Former MI6 chief says Russian invasion of Ukraine is not sustainable

7.30

/ By Michael Vincent

Posted 1h ago1 hours ago

Questions have been repeatedly raised about Mr Putin's motives.(AP: Andrei Gorshkov)

Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article

A former head of British spy agency MI6 says Russia cannot maintain its invasion of Ukraine.

Key points:

• Sir Richard Dearlove says Russia cannot sustain a war with Ukraine that could last weeks or months
• He says the invasion is a wake-up call for the West
• Former Ukrainian deputy defence minister Alina Frolova says Russia's attempt to destroy morale in Ukraine has backfired

Sir Richard Dearlove told 7.30 "there's no way that Russia, over time, can sustain a war in a country which is the size of France and part of Germany put together, with a population the size of Spain".

"Even if militarily [Mr] Putin manages to bombard the cities into submission, that the Russians then take control, he's going to be facing an insurgency, which probably would be resupplied from the west.

"Even an army of — people have estimated 600,000 — couldn't hold the country down. So it's just hard to see where this goes except into an absolute area of destruction and a downward spiral, both for Ukraine and ultimately for Russia too."

Sir Richard Dearlove was head of MI6 from 1999 to 2004.(ABC News)

Today Reuters reported Mr Putin had said on television that Russia will not use any conscript soldiers in Ukraine "and there will be no additional call-up of reservists".

Sir Richard said the war "could last weeks, if not months, and it will be difficult to see how [Mr] Putin can sustain that".

"We've seen with the capture of the first city [Kherson]... The Russians are in control of it but that's about all," he said.

"There isn't any submission, and it could just go from bad to worse."

He said he could not see the situation "doing anything but deteriorating really seriously into an even bigger crisis than it is at the moment".

"A lot of rubble, a lot of civilian casualties. It's catastrophic."

Sir Richard was head of MI6 from 1999 to 2004, having begun his service as a spy there in 1966.

LIVE UPDATES: Read our blog for the latest news on the Russian invasion of Ukraine