The chief of the UK's surveillance service has said that Russia President Vladimir Putin has "massively misjudged the situation" in Ukraine – and that Putin's advisors are "afraid to tell him the truth."

The remarks from Jeremy Fleming, the director of the UK's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), echo those of a White House spokesperson who yesterday claimed Putin felt "misled by the Russian military" and had been "misinformed by his advisers… because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth."

"Putin has massively misjudged the situation," Fleming said in a speech at the Australian National University in Canberra, asserting that "he overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory."

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Citing new intelligence, Fleming said "We've seen Russian soldiers – short of weapons and morale – refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft."

Fleming also backed up the notion floated yesterday by the U.S. administration that there is discord at senior levels in Russia's leadership.  

"Even though we believe Putin's advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what's going on and the extent of these misjudgements must be crystal clear to the regime," Fleming said.

On Tuesday in Washington DC, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said "We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, which has resulted in persistent tension between Putin and his military leadership.

"We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth," she said.

Bedingfield said the U.S. was releasing this intelligence to show "this has been a strategic error for Russia." GCHQ, which gathers communications from around the world to identify and disrupt threats to Britain, has a close relationship with the U.S. National Security Agency and with the eavesdropping agencies of Australia, Canada and New Zealand in a consortium called Five Eyes.

Russia's defense ministry says its armed forces are professional and carrying out their duty in Ukraine with considerable success. It says the West has spread lies about the operation in an attempt to bring down Russia.

In its latest intelligence briefing, the UK's defense ministry predicted more heavy fighting around Ukraine's capital Kyiv: "Russian forces continue to hold positions to the east and west of Kyiv despite the withdrawal of a limited number of units. Heavy fighting will likely take place in the suburbs of the city in [the] coming days."