UK spy chief: Kyiv can strike back as Putin forces falter

Kremlin losing face in Beijing, says MI6 head

THE head of MI6 yesterday delivered a scathing verdict on Vladimir Putin’s failures in Ukraine, warning that Russia’s campaign is ‘ running out of steam’ and will soon give Kyiv a chance to strike back.

In his first public speech overseas, the UK’s spy chief Richard Moore said Moscow cannot maintain even the current slow tempo of its military operations and its misfiring efforts had seen it lose face to China.

Speaking at a security conference in the United States, he predicted Ukraine will soon be able to counter-attack successfully in its eastern regions.

Russia has almost completed its landgrab of Luhansk and Donetsk, the two regions that make up the Donbas, but at huge cost with at least 15,000 soldiers dead and tens of thousands wounded.

Mr Moore, or ‘C’ as he is known in the intelligence community, said: ‘ The Russians will find it increasingly difficult in the coming weeks to supply manpower and material.

‘They will have to pause in some way. And when they do this will allow the Ukrainians to strike back.

‘Their morale is still high and they’re starting to receive increasing amounts of good weaponry.’

The ‘strategic failure’ of Russia’s invasion has also damaged its relationship with China, Mr Moore suggested.

Moscow’s inability to achieve its aims of deposing Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, capturing the capital Kyiv and destabilising Nato has disappointed Beijing

He said: ‘ The relationship [between Beijing and Moscow] isn’t equal and Ukraine has made it less so. Moscow is very much the junior partner. China is in the driving seat.

‘They are helping the Russians by buying their oil but they’ve been quite conservative about military assistance. President Xi [the Chinese leader] is watching like a hawk.’

MI6 and its US counterpart, the CIA, obtained Russia’s battle plans ahead of February’s invasion. In a rare move, these were made public in a futile bid to persuade Putin to reconsider.

As Mr Moore hinted at the conference in Aspen, Colorado, the plans were acquired by agents operating inside the Kremlin.

They are some of MI6’s most valued sources and are convinced that Putin, 69, is in better health than claimed in internet rumours and conspiracy theories.

The spy chief said: ‘I won’t go too far into what sort of coverage we have around Putin’s circle but there’s no evidence he is suffering from serious ill health.’

CIA director Bill Burns also commented on the health of the Russian leader. To some laughter, he said while it was not ‘a formal intelligence judgment,’ there were ‘ lots of rumours about Putin’s health and as far as we can tell, he’s entirely too healthy’. Mr Burns added, however, that Putin was ‘stewing’ on ‘grievances, grudges and insecurities’.

Assessing the state of the conflict, Mr Moore warned it was important for Ukraine to gain some momentum before winter to strengthen EU resolve.

With gas prices rising and Russia ‘weaponising’ its supply of natural resources, some EU countries may push for Kyiv to accept partition on Moscow’s terms unless they see progress soon.

Mr Moore, a former MI6 field agent, also invited Kremlin officials to defect. ‘I hope the Russians in their intelligence and diplomatic services reflect on what they are witnessing,’ he said. ‘Our door is always open.’