[The US and UK say Putin is being misinformed by his advisers. (Photo by= Reuters)]

Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misled by advisers who are too scared to tell him how badly the war in Ukraine is going, the White House says. Meanwhile, British intelligence says Russian troops in Ukraine are demoralized, short of equipment, and refusing to carry out orders.

Mr. Putin is also not being told about the full impact of sanctions on the Russian economy, the White House said, BBC reported.
 

The Kremlin said the US had a "total misunderstanding" of the situation. Mr Putin's chief spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists: "They simply don't understand what's happening in the Kremlin, they don't understand President Putin, they don't understand how decisions are taken and they don't understand the style of our work." This was worrying, he added, "because such total misunderstanding leads to wrong decisions which have bad consequences. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby called the assessments "discomforting", because an uninformed Putin could result in a "less than faithful" effort at ending the conflict through peace negotiations.
 
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have begun attempts to retake some areas from Russia, which on Tuesday said it would scale back operations around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv. On the ground, US and Ukrainian officials say Russia is continuing to reposition forces away from Kyiv, probably as part of its effort to refocus on eastern regions.