The Kremlin’s attempts to restrict the hugely popular Telegram app may signal looming ‘unpopular decisions’, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned
Vladimir Putin could be preparing for either a dramatic escalation of the war or a potential endgame, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.
The Ukrainian president suggested the Kremlin’s clampdown on Russia’s main messenger Telegram could signal looming “unpopular decisions”. These may include military mobilisation reaching Russia’s biggest cities for the first time.
Putin may be preparing for “people from Moscow and St Petersburg going to the front – and bringing back corpses,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Until now, the Kremlin has mainly recruited “cannon fodder” from poorer and more remote regions, often many time zones from Moscow. But new footage shows burgeoning graveyards in the sprawling region surrounding the capital.
Zelensky said the crackdown on Telegram – a key platform for both pro-war bloggers and independent voices in Russia – suggested the authorities were preparing to control public reaction to unpopular decisions with Soviet-style censorship.
Today the app faced severe restrictions and was barely working across Russia. “I think it’s to make unpopular decisions,” he said.
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“Perhaps it’s the end of the war in one form or another. Or, on the contrary, an escalation of the war. Then it would mean even greater mobilisation for them.”
He warned that either scenario would carry risks for the Kremlin, with Russian society divided between fanatical war supporters and those who would resist further escalation. According to Zelensky, around 20 to 25 per cent of Russians have been radicalised by propaganda and would oppose any settlement – while others could react negatively to deeper mobilisation.
“Soon we will see which scenario Putin has chosen,” he told journalists.
The outspoken Zelensky warning comes as he and Putin reached rare agreement to abide by a 32-hour truce starting on Saturday and covering Orthodox Easter Sunday this weekend. The warning comes as Zelensky said Russia is continuing to expand its forces inside Ukraine – even as Ukrainian troops inflict heavy losses.
“In a month, we destroy the same number of occupiers that they mobilise,” he said – but added that Moscow is still increasing troop numbers by drawing on strategic reserves. He claimed this was a “risky step” for Russia, as it weakens its borders elsewhere.
Zelensky also revealed that Ukrainian and British intelligence assessments dismiss Moscow’s latest battlefield ambitions as unrealistic. Russian commanders are aiming to seize Druzhkivka, Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk by the end of April, he said, based on leaked intelligence.
He declared: “This is impossible.” British intelligence, he added, “does not see any possibilities” for Russia to achieve those goals within the timeframe, said Zelensky.
He forecast a crunch time for peace talks in the coming months, following major damage to Russian oil refineries and exporting ports by Ukrainian missiles and drones. A potential trilateral meeting with Russia, Ukraine and the US could take place as early by June if Russia chooses de-escalation – but cautioned that time is limited.
With the US expected to shift focus to domestic politics ahead of elections, he suggested August could act as a de facto deadline for serious negotiations. “This spring-summer period will be quite challenging politically and diplomatically,” he said.
Ukraine could face both battlefield pressure and diplomatic pressure he warned. But he insisted Kyiv understands its “national interests” and red lines.
