Margarita Simonyan, one of Russia’s most prominent state propagandists, has claimed that more and more Russians are questioning why the war against Ukraine was launched. Ukrainian journalist Denys Kazanskyi highlighted her recent remarks while analysing a broadcast on Russian state television.
According to Simonyan, many people she knows in Moscow now believe that the decision to start the war was a mistake. She said Russians are increasingly feeling the consequences of the conflict themselves and are becoming more critical of the Kremlin’s decision.
Kazanskyi argues that Russian propaganda previously focused on justifying attacks against Ukraine’s infrastructure. However, following Ukrainian strikes on targets inside Russia, the narrative has shifted, with Russian propagandists increasingly discussing the war’s impact on Russia itself.
According to Kazanskyi, growing disappointment among Russians stems from the gap between promises of a “quick victory” and the reality of a prolonged war that has resulted in heavy military losses, painful international sanctions and what he describes as Russia’s most severe economic difficulties in decades.
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Simonyan continues to defend the invasion by claiming that Ukraine had allegedly been preparing to attack Russian regions.
Kazanskyi dismissed those claims as “absurd lies,” saying he is surprised that anyone in 2026 could still believe such assertions.
During a discussion with fellow Russian television host and propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, Simonyan warned viewers that, following strikes on oil refineries, attacks on Russia’s heating infrastructure could occur as the heating season begins.
Kazanskyi pointed out that both Simonyan and Solovyov described Ukraine’s actions as “terrorism,” even though, he argued, they mirror the types of attacks Russia has carried out against Ukraine over the past several years.
Simonyan claimed that Ukraine is trying to convince Russians that launching the war was a mistake and should never have happened.
Kazanskyi argued that public support for the war in Russia is declining.
According to him, many Russians initially supported the invasion because they believed the Kremlin’s promises that the war would be quick and that Ukraine would not resist. Instead, he said, the conflict has turned into four years of humiliation, enormous Russian military losses and the destruction of cities reduced to unusable ruins.
“But now comes the most absurd part. Trying to convince Russians that the war was necessary, Simonyan claims that Ukraine was preparing to attack Russia in order to seize Kuban and the Rostov region,” Kazanskyi said while commenting on the propaganda broadcast.
Simonyan stated during the programme: “Doesn’t anyone remember that in 2021 Ukraine, with Western assistance, was preparing and was almost ready to take Crimea from us by military force? The next targets would have been Kuban and the Rostov region.”
She continued: “It was all publicly announced! What were we supposed to do? Wait until they became stronger and came after us?”
Kazanskyi described these claims as “schizophrenic hallucinations,” arguing that Simonyan was seriously attempting to use them to justify the war against Ukraine.
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