Is Russia doing as badly in the war as we are being led to believe?

How are the Russians doing in Ukraine? If you were entirely dependent on British, American and Nato officials, as mediated by most of the media, you might think you have a reasonably clear picture. And that picture suggests the Russian forces have been doing pretty badly. Already, this war represents a huge miscalculation by President Putin.

An operation Russian commanders had expected to take a couple of days is now entering its third week. The Ukrainians who were supposed to be strewing flowers in the Russians’ path have been throwing Molotov cocktails instead, and the promised capitulation of Kyiv is nowhere in sight. Instead, Ukraine’s latter-day Churchill of a president is broadcasting daily to the parliaments of the western world.

And it only gets worse for the Russians in our telling. They have lost thousands of troops and at least two, maybe three high-ranking officers. They have a 40km column that has been stuck on the approach to Kyiv because of problems with supply lines. Their troops are running out of rations and morale is low. Every now and again, a generous Ukrainian takes pity on a hapless young recruit who dissolves in tears when offered a bowl of hot soup and a chance to phone his mum.