Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no sign of regretting his decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022. He has also shown no signs of ending hostilities against his neighbor.

Putin claims to have captured four Ukrainian regions (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson). But Russian forces are struggling to hold all of these areas. Putin's main goal now is to remove Ukrainian forces from Donetsk. After this, Putin plans to overthrow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and make Ukraine agree to his terms. Russia has invaded Ukraine several times this year to make its plan work. On Monday alone, Russia launched a series of missile attacks on the capital Kiev and Dnipro. Russia claimed the attack was in response to an attack on a hostel near Starobilsk in Luhansk on May 21-22. The attack killed 22 people and injured more than 100. The attack came on the eve of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual event aimed at showcasing Russia’s economic might. Although major Western investors and politicians have stopped attending since the war began, the forum, which opened in St Petersburg on Wednesday, is attracting 130 delegates from around the world.

‘Four years of war with a neighbour is certainly not good for a country seeking foreign investment.’ But Russia has made its mark. Whether there is a meeting or not, the onslaught on Ukraine will continue.’

Both sides have different claims about the number of dead and injured in the war, now in its fourth year. Which has not been independently confirmed . However, the longest war in Europe since World War II has killed a large number of people . The war has displaced millions .

Last year, Russian officials seemed confident that US President Donald Trump would be active in ending the war by getting Ukraine to agree to Moscow's terms . Russian officials had expected Trump and Putin to reach a common understanding on the war in Ukraine after the US-Russia summit in Alaska in August 2025 . However, the peace talks did not lead to results . Instead, in late February, the US itself entered the Iran war . Now, Trump is finding it difficult to end the Iran war . According to international media, senior government officials have informed Putin that the cost of the Ukraine war is reaching a point where it is no longer possible to cover it . This is the first time since the war began that the economic aspect has been openly discussed within the Russian establishment . According to documents and internal information obtained by the American media organization Bloomberg News, officials from the Russian Finance Ministry and the Central Bank have suggested

cutting the defense budget. They have also warned that the current defense spending will increase the government's budget deficit and put the entire economy at risk. Meanwhile, defense ministry officials are committed to Putin's war goals and are lobbying for increased military spending to achieve that. They argue that reducing defense spending will negatively affect the economy because many of the country's businesses are operating on military-related contracts. This has created a divide between senior defense ministry officials and the country's policymakers.

Putin ordered the defense budget cuts only after first cutting spending in other areas, experts say. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not immediately respond to requests for comment. According to two sources close to the Russian government, the defense ministry is also demanding increased spending. Putin is wary of budget pressures. No cuts will be made without his decision. Russian oil companies have benefited from the Iran war, which has boosted crude oil prices. But oil revenues alone will not solve Russia's economic problems. "If oil prices had been above $100 per barrel for at least a year, the crisis in Russia's economy and financial sector could have been resolved," a source familiar with the matter said.

Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.5 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous year, the Central Bank of Russia said on Thursday. This is the first time in three years that Russia has seen GDP decline in the first quarter.

Defense spending was expected to increase only slightly in the three-year budget plan until 2028. Defense spending was expected to increase by a maximum of 4 to 5 percent in 2026. However, in recent times, due to heavy investment in weapons, this expenditure has increased by almost 30 percent. This has led to an economic imbalance.

Due to the challenges faced by the economy, the Ministry of Finance has estimated that economic growth will increase by only 0.4 percent. Whereas it was previously estimated to increase by 1.6 percent.

In an interview on May 27, economist Anton Siluanov said that it is necessary to cut public spending to protect defense and social responsibility expenses. ‘Reserves are not endless.’ In the context of the great transformation taking place in the world, fiscal weakness cannot be tolerated,’ he said, ‘We must improve it to make budget spending effective.’

When Russia started the war, it was expected to achieve its goal in a short period of time. However, more than four years have passed since the war began. During this period, Russia has suffered heavy losses on the battlefield.

Russia has lagged far behind due to its failure to make the necessary investments in the economy and technology. ‘These days, Ukrainian drones can strike deep inside Russia. Oil refineries and energy infrastructure are being targeted regularly. Last month, Ukrainian drones attacked the Moscow region. It showed that Russia’s air defenses can be weakened,’ writes the BBC’s Moscow correspondent Steve Burnett Rosenberg. ‘Four years of war and thousands of international sanctions have badly affected the Russian economy.’

Valery Gartung, a member of parliament from Russia’s pro-government A Just Russia party, expressed his displeasure in parliament last week over the country’s growing budget deficit. Noting that Russia’s budget deficit had reached 11 trillion rubles ($150 billion), he said, ‘What are we going to do about it? Print money?’ It's like 1992, prices are rising by 30 percent every week.'

According to the Washington Post, tens of thousands of Russians are killed or wounded in the war every month. In other words, the number of wounded or dead is higher than the number of new recruits.

Meanwhile, Estonia's Foreign Ministry Secretary Jonathan Vesuvius warned on social media that Russia could escalate tensions with NATO. 'As a last-ditch effort to lure the West into a compromise, Russia could also fight NATO in order to reduce their support for Ukraine and divert attention from the current situation.' Earlier this month, Putin claimed that the Ukraine war was close to an end.

According to Russian analysts and a European official, Moscow is threatening war to attract the United States to join peace talks. Russia may be waiting for the Trump administration to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to withdraw Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk region.

But Ukraine is unlikely to withdraw its troops in this way, Tatyana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Foundation, told the Washington Post. “Russia’s military strength is declining. On the other hand, Ukraine is intensifying its aggression. The United States is not mediating. This is a situation that is worse than Putin imagined. When the situation is out of control, war becomes the only way to respond. I don’t think Ukraine will withdraw its troops,” she said.