War fatigue is deepening both among Russia’s elites and in wider society, journalist Farida Rustamova writes, citing sources in Moscow and the results of closed surveys commissioned by Russian officials.
One official source said that “everyone is tired of the war.” In that source’s view, the battlefield situation has reached a dead end: advances are not producing a decisive result, and Russian gains are increasingly offset by Ukrainian drone strikes on rear areas and border regions.
According to the closed surveys, more than 60% of respondents feel tired of the war. A sociologist familiar with the research said the number of people willing to accept a non-victorious outcome is growing. At the same time, the report stresses that this does not amount to rising anti-war sentiment or greater sympathy for Ukrainians.
Rustamova’s sources say a similar demand is visible within the elite. Some interlocutors doubt whether Vladimir Putin himself knows what to do next. One of them said that “no one understands what the military plan is,” and that the broader outlook appears uncertain.
The article says public signals point in the same direction. Military analyst Vasily Kashin and former Kremlin official Aleksei Chadayev nearly simultaneously argued that the fighting should be brought to an end. Rustamova’s sources believe those statements were not accidental and reflect a view that is spreading among officials, business circles, and part of the media elite.
Public polling also shows growing support for negotiations. According to Russian Field data for February, 53% of Russians supported talks with Kyiv, the highest figure recorded in that series. The latest figures from the Levada Center show that 62% of respondents believe it is time to move to peace negotiations.
Rustamova’s interlocutors link the rise in fatigue to economic problems, the failure of talks with Washington, intensifying repression, the lack of visible progress on the front, fears of a new mobilization, and more frequent Ukrainian attacks on Russian regions. At the same time, the journalist notes that this trend alone is unlikely to bring the war to an early end: in her assessment, there are still no signs that either Moscow or Kyiv is ready for a compromise.