Overview
- In an interview broadcast on Russia’s RBC, Wladimir Tschirkin said the military was not prepared for the invasion and learned a “hard lesson.”
- He stated that leaders were briefed with false assessments, including the claim that 70% of Ukrainians would support Russia.
- Tschirkin said planners expected to seize Kyiv in three days, a belief he linked to a misguided “Tbilisi syndrome” drawn from the 2008 Georgia war.
- He asserted that the army knows the numbers of dead, wounded and disabled but suggested those losses have not been fully disclosed.
- Ukrainian commentators called the remarks exceptional, with some saying they amount to an admission the “special operation” failed.