'Wants to be a genius' Deluded Putin sleepwalking into failure as scared troops retreat

VLADIMIR Putin "wants to be a genius" and thus trusts the "rosy" picture painted by his war aides, a political scientist has claimed.

Disproportionately large losses among Russia's military and evidently slow advances in the country's invasion of Ukraine call into question whether Putin has considered reassessing his war ambitions. According to Matt Qvortrup, professor of political science at Coventry University, this is unlikely.

Citing Greek philosopher Xenophon, he said a dictator "does not like to listen to bad news because the dictator wants to be a genius". Therefore, he suggested, Putin will never admit the Kremlin cannot achieve what it had aimed for.

He told Express.co.uk: "I think the problem for Putin is what Greek philosopher Xenophon wrote in a book about the difficulties of being a dictator: basically, the dictator does not like to listen to bad news because the dictator wants to be a genius, and therefore, he doesn't get necessarily the right information.

"I think the people who are giving him information are probably giving him a little bit too rosy a picture.

"I think he must be able to realise that that is not exactly what's happening."

On Wednesday, in the latest reflection of Moscow's difficulties in conquering meaningful territory in Ukraine, Russian troops were forced to retreat behind their own borders, Kyiv officials said in an intelligence update, as resistance fighters launched counter-attacks aimed at halting Putin's main advance in the east.

Brigadier General Oleksiy Hromov, of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said: "The enemy switched to defence after an unsuccessful assault around Kharkiv.

"In the Kharkiv direction, the Ukrainian armed forces see some success and are liberating settlements."

In their report, Ukrainian military officials said Russian troops operating in the region around Kharkiv and Izyum had sustained "significant losses" and were "withdrawn from Ukraine to the Belgorod region", 25 miles into Russia.

As Ukrainian units advanced towards the Russian border, they liberated four towns to the north and northeast of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian General Staff added.

By pushing back Russian men who had occupied the outskirts of Kharkiv since the start of the full-scale war began on February 24, it could be argued a stage of the conflict in which Putin's army is officially under stress has started.

This has led to hopeful speculation the Russian president might scale back on his plans in the face of the Ukrainian resistance.

But as per Prof Qvortrup, an expert in constitutions, democracy and comparative politics, "an element of the bunker mentality" comes into play.

"In addition to that," he said, "Putin thinks that this (the invasion) is his only duty."

On May 9, when Moscow celebrated Victory Day in memory of the then-Soviet Union's triumph over Germany in World War Two, this became clear.