Russia Knew Intel But Didn T Tell Kremlin Ukraine Would Fight It Wapo

Russian officials had information that the Ukrainians would not welcome the invasion from Russia, but intelligence officials told the Kremlin that they would, the Washington Post reported. Polls conducted for the Russian security agency, the FSB, before the Feb. 24 invasion showed that Ukrainians would oppose an invasion of Russia and that a large percentage of Ukrainians would be willing to fight, The Post reported. However, it is unclear whether the FSB gave the results to the Kremlin, The Post reported. Ukrainian and Western officials told The Post that the FSB instead repeatedly briefed the Kremlin saying Ukrainians would welcome the takeover and a new pro-Russian government. The polls were conducted by Research & Branding, a company The Post said has “close ties” to the FSB. A poll in January, the month before the invasion, asked: “Are you prepared to defend Ukraine in the event of such a need?” Forty-eight percent of respondents said yes, The Post said. The poll was first obtained by Ukrainian intelligence and then obtained by The Post. Many reports say that Russia expected to seize Ukraine quickly, and that a major factor in Russia’s failure to do so was the unexpectedly high level of resistance from the Ukrainians. It is not entirely clear why the FSB did not share what it knew with Russia’s leaders. Officials told The Post that the FSB wanted to please the Kremlin and that the people giving information to the FSB may have had their own political or financial reasons for wanting Russia to topple Ukraine’s government. The UK’s intelligence chief gave a similar assessment in March. Jeremy Fleming, director of GCHQ, said: “We believe that Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what is going on and the extent of these miscalculations must be clear to the regime.” A senior Western military official told The Post that the FSB’s failure to capture and communicate the reality of Ukrainian sentiment fueled the Russian military’s mistakes in trying to seize Ukraine. “There was a lot of wishful thinking in the GRU and the military, but it started with the FSB,” he said. “The sense that there would be flowers strewn in their wake — this was an FSB exercise.” Western intelligence also saw Russia falsely confident it would be welcome in Ukraine, the BBC reported. A Western intelligence officer told the broadcaster: “They honestly believed there would be flags to welcome them.” The Post said its director of Research & Branding did not respond to its questions. Ukraine, which borders Russia, was once part of the Soviet Union and Russia has repeatedly sought to present it as Russian territory, despite the fact that it fought for independence and won independence in 1991. Putin has unfoundedly tried to portray Ukraine as a country that was never fully independent as part of his justification for the invasion, and has claimed Ukraine as Russian territory. He said in February: “Let me emphasize once again that Ukraine for us is not just a neighboring country. It is an integral part of our own history, culture, spiritual space.”

title: “Russia Knew Intel But Didn T Tell Kremlin Ukraine Would Fight It Wapo Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-21” author: “Larry Walls”

Russian officials had information that the Ukrainians would not welcome the invasion from Russia, but intelligence officials told the Kremlin that they would, the Washington Post reported. Polls conducted for the Russian security agency, the FSB, before the Feb. 24 invasion showed that Ukrainians would oppose an invasion of Russia and that a large percentage of Ukrainians would be willing to fight, The Post reported. However, it is unclear whether the FSB gave the results to the Kremlin, The Post reported. Ukrainian and Western officials told The Post that the FSB instead repeatedly briefed the Kremlin saying Ukrainians would welcome the takeover and a new pro-Russian government. The polls were conducted by Research & Branding, a company The Post said has “close ties” to the FSB. A poll in January, the month before the invasion, asked: “Are you prepared to defend Ukraine in the event of such a need?” Forty-eight percent of respondents said yes, The Post said. The poll was first obtained by Ukrainian intelligence and then obtained by The Post. Many reports say that Russia expected to seize Ukraine quickly, and that a major factor in Russia’s failure to do so was the unexpectedly high level of resistance from the Ukrainians. It is not entirely clear why the FSB did not share what it knew with Russia’s leaders. Officials told The Post that the FSB wanted to please the Kremlin and that the people giving information to the FSB may have had their own political or financial reasons for wanting Russia to topple Ukraine’s government. The UK’s intelligence chief gave a similar assessment in March. Jeremy Fleming, director of GCHQ, said: “We believe that Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what is going on and the extent of these miscalculations must be clear to the regime.” A senior Western military official told The Post that the FSB’s failure to capture and communicate the reality of Ukrainian sentiment fueled the Russian military’s mistakes in trying to seize Ukraine. “There was a lot of wishful thinking in the GRU and the military, but it started with the FSB,” he said. “The sense that there would be flowers strewn in their wake — this was an FSB exercise.” Western intelligence also saw Russia falsely confident it would be welcome in Ukraine, the BBC reported. A Western intelligence officer told the broadcaster: “They honestly believed there would be flags to welcome them.” The Post said its director of Research & Branding did not respond to its questions. Ukraine, which borders Russia, was once part of the Soviet Union and Russia has repeatedly sought to present it as Russian territory, despite the fact that it fought for independence and won independence in 1991. Putin has unfoundedly tried to portray Ukraine as a country that was never fully independent as part of his justification for the invasion, and has claimed Ukraine as Russian territory. He said in February: “Let me emphasize once again that Ukraine for us is not just a neighboring country. It is an integral part of our own history, culture, spiritual space.”

