Vladimir Putin mentioned a potential settlement to end his war in Ukraine on Friday while still claiming that his “special military operation” was going to plan.
“The settlement process as a whole, yes, it will probably be difficult and will take some time. But one way or another, all participants in this process will have to agree with the realities that are taking shape on the ground,” the Russia president said during remarks at a press-conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
The remarks came just days after Putin appeared to be girding Russians for a protracted war in Ukraine, saying that his military operation could be a “long-term process”. Initially, Russian commanders expected the war would last just a matter of weeks before a Russian victory, according to plans captured at the beginning of the war. It is now in its 10th month and Russia has been forced to retreat for several months.
Despite all evidence to the contrary, Putin claimed that his military operation was going to plan. “Everything is stable. There are no questions or problems there,” he said, adding that information was being given to the public transparently.
Those remarks came a day after Putin appeared to revel in recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
Drinking what appeared to be sparkling wine, Putin vowed to keep battering Ukraine’s energy grid despite an outcry against the systematic attacks that have plunged millions into cold and darkness as winter sets in.
Speaking after an awards ceremony for “Heroes of Russia” at the Kremlin on Thursday, the president addressed a group of soldiers. Acknowledging the targeted attacks by Russia, Putin blamed Ukraine for initiating a trend of attacking civilian infrastructure, pointing to a blast on a key bridge between the Russian mainland and the annexed Crimean peninsula.
“Yes, we do that,” Putin said, of the strikes on the Ukraine grid. “But who started it? There’s a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighbouring country. This will not interfere with our combat missions.”
The video, taken by the Russian state-owned TV channel Zvezda, shows Putin holding a glass while speaking about the fates of tens of millions of Ukrainians.
Ukraine has previously rejected Moscow’s claims that the strikes on its energy facilities were a retaliation for the Kerch bridge attack.
Ukraine’s defence intelligence agency has claimed Russian military units had received instructions from the Kremlin to prepare massive missile strikes a week before the Crimean Bridge attack.
Throughout the war, journalists, independent organisations and Ukrainian officials have also documented Russian attacks on civilian buildings and infrastructure.
Putin went on to accuse Kyiv of blowing up power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant and for not supplying water to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
“Not supplying water to a city of more than a million people is an act of genocide,” Putin said, blaming the west for “complete silence” on these claims and of bias against Russia.
The Ukrainian prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, said last month that Russia’s attacks on the Ukrainian energy grid were an act of genocide.
In April, Unicef found that at least 35 water engineers had been killed or injured in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts since 2014, when clashes broke out between Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine. Some villages have been without water since then.
Putin’s shelling of critical infrastructure across Ukraine has left millions without water, heating, gas and light as winter sets in. Russian forces shelled the entire frontline in the Donetsk oblast in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said.
“The Russians have intensified their efforts in Donetsk and Luhansk,” the Ukrainian presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, said in a video post on Thursday. “They are now in a very active phase of attempting to conduct offensive operations. We are advancing nowhere but, rather, defending, destroying the enemy’s infantry and equipment wherever it tries to advance.”
The Ukrainian energy operator Ukrenergo said on Thursday that it was still reeling from the latest bout of strikes this week and was at a “significant deficit”.
On Friday, Putin said after the exchange of the convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout for the US basketball player Brittney Griner that more exchanges might be possible.
“Are any other exchanges possible? Everything is possible,” he said. The former marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in Russia and sentenced to 16 years for espionage, was not included in this week’s trade.
He said that the trade was organised by the Russian FSB security agency and that US and Russian spy agencies only discussed the prisoner swap.
“It wasn’t our goal to move from these talks to any others. But of course, they create a certain atmosphere, it’s true,” he said.
Putin also discussed the potential for a nuclear war in his remarks on Friday, saying that Russian nuclear doctrine doesn’t allow for a preventive strike and that in the case of all-out war, strikes against Russia would be “inevitable.”
“However, nothing will remain of the enemy,” he added.
