OK, it’s a ‘war’: Russia upgrades ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine

The Kremlin is conceding for the first time that its invasion of Ukraine launched more than two years ago and which has generated hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides is, in fact, a “war.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior officials in Moscow had been adamant in referring to the conflict as a “special military operation,” in large part as a propaganda move to signal the operations would have a limited impact on the home front.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a new interview said Russia now concedes the fight is a war — but only because the U.S. and Western response had escalated the original conflict.

“We are at war,” Mr. Peskov was quoted as saying in a new interview with the Russian publication Argumenty i Fakty, which is put out by the city government of Moscow.

“Indeed, it started as a special military operation, but as soon as a clique was formed and the collective West joined in on Ukraine’s side, it turned into war for us,” Mr. Peskov said. “I am convinced of that. Everyone should understand this to summon up inner strength.”

Mr. Putin, who was just reelected to a new six-year term in power earlier this week, has studiously avoided the term so far. Russia’s Kremlin-dominated national legislature has even passed laws banning the use of the term “war” in connection with the Ukraine fighting.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that a number of Russians have been fined and imprisoned under the new laws for spreading “false” information about the nature of the conflict.

Whether the rhetorical shift signals a change in battle plans is not clear.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry Friday said it had taken notice of the shift, but dismissed its significance, saying Russia was only recognizing a reality the rest of the world has known for years.

“Russia has been waging a war on Ukraine for a long time,” a German diplomat told the Russian Tass news service. The new wording “doesn’t change the awful reality on the ground.”

Mr. Peskov also appeared to play down a bit the significance of his use of the word later in the interview, saying it was when “the collective West entered [the conflict] that it turned into a war for us.”

He added, “This does not imply any legal changes. It is [still] a ’special military operation’ de jure.”

But some Kremlin watchers said the readiness to drop the “special military operation” tag may be a sign of deeper changes in Russia’s military strategy — and of Mr. Putin’s determination to prosecute the war now that the election is over.

Mark Galeotti, a veteran Kremlin watcher, said on social media that the spokesman’s comments were intended as a clear message to the Russian public, ahead of a planned spring drive to recruit more Russians for the Ukraine fight.

“That ’internal mobilization’ is actually the key thing: the Kremlin’s demand that every Russian get into a wartime mindset, and realize there is now no middle ground between being a patriot and a traitor (as Putin defines these)” Mr. Galeotti wrote on X.