title: “Russia Knew Intel But Didn T Tell Kremlin Ukraine Would Fight It Wapo Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-20” author: “Lyle Estes”

Russian officials had information that the Ukrainians would not welcome the invasion from Russia, but intelligence officials told the Kremlin that they would, the Washington Post reported. Polls conducted for the Russian security agency, the FSB, before the Feb. 24 invasion showed that Ukrainians would oppose an invasion of Russia and that a large percentage of Ukrainians would be willing to fight, The Post reported. However, it is unclear whether the FSB gave the results to the Kremlin, The Post reported. Ukrainian and Western officials told The Post that the FSB instead repeatedly briefed the Kremlin saying Ukrainians would welcome the takeover and a new pro-Russian government. The polls were conducted by Research & Branding, a company The Post said has “close ties” to the FSB. A poll in January, the month before the invasion, asked: “Are you prepared to defend Ukraine in the event of such a need?” Forty-eight percent of respondents said yes, The Post said. The poll was first obtained by Ukrainian intelligence and then obtained by The Post. Many reports say that Russia expected to seize Ukraine quickly, and that a major factor in Russia’s failure to do so was the unexpectedly high level of resistance from the Ukrainians. It is not entirely clear why the FSB did not share what it knew with Russia’s leaders. Officials told The Post that the FSB wanted to please the Kremlin and that the people giving information to the FSB may have had their own political or financial reasons for wanting Russia to topple Ukraine’s government. The UK’s intelligence chief gave a similar assessment in March. Jeremy Fleming, director of GCHQ, said: “We believe that Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what is going on and the extent of these miscalculations must be clear to the regime.” A senior Western military official told The Post that the FSB’s failure to capture and communicate the reality of Ukrainian sentiment fueled the Russian military’s mistakes in trying to seize Ukraine. “There was a lot of wishful thinking in the GRU and the military, but it started with the FSB,” he said. “The sense that there would be flowers strewn in their wake — this was an FSB exercise.” Western intelligence also saw Russia falsely confident it would be welcome in Ukraine, the BBC reported. A Western intelligence officer told the broadcaster: “They honestly believed there would be flags to welcome them.” The Post said its director of Research & Branding did not respond to its questions. Ukraine, which borders Russia, was once part of the Soviet Union and Russia has repeatedly sought to present it as Russian territory, despite the fact that it fought for independence and won independence in 1991. Putin has unfoundedly tried to portray Ukraine as a country that was never fully independent as part of his justification for the invasion, and has claimed Ukraine as Russian territory. He said in February: “Let me emphasize once again that Ukraine for us is not just a neighboring country. It is an integral part of our own history, culture, spiritual space.”

title: “Russia Knew Intel But Didn T Tell Kremlin Ukraine Would Fight It Wapo Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-16” author: “Lois Vital”

Russian officials had information that the Ukrainians would not welcome the invasion from Russia, but intelligence officials told the Kremlin that they would, the Washington Post reported. Polls conducted for the Russian security agency, the FSB, before the Feb. 24 invasion showed that Ukrainians would oppose an invasion of Russia and that a large percentage of Ukrainians would be willing to fight, The Post reported. However, it is unclear whether the FSB gave the results to the Kremlin, The Post reported. Ukrainian and Western officials told The Post that the FSB instead repeatedly briefed the Kremlin saying Ukrainians would welcome the takeover and a new pro-Russian government. The polls were conducted by Research & Branding, a company The Post said has “close ties” to the FSB. A poll in January, the month before the invasion, asked: “Are you prepared to defend Ukraine in the event of such a need?” Forty-eight percent of respondents said yes, The Post said. The poll was first obtained by Ukrainian intelligence and then obtained by The Post. Many reports say that Russia expected to seize Ukraine quickly, and that a major factor in Russia’s failure to do so was the unexpectedly high level of resistance from the Ukrainians. It is not entirely clear why the FSB did not share what it knew with Russia’s leaders. Officials told The Post that the FSB wanted to please the Kremlin and that the people giving information to the FSB may have had their own political or financial reasons for wanting Russia to topple Ukraine’s government. The UK’s intelligence chief gave a similar assessment in March. Jeremy Fleming, director of GCHQ, said: “We believe that Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what is going on and the extent of these miscalculations must be clear to the regime.” A senior Western military official told The Post that the FSB’s failure to capture and communicate the reality of Ukrainian sentiment fueled the Russian military’s mistakes in trying to seize Ukraine. “There was a lot of wishful thinking in the GRU and the military, but it started with the FSB,” he said. “The sense that there would be flowers strewn in their wake — this was an FSB exercise.” Western intelligence also saw Russia falsely confident it would be welcome in Ukraine, the BBC reported. A Western intelligence officer told the broadcaster: “They honestly believed there would be flags to welcome them.” The Post said its director of Research & Branding did not respond to its questions. Ukraine, which borders Russia, was once part of the Soviet Union and Russia has repeatedly sought to present it as Russian territory, despite the fact that it fought for independence and won independence in 1991. Putin has unfoundedly tried to portray Ukraine as a country that was never fully independent as part of his justification for the invasion, and has claimed Ukraine as Russian territory. He said in February: “Let me emphasize once again that Ukraine for us is not just a neighboring country. It is an integral part of our own history, culture, spiritual space.”