Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged on Feb. 24 that, four years after launching its full-scale invasion, Russia has still not achieved its objectives in Ukraine.
The admission highlights the gap between the Kremlin's early expectations of a swift victory and the prolonged, costly war that has followed, as Ukrainian resistance continues.
Russian officials, propagandists, and some Western intelligence assessments initially predicted that Ukraine could fall within days or weeks, with Kyiv's capture seen as the likely primary objective.
Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan famously said in 2021, "In a war, we'll defeat Ukraine in two days," a claim that has since come to symbolize Moscow's miscalculations.
Four years into the war, Peskov said that the main war objectives remain unmet.
"The main goal is to ensure the safety of people who lived and live in eastern Ukraine," the spokesperson told reporters, acknowledging that "the objectives have not been fully achieved."
Russia has justified its invasion by claiming it sought to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine.
Yet before 2022, residents lived peacefully in their homes and communities. Since the full-scale invasion, Russian forces have devastated cities and villages, killed thousands of civilians, and carried out documented attacks on hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure.
The war has also imposed heavy losses on Russian forces.
Ukraine's General Staff reported on Feb. 24 that Russia has lost around 1,261,420 troops since the start of the invasion. Russian independent outlet Mediazona has confirmed the identities of 200,186 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine as of Feb. 24.
Despite these losses, Russia has not secured a decisive breakthrough. Both Ukrainian and Russian forces continue to make limited, localized advances without shifting the overall balance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to increase pressure on Kyiv, including through diplomatic channels involving U.S. President Donald Trump, aiming to force Ukraine to concede territory in the Donbas region, which Moscow first invaded in 2014.
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