Vladimir Putin. Photo: Getty Images
Russian leader Vladimir Putin may have organised or authorised Kremlin sources to provide Bloomberg with information about continuing military escalation and strikes on Ukraine’s energy system and other infrastructure, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggest.
Source: ISW
Quote from ISW: “Kremlin insider statements continue to indicate that Russian President Vladimir Putin remains committed to his strategy that Russian forces will be able to win a war of attrition against Ukraine and the West and that the West has thus far failed to convince Putin to reevaluate his strategy.” [N.B. Ukrainska Pravda does not recognise Putin as president – ed.]
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Details: The analysts recall that Bloomberg reported on 20 September that sources close to the Kremlin said Putin concluded that escalation is the best way to force Ukraine into peace talks on his terms.
The sources said Putin believes US President Donald Trump is unlikely to “do much” to strengthen Ukraine’s defence and that US-Russian talks in Alaska on 15 August 2025 convinced him Trump is not interested in intervening in the war.
The same sources told Bloomberg that Putin intends to continue engaging in bilateral dialogue with the United States while pursuing what he considers Russia’s interests. They noted that Putin plans to keep targeting Ukraine’s power grid and other critical infrastructure.
Quote from ISW: “Putin may have allowed these Kremlin sources to share his logic with Bloomberg and likely seeks to leverage Bloomberg‘s article to exploit friction between European and US officials, to feed into the wider Russian narrative that a Russian victory in Ukraine is inevitable, and to create fear in Ukrainian society ahead of Winter 2025-2026.”
Details: The ISW analysts emphasise that the Kremlin tightly controls Russia’s information space and wields significant influence over most Russian officials and insiders, indicating that Putin likely organised or at least approved the leak of information to Bloomberg.
They add that “the Kremlin has long sought to divide Ukraine’s US and European supporters in order to weaken cohesive Western support for Ukraine and has intensified this campaign since Trump’s inauguration in January 2025”.
The analysts also suggest Putin wanted the Bloomberg piece to reinforce the Kremlin’s long-standing narrative that Russia’s leader can secure victory “by will alone”.
ISW stresses that Kremlin sources’ focus on Putin’s “commitment to a military victory in Ukraine” ignores the systemic flaws and limitations of Russian forces, which have so far prevented him from achieving his strategic goals of political control over all of Ukraine or decisive battlefield success.
The institute notes that Putin has repeatedly set objectives far beyond the forces’ capabilities, and it remains unclear whether he is receiving inaccurate information about Russia’s military potential or simply choosing to disregard limitations to maintain narratives of Russia’s ability to wage endless war regardless of cost.
ISW says that Russia’s victory in Ukraine is not inevitable, and Ukraine, the United States and European states retain influence over the outcome of the war.
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