John Foreman
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- The Economist10 min
How strong is the Russian army?
Former British Defence Attaché John Foreman reveals that high-level pre-invasion meetings with Russian officials Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov were futile attempts to deter a planned attack that President Putin authorized in mid-February 2022. Foreman attributes the Russian invasion's catastrophic failure to severe internal corruption, strategic hubris, and logistical collapse rather than superior Ukrainian resistance, noting that commanders viewed the operation as a simple decapitation strike against "little Russians." He concludes that these losses have permanently crippled Russia's conventional capabilities, forcing a shift toward a nuclear-focused defensive posture while projecting that rising European defense spending will ensure NATO retains a decisive strategic advantage.