3.12.2025
For the first time, Russia’s top military officials have acknowledged the failure of preparations for the war with Ukraine. Colonel General Vladimir Chirkin, who previously headed the Russian Ground Forces, openly stated that the Kremlin started the war without preparation, relying on faulty intelligence.
He made this statement on a pro-Kremlin channel. The Russian general unexpectedly revealed the truth that the Kremlin had carefully hidden behind propaganda for years.
He said that the invasion was launched without preparation and in a state of complete self-confidence, based on false intelligence.
Chirkin recalled that before the attack, the Russian authorities entertained themselves with illusions of a quick victory and a repetition of the scenario of the five-day war with Georgia.
According to him, it was this fantasy that led to a catastrophic miscalculation.
“Russia was once again not ready for war. Moreover, there was a traditional underestimation of the enemy and overestimation of its troops. If you remember, on February 24 everyone said that the war would end in three days, “now we will do it.” The “Tbilisi syndrome” was working somewhere… Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. I would give an unsatisfactory assessment to the entire Russian intelligence community. In essence, the country’s leadership was given false information that 70% of the population of Ukraine was for us, 30% against. It turned out to be exactly the opposite: 30% for us, and 70% against! We already know what this led to. Literally in the first weeks we learned a serious, cruel lesson,” said Chirkin.
He called the defeat of Putin’s army near Kyiv and the forced flight from the entire territory of the northern regions of Ukraine such a “cruel lesson.”
The Russian general also exposed the lies of former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who called the occupiers’ retreat a “gesture of goodwill.” Chirkin noted that in this way Shoigu “tried to get out of this situation nicely.”
In addition, the former commander even dared to speak about the huge losses of the Russian army during those events, hinting that they were so terrible that they are still afraid to talk about them.
“Our army knows how many wounded, dead, and maimed we left there. And I think the story hasn’t been fully told,” Chirkin said.
Thus, the former commander of the Russian Land Forces effectively admitted that Moscow launched a full-scale invasion, not understanding either the scale of the Ukrainian resistance or the true state of its armed forces.
These “revelations” of the Russian general became one of the most striking evidences of the failure of Putin’s strategy throughout the war.
It is worth noting that in Russia, public criticism of the so-called “SVO” is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Starting in 2022, the Russian authorities have intensified repression against opponents of the Putin regime.
“Thus, the former commander of the Russian Land Forces effectively admitted that Moscow launched a full-scale invasion, not understanding either the scale of the Ukrainian resistance or the true state of its armed forces.”
Poorly trained drunks as soldiers, corrupt potato generals as commanders, and a bloodthirsty garden dwarf as president. What could possibly go wrong?
If you remember, on February 24 everyone said that the war would end in three days, “now we will do it.”
This will shut up the orcs that keep saying russia never said it would take 3 days.
The three-day war plan can be easily found on the net. 😄