Russia on Monday dismissed as delusional the notion that Ukraine could win the ongoing war, even as its military claimed to have captured three additional villages along the vast front line.
Despite Moscow’s attempts to leverage its advantage in manpower and weaponry, territorial gains have remained slow and come at heavy costs.
Nearly four years after launching its full-scale invasion, both sides remain deeply entrenched.
“The Europeans believe that Ukraine can win the war and secure its interests through military means. This is the deepest delusion indulged in by the Kyiv regime. The situation on the front indicates the opposite,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a briefing call.
The Russian Defence Ministry announced that its forces had taken control of the villages of Slodkie and Nove in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, as well as Gnativka in the Donetsk region.
Peskov reiterated that the war would end only ‘when Russia achieves the objectives it set at the beginning.’
Moscow continues to justify its invasion by claiming it seeks to protect Russian-speaking populations in eastern Ukraine, prevent NATO’s eastward expansion, and remove “neo-Nazis” from power in Kyiv, assertions that Ukraine and Western nations have repeatedly dismissed as unfounded.
Western governments maintain that Russia’s actions amount to an unprovoked invasion and an attempt to seize Ukrainian territory in a modern-day land grab.
Efforts by US President Donald Trump to broker a peace deal have so far failed to gain traction, as Moscow remains unwilling to accept ceasefire terms that would require it to scale back its demands.
Russian officials insist they will not consider halting their offensive unless Ukraine withdraws entirely from the eastern Donbas region and abandons its ties with Western military allies, conditions Kyiv has flatly rejected, saying they would amount to surrender and leave the country vulnerable to future aggression.
Peskov emphasised that Russia currently holds the initiative on the battlefield and has no intention of halting its campaign.
