When he made the decision to invade Ukraine, Putin did not even take into account the opinion of the first circle of his associates, but he did rely on the opinion of his relative, the Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk. The motivation for the invasion was his desire to go down in history as the new Peter I - the Russian Tsar who turned the Kingdom of Moscow into an empire, according to an extensive investigation by the "Financial Times".
According to the investigation, which was released just before the first year of the war, Putin hid the decision to invade and the preparations from the Russian leadership, except for a few at the top of the defense.
A businessman, who attended the meeting with Putin on February 24 after the sisters-in-law had already entered the territory of Ukraine, told the newspaper about a conversation he had before the meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about how the information about the planned war may have been hidden from the ruling and business elite.
"Labrov replied that Putin has only three advisors: Ivan the Terrible, Peter I and Catherine the Great."
The limited circle of people with whom the president is in contact resulted in his trusting more and more in his assessments of the Ukrainian oligarch, Viktor Medvedchuk, who Putin acted as godfather to his daughter.
Medvedchuk, who was one of the founders of the pro-Russian "Party of the Regions" in Ukraine, convinced Putin that the Ukrainians would welcome the Russian army with open arms.
In the past it was known that a similar position was voiced by the PSB (Russian Shin Bet), whose 5th wing was in charge of the Ukraine project.
During the war, Medvedchuk's men betrayed Ukraine and helped Russia, when they marked important sites for bombing, and helped Russia conquer southern Ukraine, including Kherson.
According to the report, Russian military intelligence was also skeptical of the idea of war with Ukraine.
This is why the chairman of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Petrushev, called at the council's meeting on February 21 to give another chance to diplomacy. "He knew how serious the situation of the army was, and he even told Putin this," a source close to the Kremlin told the British newspaper.
But Putin did not listen to the voices of the opponents, just as he did not listen to them in 2014 when he decided to annex the Crimean Peninsula.
So he did not even convene the Security Council but relied on Defense Minister Hugo and three senior members of the security apparatus.
They tried to dissuade him from the operation in Crimea, but Putin refused.
According to a former Russian official and a former American official, Putin said to the opponents: "This is a historic moment. If you do not agree, you are welcome to leave."
"He really believes what he says about the sanctity of Crimea and his role as Tsar Peter the First. He believes he will be remembered as the new Peter," said a former senior Russian official.
The investigation confirmed once again the claim, which had already been made before, that the person who particularly influenced Putin and instilled in him the sense of historical mission, is the oligarch Yuriy Kovalchuk, one of the closest friends of the Russian president.
The problem is that Putin built a system around him where no one tells him the truth, and if that wasn't enough, after the start of the war the president isolated himself even more.
"The officials should be honest with him, but they don't," people who know Putin personally told the newspaper.
According to the report, most of the senior officials in the presidential headquarters oppose the war, as do most of the government officials responsible for the economic ministries, but they are unable to influence its continuation.
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