President of Russia Vladimir Putinsaid that ” Ukraine launched a major offensive against the Russian army, but the Ukrainian troops failed to achieve their goals, despite at least three days of fierce fighting.

“We can state with certainty that this attack has begun. This is confirmed by using strategic reserves of the Ukrainian armyPutin told Russian reporters in Sochi.

“Ukrainian troops have not achieved their goals in any direction,” he added.

Putin said the fighting had been very intense over the past three days, but “the enemy had not been successful in any of them.”

The Russian president did not provide any evidence to support his allegations, the Air Force notes.

The Russian elite is “tired” of Putin’s war

The Russian elite does not hide the fact that it is “tired” of President Putin’s war in Ukraine. Even the most optimistic have doubts. In particular, it is said that those who supported the invasion were disappointed because the war was supposed to end in a few days, but now it is the 16th month.

“While no one wants to talk to the Russian president about an invasion, it appears that absolute faith in his leadership has been shaken,” sources told Bloomberg. However, Putin is determined not only to continue the invasion, but also to go to the end.

“Dead end: they are afraid of becoming scapegoats,” said Mr. Kirill Rogov, a former Russian government adviser who fled the country after the invasion of Ukraine and now heads Re:Russia, a Vienna-based think tank. “It’s amazing that they are widely discussing the possibility that Putin won’t win this war.”

At the same time, the founder of mercenarism, Wagner, Evgeny Prigozhinattacks on the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defense continue.

think tank, Institute for the Study of Warbased in Washington, tweeted: “If the Kremlin does not respond to the escalation of Prigozhin’s attacks, it could further undermine (Kremlin) rule, according to which some actors can compete for dominance and influence, but no one can directly criticize Putin.”

“This cannot be allowed in the Putin system,” said the Cold War historian and professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Sergey Radchenko, in a recent Twitter post. “Putin’s system allows pawns and officers to attack each other, but never undermines the king.”

“Too many and big mistakes have been made,” he said for his part. Sergey Markov, which maintains close ties with the Kremlin. “There were expectations that Russia would take control of most of Ukraine, but they did not materialize.” Putin and his senior officials are insisting that Russia will win, although it is no longer clear what victory means, since the military failed to capture Kyiv early in the war.

So far, polls show that a majority of Russian citizens support Putin, who insists he is protecting his country’s interests and claiming historical territory by annexing parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.

With no end in sight to the war and sanctions remaining, Russian billionaires know they depend on the Kremlin as Putin seeks more and more support for his war effort.

They and their families have been hit by asset freezes and travel bans under U.S. and European sanctions that have upended decades of integration into global markets.

“They have adapted to the situation, but no one sees the light at the end of the tunnel – they are pessimistic about the future,” he said. Alexandra Prokopenko, a former journalist and central bank adviser, and now a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin. “The best they can hope for is that Russia will lose without humiliation.”

Reuters, Bloomberg