Putin’s purge: Why Russian spies are being jailed in Moscow
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 7 June 2022
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Russia has been making territorial gains in the east and south of Ukraine in the last few weeks, but this isn’t where Vladimir Putin expected to be at this point in the war. Meanwhile, a brutal blame game is playing out in Moscow - spy chiefs have been sacked and even jailed. What does Putin’s purge mean for Russia?
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Transcript
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| 1:07.0 | As fierce fighting continues in the Donbass, Russia has been making territorial gains in the east and south of Ukraine in the last few weeks. |
| 1:18.0 | But despite these recent successes, this isn't where Russia expected to be, three and a half months after the invasion. |
| 1:26.0 | British military intelligence, please Russia has lost one-third of the ground forces it used to invade Ukraine. |
| 1:32.0 | The assessment is in stark contrast to briefings coming from the Kremlin. |
| 1:36.0 | They're offensives getting smaller and smaller. They're still bringing troops in. They're still pushing. They're still gaining. |
| 1:41.0 | But they're not gaining any sort of outright victories. They're taking bite-sized small chunks. |
| 1:47.0 | In Moscow, amid recriminations and finger pointing, a brutal blame game has led to some personnel changes. |
| 1:57.0 | One update everyone on some of the problems in the Kremlin, Putin put two of his top intelligence officials under a quote, house arrest for providing poor intelligence ahead of the invasion. |
| 2:07.0 | They told Putin what he wanted to hear, not the facts. |
| 2:10.0 | You're listening to stories of our times from the Times and the Sunday Times. I'm Manvin Rana. |
| 2:19.0 | Today, Putin's purge, while Russian spies, are being jailed in Moscow. |
| 2:25.0 | There had been some signs in Russia that things weren't going totally according to plan. |
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