Head of the Armed Forces in UK says Vladimir Putin is ‘failing on all of his military strategic objectives’ and his plot to seize control of Ukraine ‘is not going to happen’
- Adm Sir Tony Radakin painted a bleak picture of Russian prospects in Ukraine
- Head of UK forces said: ‘[Putin] is under pressure, his problems are mounting’
- Comes after Ukraine retook around 3,000 square miles of territory in northeast
- But officials have discovered around 450 new graves near liberated city Izyum
- Czech foreign minister has called for a special tribunal in wake of latest crimes
- The Czech Republic currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency
Putin’s war in Ukraine has thus far proven to be a total failure, according to the head of Britain’s armed forces, after thousands of Russian troops were driven out of Kharkiv last week.
Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg this morning, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin painted a bleak picture of Russian prospects in Ukraine and what this means for the Kremlin chief.
‘Putin is failing on all of his military strategic objectives. He wanted to subjugate Ukraine – that’s not going to happen,’ Radakin said.
‘He’s under pressure, his problems are mounting, his forces are thin on the ground… at a strategic level, this is a failure for Putin and Ukraine is fighting to maintain their integrity and to gain more of their country back,’ he added.
The British admiral’s comments come as the EU presidency called for an international tribunal for Russian war crimes to be established after new mass graves were found in Ukraine earlier this week.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the defence staff, appearing on the BBC1 current affairs programme ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’
Pictured: A destroyed Russian MT-LB armoured personnel carrier burning in a field on the outskirts of Izyum
Ukrainian soldiers ride a top of infantry fighting vehicles in Novoselivka, on September 17, 2022, following a major victory amid a series of counteroffensives last week
Forensic technicians dig a grave in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, eastern Ukraine on September 16, 2022
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky has called for a special international tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine. ‘In the 21st century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent,’ he said
‘In the 21st century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent,’ said Jan Lipavsky, foreign minister of the Czech Republic which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency.
‘We must not overlook it. We stand for the punishment of all war criminals… I call for the speedy establishment of a special international tribunal that will prosecute the crime of aggression,’ he announced.
The appeal follows the discovery of around 450 graves outside the recently liberated city of Izyum in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region.
Some of the exhumed bodies showed signs of torture and authorities have uncovered several buildings which appear to have been used as torture chambers by Russian soldiers and FSB agents.
‘More than 10 torture chambers have already been found in various cities and towns liberated in Kharkiv region,’ Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said last night, describing the discovery of electrical implements for torture.
‘That’s what the Nazis did. This is what Ruscists do. And they will be held accountable in the same way – both on the battlefield and in courtrooms,’ he promised.
Head of Kharkiv regional administration Oleg Synegubov said yesterday that ’99 per cent of bodies that were exhumed showed signs of a violent death’.
‘There are several bodies with their hands tied behind their backs, and one person is buried with a rope around his neck,’ Synegubov told readers on the Telegram messaging app.
The Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, said there were ‘probably more than 1,000 Ukrainian citizens tortured and killed in the liberated territories of the Kharkiv region’, though this number has not yet been verified.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the mass graves likely provided more evidence that Russia is committing war crimes Ukraine, while French President Emmanuel Macron described what had happened in Izyum as ‘atrocities’.
Ukrainian officials have uncovered 450 new graves at just one burial site near Izyum after recapturing the eastern city from the Russians last weekend
Zelensky paid a surprise visit to Izyum in Kharkiv region after the city was recaptured and witnessed the devastation left behind by the retreating Russian forces
Flimsy wooden crosses are seen at a burial site in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, on September 17, 2022
This photograph taken on September 14, 2022 shows a destroyed Russian tank and armoured personnel carriers on the outskirts of Izyum, Kharkiv Region, eastern Ukraine
Meanwhile, the British MoD claimed in its latest intelligence updated that Russia has increased its rocket attacks on civilian infrastructure this past week, likely in an attempt to undermine the morale of Ukrainian citizens and local governments even as Putin’s forces retreat from Kharkiv.
‘Russia has launched several thousand long-range missiles against Ukraine since 24 February 2022. However, in the last seven days, Russia has increased its targeting of civilian infrastructure even where it probably perceives no immediate military effect,’ the update read.
‘As it faces setbacks on the front lines, Russia has likely extended the locations it is prepared to strike in an attempt to directly undermine the morale of the Ukrainian people and government.’
President Putin however denied that his forces had been routed in eastern Ukraine and yesterday claimed his troops were continuing to take territory in the Donbas while speaking at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan.
Vladimir Putin, speaking after a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan, said his Donbas offensive is still ‘moving forwards’ after recent humiliating defeats in the Kharkiv region
The MoD claimed in its latest intelligence updated that Russia has increased its rocket attacks on civilian infrastructure this past week in an attempt to undermine the morale of Ukrainian citizens
‘Our offensive operation in the Donbas is not stopping. They’re moving forward – not at a very fast pace – but they are gradually taking more and more territory,’ Putin said, in what were his first comments since his army collapsed and fled from the Kharkiv region of Ukraine last weekend.
On Friday, a smiling Putin warned of a ‘more serious’ response if the Ukrainian counterattacks continue to gain ground.
‘The Kyiv authorities have announced that they have started an active counter-offensive operation. We’ll see how it goes and how it ends,’ he said with a smirk in the Uzbek capital of Samarkand.
In light of the threat, US President Biden warned Putin to avoid using nuclear weapons as his forces are beaten back in Ukraine or face ‘consequences.’
In a preview for this Sunday’s 60 Minutes, interviewer Scott Pelley asked the president what words he would have for his Russian counterpart if he is considering using chemical or tactical nuclear weapons in the Ukraine.
Biden responded: ‘Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. You will change the face of war unlike anything since World War II.’
When Pelley pushed the president for America’s response should Putin cross the line, Biden declined to comment on a specific plan, only saying that the US would act if nuclear weapons are put into play.
‘It’ll be consequential,’ Biden said. ‘[Russia] will become more of a pariah in the world than they ever have been.’
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