Putin went to great lengths to hide his intentions regarding Ukraine even from most of his inner circle. Only a handful of people in the Russian system knew of the invasion plans until a couple of weeks before it began.
As "Hvylya" reports, citing The Guardian's investigation, even a week before the invasion most of the Russian elite still had no idea what was coming. "I got a call from someone high up in the Kremlin saying that there were a lot of military guys around Putin, the atmosphere was tense, and something was going on, but they didn't know what," said one political insider.
The scale of isolation became apparent on 21 February at the security council meeting. Putin assembled his courtiers in a marble Kremlin hall and ordered them, one by one, to a podium to offer their support. Many appeared dumbstruck. Intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin looked terrified and fluffed his lines, prompting Putin to chuckle disdainfully.
One Russian insider said "Naryshkin had information about Ukraine which did not match what everyone else was saying. But he is weak and indecisive, and Putin wanted to make sure everyone was seen to be part of this decision."
How confident was Putin in a swift victory? On the morning of the invasion, while his tanks were crossing the border, he spent over two hours hosting Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan for a long-planned visit. Putin came across as "chilled" during the talks. When Khan asked about the war Putin had just unleashed, the answer was casual: "Don't worry about that. It'll be over in a few weeks." Nearly four years later, the war grinds on - and as analysts note, Russia's economy faces long-term decline, while the Kremlin resorts to nuclear blackmail to compensate for its conventional failures.
