According to an Associated Press report Wednesday, U.S. intelligence officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting bad information from his advisors about how things are going for his troops in Ukraine, and how economic sanctions are hurting the country.

According to the intelligence, Putin’s advisors are afraid to tell him the truth. Who wants a trip to Siberia, or a poke with a poison-tipped umbrella?

If the report is true, it makes one wonder about the intelligence Putin received before the invasion of Ukraine. Did his advisors truly underestimate the ability and resolve of Ukrainian troops to defend their country, or did they simply tell Putin what he wanted to hear? “Da, we’ll be marching through Kyiv within a week. The people will lay down their arms and welcome us.”

If his generals had told him instead that Ukrainian resistance would be strong, that a month into the invasion they would still be far from their objectives, that the economic sanctions being threatened by the West would send Russia’s economy into a spin, Putin might have reassessed his invasion plans. Or, he may have found himself some new generals.

In a way, Putin is similar to a former president of the United States who surrounded himself with “yes men” and tended to force out the ones who dared tell him the truth. But the intelligence reports indicate Putin is aware he’s getting bad advice, and it is causing tension between him and his senior military advisors. At least Putin is smart enough to know that you need good advice to make good decisions.