Muratov: Russia Cannot Subjugate Ukraine, and the War Will Never Bring Victory

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov believes that Russia cannot achieve a genuine “victory” in its war against Ukraine. He also warned of the possibility that the conflict could escalate to the use of nuclear weapons.

In an interview with the BBC, Muratov said the war could destroy Ukraine but could not conquer it in the sense of subjugating it. According to him, after nearly five years of conflict, any military outcome would come at an extraordinarily high human and political cost.

“There will never be a victory,” Muratov said. He argued that a confrontation between two Slavic nations that causes hundreds of thousands or even more casualties cannot be described as a triumph.

One of the main concerns he raised was the risk of nuclear escalation. Muratov stressed that he does not claim to know what Vladimir Putin is thinking, while dismissing as speculation the claims of experts who say they can explain the Russian president’s thoughts or fears with certainty.

According to him, the alarm stems from the fact that the use of nuclear weapons is being mentioned with increasing frequency in Russian public debate. Muratov said the issue had been raised more than 500 times during the year, including in discussions on state television and at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

During the interview, he also addressed the situation at Novaya Gazeta, which he co-founded more than 30 years ago and which became one of the most important voices in independent Russian journalism.

Describing the situation at its Moscow offices, Muratov said: “The newspaper no longer exists.”

He said the Russian authorities had revoked the newspaper’s registration and placed its printing presses under state control. Although Novaya Gazeta’s website remains operational, access to it is blocked inside Russia.

Muratov, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his commitment to defending freedom of expression, said the crackdown on journalists and Kremlin critics had intensified significantly since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.