Russia's military needed up to 72 hours to approve a strike — making soldiers hit Ukrainian targets too late: report

Moscow was confident in its ability to complete its mission after it invaded Ukraine in February.

Russian soldiers were unable to attack new targets because of their own military's rigidity, according to a New York Times investigation.

Early on, the Ukrainian air defense system gave the country a critical advantage, allowing them to blunt any perceived advantages that Russia may have brought to the table.

Russia boasted thousands of cruise and ballistic missiles that American and Ukrainian intelligence officials thought would overwhelm the smaller military force.

Senior Ukrainian officials who spoke with the Times said that the country came up with a plan to move some of their defense to different locations before the conflict began.

Rather than attacking the new targets, Russia bombarded the old ones.

Up to 60 percent of Russian cruise missiles missed their intended targets according to US officials.

According to the report, Russia was slow to launch attacks.

The country's "rigid and centralized" military requires 48 to 72 hours to amend its intelligence and can take up to three days to move to different locations.

Russian forces were hurt by this rigidity as their pilots struggled to cripple Ukraine's defense.

Oleksii said the Russian pilots "flew straight without any cover."

The Russian Army might not have read the Soviet books. They had bombs but they didn't cover their aircraft.

Early in the conflict, the Russian military's plans to seize the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv were shredded by the slow decision-making of the military.