invasion.
He said they were blaming one another for the “disaster” of the war so far, and lived in terror of being purged if the “quagmire” turned into a retreat for the Kremlin’s forces, the Times reports.
Wallace said that military chiefs in the general staff were already scapegoats for Putin’s botched invasion.
He added: "Those in the military system were “always terrified they are about to be purged and pushed out."
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Wallace made the comments whilst in Finland to observe a military exercise with British troops and tanks.
He also said that the generals were getting closer and closer to the frontline in an effort to try and “sort out this quagmire that they’re in”.
He said: “They do it by shouting and screaming at people but it tends not to get the best result.”
Most recently, reports said that General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian general staff, had recently headed to the frontline in a highly unusual move.
According to a Russian news outlet, the 66-year-old general was injured by shrapnel during fighting in Izyum, eastern Ukraine and had to be evacuated.
But, a senior defence source dismissed these claims to The Times and said it was a member of his entourage rather than him himself.
When Ben Wallace was asked if Gerasimov was being sent out as a “fall guy” the cabinet minister warned: “They’re all in fall guy territory. Be careful if you’re out in sole command of something in the Russian system, because it may not be for long.
“There is a point of tension in the system. As much as they respect the former KGB man [Putin] for being a strong leader, the Russian general staff are going to be made scapegoats for his mess.
“He [Putin] would be foolish, potentially, to blame Gerasimov and the other generals for what is predominantly a politically, emotive-driven invasion defying all logic. It’s a political decision he took, not a military one, and he needs to wear that decision.”
Wallace added that Putin had no one close to him who has told him to abandon their plans to seize Ukraine.
He added that the war could “very quickly turn from a quagmire to a rout” if the Russian forces collapsed like they in the north of Ukraine around Kyiv.
However, with Russia ’s ‘Victory Day’ only days away on May 9, the defence secretary previously warned that Putin might use it as an opportunity to cal up more troops or declare all-out-war.
