Putin knows 'mistake' as he 'burns through' Russian army in Ukraine invasion

The Kremlin's war in Ukraine is approaching its sixth month, with slow gains in the eastern Donbas region and continuing condemnation around the globe. James , who served as NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe between 2009 and 2013, told New York-based : "I think in the dark, quiet hours at two o'clock in the morning when he wakes up, he he's made a mistake.

Publicly, he'll never admit that. Never.

"He'll continue to maintain this fiction that Ukraine is run by 'neo-Nazis.'

"Ridiculous, obviously."

Moscow has repeatedly made the false claim that Ukraine was harbouring scores of neo-Nazis as a justification for the invasion.

Mr added: "I think he knows it in his heart, he'll never admit it publicly."

He then said Putin is "burning through capability" and wearing out Russia's military with the invasion effort.

He said: "I'd say, six months from now, he's going to be in very dire straits."

Over the weekend, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said they had successfully destroyed eight tanks and a further 11 armoured vehicles belonging to Russian forces.

The post, on social media, said that 150 Russian soldiers had been killed on Saturday, putting the estimates of total Russian casualties at 43,550.

However, the Pentagon put this number even higher in a US estimate earlier this month.

Senior defence official, Colin , put the figure as somewhere between 70,000 and 80,000.

Mr called the losses "pretty remarkable considering that the Russians have achieved none of Vladimir Putin's objectives at the beginning of the war