In Russia’s Fight Against Ukraine, ‘War Is the Ideology’

Russia and Ukrainian prisoners of war recently gained their freedom after one of the biggest prisoner swaps so far in the war between the two adversaries. Around 1,200 captured soldiers under the age of 25 were exchanged. 

At the event in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region near the Russian border, “emotional homecoming scenes” were tinged with sadness, Reuters reported. Ukrainians at the event held up pictures of loved ones who have gone missing in the war. 

“Tomorrow is my birthday,” said Oksana Kupriyenko, a 52-year-old mother who was looking for her son, who has been missing since September 2024. “I was hoping God will give me a gift and return my son to me.” 

The exchange was an extraordinary positive result of peace talks that have been occurring between the two sides in Istanbul. 

The editors at World Politics Review were gratified that Ukrainian and Russian representatives were meeting at all. “Until just a few months ago, it would have been unthinkable that Kyiv, which is defending its sovereignty against Russia’s illegal invasion, and Moscow, which has not shown any willingness to end that invasion, would directly negotiate,” they wrote. 

But the talks have not yielded anything more substantive so far, CNN reported. 

Critics might say that Russia’s maximalist demands have always doomed the talks, the Associated Press added. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Ukraine to cede wide swathes of territory, forswear NATO membership, limit its military capabilities, end the emergency declaration that has been in effect since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and hold new elections. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected this plan, which he called an “ultimatum,” according to the Kyiv Independent. He especially would not relinquish his country’s claims to territory now occupied by Russian forces. 

The daring Ukrainian attack on airfields in Siberia and elsewhere that destroyed Russian bombers and other aircraft, meanwhile, demonstrated that Russia is not necessarily in a position to dictate terms. Zelenskyy, for example, even contended that the attacks were forcing the Russians to engage in diplomacy. 

Putin, however, still has the capacity to send more soldiers into war while launching deadly strikes on Ukrainian cities like Kharkiv, where three people died in an overnight drone attack recently, Sky News noted. Russia has increased its air assaults on Ukrainian cities since its attack on Russia’s airfields. 

And even though almost one million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded, it would be a mistake to think that Russia’s forces are spent, the Economist noted. The navy and air force are largely intact and “Putin is restocking men, arms and munitions at an ‘unprecedented’ pace. Russia plans to have 1.5 million active troops, up from 1.3 million in September; eventually, it could boost forces and kit on the western front by 30-50 percent.” 

Putin has no intention of ending the war, the magazine added: “After three years of fighting, war has become an ideology.” 

Both sides face domestic pressures that are undercutting their diplomatic positions. The US has been threatening to cut military aid to Ukraine, the Economic Times explained. Whether Europe can replace that lost American aid is an open question. 

The Russian economy is also teetering on the brink of ruin as the war takes its toll on civilian consumption and investment. The US and Europe have threatened to expand sanctions on Russian energy that could push it over the edge, the BBC reported.