Ice Age in Moscow? According to information from the British secret services, leading Russian military and intelligence officers are far from unanimous about the strategy to be followed in the attack on Ukraine. In particular, the blunt statements of a former secret service officer caused a stir.

According to British intelligence services, disagreements about the nature of the Russian warfare in Ukraine extend to the top level of the military. Recent comments by ex-Russian intelligence officer and former separatist leader Igor Girkin are a sign of the tense debate, according to the UK Defense Ministry’s daily briefing.

Girkin, who is held responsible, among other things, for the downing of a passenger plane over the Donbass, says he voluntarily spent two months in a battalion at the front in Ukraine, the British said. After that, he acknowledged a “crisis in strategic planning” in Moscow. He also mocked the Kremlin’s current focus on building defenses and questioned their usefulness.

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine at the end of February, the British Ministry of Defense has published daily information on the course of the war, citing intelligence information. In doing so, the British government wants to both counter the Russian portrayal and keep allies in line. Moscow accuses London of a disinformation campaign.