To many Russians, defeat remains inconceivable despite the mounting setbacks in Ukraine.

The Russian military losses are mounting, the economy is under pressure from Western sanctions and NATO troops may soon be expanding their presence along Russia’s borders.

But to many Russians, defeat in the war in Ukraine remains inconceivable.

The majority of Russians, especially the older generations and the working classes, believe state propaganda, which fills their television screens with images of Russian tanks advancing through Ukrainian countryside and talk shows that paint the conflict as a new chapter in their country’s struggle against Nazism.

Even among the more educated and younger Russians, unease about the economy and military failures has yet to crystallize into a sense of national catastrophe, some residents in Moscow and provincial Siberia said.

Many Russians believe the war is no longer against Ukraine, but has morphed into a proxy conflict with the U.S. and NATO. Read more

@nytimes