Putin is weakening: the dictator called Zelensky “Mister” after the report on the failure of the “special military operation.”

The closest political circle of Volodymyr Putin is increasingly pressuring the Russian dictator to end the war against Ukraine. There is a growing understanding in the Kremlin that further hostilities will only bring a “Pyrrhic victory.”

Against the backdrop of huge losses and front-line stagnation, Russian political elites have launched a covert campaign to force Kremlin dictator Volodymyr Putin to end the war. Pragmatists from the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation are trying to gently push him towards freezing the conflict, realizing the futility of further destruction of their own economy for the sake of capturing Ukrainian cities turned into ruins.

This is reported by the British publication iNews, citing its own sources and leaks of internal Kremlin documents.

“Pyrrhic Victory” and a Secret Report for the Kremlin

The publication notes that the war in Ukraine has practically reached a dead end: Russian troops are advancing extremely slowly towards strongholds like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, while economic and political losses within the Russian Federation are rapidly increasing. According to the publication’s sources, for the political technocrats of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, the war has already reached a stage where losses significantly outweigh any possible gains.

“Spending another year and hundreds of thousands of people to take a few cities that will turn into ruins by then seems absolutely meaningless to them,” the publication quotes a prominent Russian political journalist.

Since it is not customary to tell Putin directly about his mistakes, his subordinates have chosen a tactic of gentle “nudging.” A vivid example of this was the leak of an analytical report from February, prepared specifically for the Kremlin. The document harshly assesses the risks of continuing the so-called “special military operation”: the authors warn that it is necessary to “know when to stop,” and further hostilities will become a “Pyrrhic victory” and require a revision of fundamental positions.

Falling Ratings and the Illusion of Triumph Over the West

Analysts in the report offer the dictator a way out: simply freeze the front line (even without full occupation of Donbas) and present it to Russians as a grand triumph. They suggest that such an agreement would show that Putin has “bent the West” and thwarted its plans to escalate the conflict.

In parallel, sociological data was deliberately released into the public space, showing a drop in Putin’s approval rating to 65.6% – the lowest figure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Experts emphasize that such figures would never have appeared without the direct consent of the Presidential Administration. An additional signal was the instructions from the ruling party “United Russia” to its agitators on how to respond to uncomfortable questions from dissatisfied citizens on the eve of the parliamentary elections.

At the same time, there is no unity in the Kremlin. Pragmatists are divided into those who demand to fix losses now and those (like Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov) who want to push through the remnants of Donbas. On the other hand, Putin is pressured by security forces, nationalists, and radicals who demand escalation and even the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

Postponement of Decisions and the Unexpected “Mr. Zelensky”

British analysts describe Putin as a person who maximally postpones difficult decisions. Currently, he is observing whether the invaders’ spring offensive will yield results. If not, the dictator may delay until autumn to try to plunge Ukraine into blackouts again, hoping to break the morale of Ukrainians, although this tactic has already proven ineffective in previous years.

Despite this, for the first time from within the Russian political machine, there are real hints of a pragmatic end to the war. The publication has also noticed a significant change in the dictator’s own rhetoric.

While for years Putin refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Ukrainian authorities, calling the leadership of Ukraine “neo-Nazis,” “puppets of the West,” and “drug addicts,” recently he suddenly publicly referred to the President of Ukraine as “Mr. Zelensky.” In the opinion of analysts, this is a small but very telling step that may indicate a slow preparation of the ground for future negotiations.

Recall that Putin “got caught” in an outburst due to huge losses on the front line for the first time in years. The ISW explained that the dictator is trying to hide front-line failures with statements about “Sarmat.”

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