Putin warns Russians of protracted war in Ukraine, but says he won't call in troops

Vladimir Putin seemed to acknowledge subduing Russia's neighbor was taking longer than expected, but said there was no need to have another project now.

As his war in Ukraine entered its 10th month, President Vladimir V. Putin warned the Russians on Wednesday that the battle would be prolonged, but attempted to allay the worst fears of an increasingly war-weary population.

Mr. Putin's concession that the war "could be a long process" was a marked departure from the Kremlin's lightning rhetoric at the start of the invasion in February. But for now, he said, the Kremlin will not call in more combat troops to serve in what his government still insists describes a "special military operation".

“In these conditions, talking about additional mobilization efforts makes no sense,” said the Russian leader. "There is no need for this for the State and for the Ministry of Defense."

Mr. Putin's comments, directed at the Kremlin's human rights council - a group of journalists, activists and public figures loyal, despite the name - came after three drone strikes by Ukrainian forces on targets in Russian territory reported a bolder phase of Ukrainian attacks made possible by longer attacks. range weapons.

These attacks, combined with the conscription of as many as 300,000 Russians to join the ranks of combatants, brought the reality of war closer to a largely apathetic Russian population.

"The people are tired, and Putin knows that a protracted war cannot be popular," said Abbas Gallyamov, a political scientist who has already wrote speeches for Mr. Putin but broke up with him. "He doesn't want a second wave of mobilization and is trying to show he has enough men to get through the winter."

ImageRussian conscripts called up for military service during the annual fall conscription as they depart for garrisons, in Omsk, Russia, last month.Credit... Alexey Malgavko/Reuters

Mr. Gallyamov said the Kremlin was betting winter conditions would reduce the intensity of fighting and the conflict would turn into a war of attrition favoring Russia, with reduced Russian energy supplies to Europe gradually eroding Western support to Ukraine.

Russia regularly strikes civilian targets across Ukraine with missiles, drones and shells. An artillery barrage killed six civilians on Wednesday and injured five others in the eastern town of Kurakhove, Ukrainian authorities said.

At the council meeting On Wednesday, Mr Putin said Russia had no choice but to intervene militarily in Ukraine due to what he called Western-backed aggression against ethnic Russians there . The Kremlin has often made this unsubstantiated claim to justify war.

How Russia can rise to the task of waging a protracted war without recruiting more men to fight it was unclear, although the Kremlin says many soldiers enlisted in September have yet to see a battlefield.

M . Putin said half of the 300,000 civilians drafted to fight in Ukraine under the call-up were still training outside combat zones. About 77,000 conscripts are engaged in combat in Ukraine, he said, and others serve in territorial defense units or assist in training efforts.

Mr. Putin ordered the "partial mobilization" of troops after a series of battlefield setbacks, a move that Western analysts said made it clear that Russia had faced a disastrous loss of professional soldiers. The decision shook Russian society. Thousands...