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A Russian commander whose battalion was recently pushed out of Urozhaine in the Donetsk region has called on Moscow to freeze the war along the current front lines, acknowledging that his troops can't win.
Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of the Russian-backed "Vostok" battalion, made the comments in a post on his Telegram channel on Thursday, days after he said that his forces had suffered losses in their defense of Urozhaine.
"Can we win Ukraine militarily? Now and in the near future, no," Khodakovsky said.
"When I talk to myself about our destiny in this war, I mean that we will not crawl forward, like the [Ukrainians], turning everything into [destroyed] Bakhmuts in our path. And, I do not foresee the easy occupation of cities," he added, referring to the industrial city of Bakhmut, which has been one of the fiercest fighting spots of the war.
Khodakovsky said he doesn't foresee an "easy occupation" of Ukrainian cities, and eventually, Russia and Ukraine will likely enter a phase "of neither peace nor war" and reach a "truce."
The commander said this phase of neither war nor peace would be favorable to Russia, if Russia "accepted the current territories (it controls) instead of continuing the special operation." The Kremlin uses the term "special military operation" to describe the ongoing war.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine on Thursday, said Khodakovsky reintroduced a narrative that had been largely dormant since Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin's armed rebellion against the Kremlin on June 24.
Khodakovsky's remarks that Russia will not be able to topple Ukraine militarily in the near term and that Russian forces are unlikely to easily occupy additional Ukrainian cities echoes comments Prigozhin had made in an essay in April 2023, the ISW said.
"Prigozhin's April 14 essay suggested that Russia freeze the war in Ukraine to set conditions for a future victory without negotiations," the think tank said, noting that Russian sources have periodically claimed that a Kremlin faction is interested in freezing the war along the current frontlines.
"ISW continues to assess that a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine and protraction of the war will only benefit Russia by allowing Russian forces to reconstitute and letting Russia wear down Western support for Ukraine," it concluded.
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more