A leading Chinese academic has written off Russia’s chances of winning the war in Ukraine, in a devastating blow to Vladimir Putin.

Russia and China have become ever closer in the wake of Putin’s decision to invade his western neighbour Ukraine.

The US has warned that Beijing is helping to prop up and reboot Moscow’s military-industrial complex.

White House officials said Chinese and Russian groups were working to jointly produce drones inside Russia.

They added China had also supplied 90 per cent of chips imported by Russia last year which were being used to make tanks, missiles and aircraft.

Yet a leading Chinese academic has gone on public record to say that Putin has no chance of winning in Ukraine.

Feng Yujun is a top Russia specialist at Peking University and delivered his withering assessment of Putin’s war in Ukraine in an article for the Economist.

The professor cited four main reasons why Russia was on course to defeat in its ill-judged war.

First was the extraordinary level of resistance and national unity shown by Ukrainians in resisting the invasion.

Second was the level of international support for Kyiv. He argued it remained broad despite falling short of the country’s expectations.

Thirdly was the untold damage to Russia‘s military-industrial base as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mr Feng argued that Russia had still not recovered from the post-Soviet deindustrialisation, a major reason for its struggles in the military campaign.

Finally the Chinese academic pointed to the Kremlin’s information vacuum, saying Putin and his national security team lacked access to accurate intelligence.

In conclusion he predicted Russia will be forced to withdraw from all occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea.

Furthermore after the war, Ukraine will have the chance join both the EU and NATO, while Russia will lose its former Soviet republics because they see Putin’s aggression there as a threat to their sovereignty and territorial integrity.