Vladimir Putin Asserts Russia Will Not Back Down from Ukraine

If Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Putin had an official slogan, what would best describe it? “Russia is what it is, and we are not ashamed to show it,” stated Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a recent interview.

However, as we approach 2026, a new version reflecting the current situation has emerged from veteran folk singer Nadezhda Babkina. After receiving an award from President Putin at the Kremlin, Babkina addressed the audience, stating: “Russia will never surrender thanks to our extraordinary multi-ethnic genetic code… which unites us all.” She added that anyone who dislikes this can “go and poison themselves.”

This harsh expression reflects the current Russian political reality: no regrets, no repentance, and no compromise. Since ordering the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin has shown no intention of halting the war, which has now entered its fifth year.

While Putin remains steadfast in his demands for Ukraine to cede the entire Donbas region, one thing in the Kremlin is beginning to change: their view of US President Donald Trump. Last year, Russian officials were optimistic that Trump would help broker a peace deal favourable to Moscow by pressuring Kyiv. The term “Anchorage Spirit,” referring to a US-Russia summit in Alaska, was even briefly lauded. However, as a peace agreement has failed to materialise, that optimism is evaporating. “I do not know about the Anchorage Spirit,” Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, recently told Russian state television. “I have never used that phrase.”

What the Kremlin initially planned as a short-term “special military operation” has transformed into a bloody war of attrition. Since February 2022, Russia has paid a heavy price through significant troop losses, economic damage resulting from thousands of international sanctions, and technological regression. The war has even reached Russian soil, with Ukrainian drones regularly penetrating deep into Russian territory to target oil refineries and energy infrastructure, including the Moscow region. Due to these security concerns, the annual Victory Day parade on 9 May was forced to be scaled back.

Rather than easing tensions, Russia has responded to these economic and military challenges with massive aerial escalations against Ukrainian cities. The Kremlin claims these strikes are retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on a student dormitory in Starobilsk that killed 21 people.

Despite strict media control in Russia, ripples of public discussion regarding options to end the war are beginning to appear. Political scientist Vasily Kashin wrote in the journal Russia In Global Affairs that overthrowing the current Ukrainian regime is technically impossible for Russia without a long-term full military occupation. An article in the pro-Kremlin tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets even featured a bold argument from lawyer Dmitry Krasnov, suggesting that throughout Russian history, humiliating defeats and ceasefires have often led to new breakthroughs, reforms, and even new victories, implying that significant geopolitical losses can sometimes be more useful than glorious triumphs.

While such writings suggest Russia could end the war without achieving all its ambitions, the discussion remains highly restricted. When the article was attempted to be accessed online a few days later, it returned a “404 Error: Page not found.” Discussions regarding peace may be opening, but in Russia, they remain subject to very strict boundaries.