Britain’s most recent defence attaché in Moscow on the failings of Valery Gerasimov
John Foreman sees Russia’s top general as fit only to face a court
ON FEBRUARY 11TH 2022, as Russia piled up men and armour along Ukraine’s border, I listened as General Valery Gerasimov, the Russian chief of the general staff, lied to Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, his British counterpart. General Gerasimov denied planning to invade Ukraine, saying Russia didn’t need any more land. He claimed that his modernised armed forces had achieved parity with those of America. Earlier, after rehearsing a litany of false grievances, Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, told his British equivalent that Russia had no intention of going outside its borders. But neither could explain the build-up of troops.
From the March 11th 2023 edition
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