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More than four months after invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted Thursday that the conflict was only just beginning. And he urged Western countries that support Ukraine to “try” to fight Russia on the battlefield.
In televised addresses to parliament leaders, Putin dismissed the idea that Russia was dragging out the invasion for too long, saying it “hasn’t even really started anything yet.” He said peace negotiations were becoming increasingly difficult, and then turned his anger on Western countries, which have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia and offered Ukraine support and resources.
“We hear today that they want us to be defeated on the battlefield,” Putin said, according to state media outlet RIA Novosti. “Well what can I say? Let them try.”
He added: “We have heard many times that the West wants to fight us to the last Ukrainian. This is a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but it seems everything is heading towards it.”
The governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, now almost entirely under Russian control, said on Friday that the city of Severodonetsk was facing a “humanitarian catastrophe.” Critical infrastructure, including the sewage system, was badly damaged by months of fighting and “there is no centralized water, gas or electricity supply,” he said, adding that 80 percent of homes in the city were damaged.
Severodonetsk faces “humanitarian catastrophe”; UN warns of ‘famine’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated on Thursday that he would not consider ceding any territory in a possible peace deal with Russia. Ukraine’s bitter resistance to Russia has emboldened Zelenskyy, who has since repeatedly belittled the idea of allowing Moscow to redraw its border and annex lands it captured during the fighting.
“Ukrainians are not willing to give up their lands as new territories of the Russian Federation,” Zelenskyy told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, shaking his head. “This is our country. We have always said that and we will never give it up.”
Zelenskyi adviser Mykhailo Podolyak recently listed Ukraine’s conditions for peace with Russia, including a ceasefire, the return of kidnapped citizens and the withdrawal of Russian troops across the country.
Despite Putin’s bravery, the Russian military faces significant long-term challenges. International sanctions are hampering Moscow’s ability to replenish its arsenal and forcing Russia to transform itself into a second-hand economy dependent on poor substitutes. Russia is increasingly determined to manufacture its own goods and components – even if that means returning to a policy of import substitution that produced a vast if globally uncompetitive industrial complex before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The Russians face Soviet-style bottlenecks in the face of sanctions
The Kremlin is also scrambling to find experienced fighters, having lost many troops early in the invasion. The Kremlin has so far refused to order a general mobilization of soldiers of draft age, saying such a move could signal the war is not progressing as the Russian media portrays it. Instead, the military has launched a campaign to expand the ranks of active-duty soldiers who have voluntarily signed contracts, cold-calling eligible men and attempting to reactivate reservists.
The Russian army increases recruitment as the number of casualties is weakened by the number of casualties
Although Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that troops fighting in Ukraine’s Donbass would temporarily halt military operations to “replenish their combat capabilities,” a hail of Russian missiles fell on towns and villages across Ukraine, killing several civilians and injuring many Further. according to local guides.
Despite appearances that the invasion is not going as smoothly for Russia as its leaders intended, Putin hinted that the invading forces still have more to unleash on Ukraine.
“Everyone should know that, by and large, we haven’t even started anything seriously,” Putin told parliament leaders. “The course of history is unstoppable, and attempts by the collective West to impose its version of the world order are doomed to fail.”
When he addressed whether peace was possible, he said it wasn’t impossible – but he also warned Western countries.
“We are not opposed to peace negotiations, but those who refuse should know that the further they refuse, the more difficult it becomes to negotiate,” Putin said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed Putin’s views on Friday, saying the Russian president was “operating on the statements heard from Western countries” regarding how the invasion is progressing for Russia.
“Putin simply reminded that … Russia’s potential in this regard is so great that only a small part of it is now engaged in a special military operation,” Peskov said, according to Russian state media. “And so all of these statements by Westerners are literally absurd. They are absurd and simply add grief to the Ukrainian people.”
Reis Thebault, Mary Ilyushina, and Anthony Faiola contributed to this report.