Russia State TV Host Spars With Pundit Who Questioned Putin's Goals for War

Amid Russia's continued stumbles in Ukraine, analysts appearing in the nation's state-run media have begun to question to goals and intentions of the conflict.

Russia suffered one of its biggest setbacks yet in the prolonged and beleaguered invasion of Ukraine when Ukrainian forces liberated the key city of Kherson. As of Friday, Ukraine's soldiers entered the city for the first time since it was occupied by Russian forces in March. Russia continues to maintain its control over the Kherson region, however, having declared the annexation of it and four other regions in September, none of which are internationally recognized.

On Monday, BBC News's Francis Scarr, who specializes in analyzing Russian media, shared a clip from a recent news program in which pundits questioned the country's objectives in the invasion of Ukraine.

"It's taken them a while, but the pundits on Russian state TV are starting to question the objectives of the invasion of Ukraine," Scarr wrote in a tweet alongside the clip. "Dmitry Abzalov [of the Kremlin's Center for Strategic Communications] says that it would [be] nice to know what they actually are 'for a change.'"

In the clip, Abzalov discusses the need for clarity from the country's leadership concerning the invasion, specifically citing the need to know "long-term prospects" for at least the next two months of the conflict. About halfway into the video, the host of the program offers a retort, insisting that the "special operation" in Ukraine "is going to plan" and that "its aims and objectives will be achieved."

"I would like to know what those [goals and objectives] are, for a change," Abzalov responded. "Just once."

To this, the host once again responds, reiterating past Kremlin claims that the invasion's goal was "the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine."

"All of Ukraine?" Abzalov asked in reply. "The whole of it? Including the Western regions too? I'd like some clarity in our position because it's really very important for the public, for Ukraine, for Europe, and for China, as well."

In the early days of the invasion, Russian forces attempted to take control of the entirety of Ukraine. This led to an attack on the capital city of Kyiv that, by April, ultimately ended in failure.

With the country's larger goals falling to pieces, the Russian military eventually began to pull back and focus its attention on the contested breakaway regions of Eastern Ukraine that had been key to the start of the invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin initially claimed that prejudice against ethnic Russians in these regions, collectively known as the Donbas, was what led to the invasion in late February, though evidence of said prejudice was considered shaky at best.

Newsweek reached out to Russian officials for comment.