Russian President Putin is making low-level tactical decisions that would normally be decided by an officer in charge of as few as 700 Russian troops, western military sources say.

Reported from foreign media, that, according to a military source, Putin and General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, were dictating basic movements of their forces in Ukraine.

"We think Putin and Gerasimov are involved in tactical decision-making at a level we would normally expect to be taken by a colonel or a brigadier”, the source said.

He added that it was believed Putin’s most senior general was still "up and running” despite claims that he had been suspended after military failures.

A second military source said that in the Russian military, a colonel or brigadier would normally command the equivalent.

Western sources believe Putin's decision to take personal control of on-the-ground troop movements could be contributing to the military failures.

www.anews.az