Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your messages every day because we are certain that we need to keep talking about war. The Ukrainian armed forces are launching increasing attacks on Russian cities. Perm, Tuapse, Cheboksary, Ryazan, Moscow – it seems that tomorrow’s drones can fly anywhere in Russia. What difference has this made in your life? Has the war become closer to you personally? Are you afraid for yourself and your loved ones? Do you think attitudes toward war in the country are changing – and how? The feedback form is at the end of this article. You can read the previous day’s review here.
Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end the war by the end of 2026, but only on terms that he himself considers victorious, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
These conditions include full control of Donbass, as well as concluding a comprehensive security agreement with Europe that would effectively recognize Russia’s territorial gains.
Bloomberg’s interlocutors also say: Some high-ranking officials in the Kremlin believe that the conflict has reached a dead end and there is no clear way to resolve it. Many members of the Russian elite share the “nervous mood” and war weariness that has been intensified among Russians by Ukrainian strikes on Russian cities far from the front line.
Russian President’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said in a comment to Bloomberg that Putin did not set any deadline for ending the war.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian drones have increasingly struck targets on Russian territory hundreds of kilometers from the border. Among the main targets are oil refineries. As a result of attacks on them, severe fires occur. Reuters in mid-May countingThe attacks disrupted the normal operation of almost all refineries in central Russia, which together produce up to a quarter of the country’s oil products. Drones also regularly bomb residential buildings and other civilian targets, killing civilians.
Against this background, Vladimir Putin’s rating is steadily declining. A new poll by the Public Opinion Foundation showed that 14% of Russians rate the president’s performance as “fairly bad” – the maximum value over the past year. For comparison, this number in the same polls in May 2025 did not exceed 6-7%.
Yesterday, at an informal meeting of the Council of Ukraine and NATO, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sepiga expressed the opinion that a turning point has occurred in the war and that pressure on Moscow continues to grow. He added: “Ukraine is on the defensive, and Russia’s numerical superiority is no longer a decisive factor.”
War in pictures. Starobelsk, annexed by the LPR
The Ukrainian army attacked the building and residence of the Starobelsky Vocational College at night. LPR head Leonid Pasichnik said that at the time of the attack, there were 86 children aged between 14 and 18 in the building.
According to Russian authorities, the attack led to the death of four people, including a university student, and the injury of 40 others, 14 of whom were minors. Now, the process of clearing rubble at the site of the attack continues, and is further complicated by threats of new attacks.
Dmitry Peskov described the attack as a “brutal crime” in Kyiv. The Ukrainian authorities did not officially comment on the matter.
War through the eyes of Medusa readers
Yulia (Moscow region). Naturally, the letters to Meduza were written mainly by those who read them constantly and shared the editorial position since the beginning of the war, who support Ukraine and now rejoice at justice in the form of strikes against Russia. But the sample turned out to be unrepresentative.
The people around me are different and read different things. Now, when the Ukrainian armed forces are bombing residential buildings, there are fewer and fewer pro-Ukrainian sympathizers among my friends, former neutrals are now expressing thoughts about “bombing it to the end,” and those who were previously in favor of Ukraine are silent.
Pity for the situation in Ukraine disappears, the feeling of guilt disappears: after all, “they themselves are no better.” People are angry with the Ukrainian Armed Forces and thank our air defense. If this is the desired effect, it has been achieved. If the goal was to make Russians angry with the government, it didn’t work: It’s not the government that’s bombing them, it’s the Ukrainian armed forces, regardless of who started it all. I hear from people a desire for escalation as a way to speed up the end of the war.