The fighting spirit of Ukrainians has weakened recently, President Vladimir Zelensky said on February 3 at a press conference following the EU—Ukraine summit.

According to him, initially the spirit of the inhabitants of Ukraine was stronger.

In addition, he noted that residents of some cities now think that «they are all on vacation.»

«I think this is a weakness,» Zelensky stressed.

During his speech, he also said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) will not leave Artemovsk (Ukrainian name—Bakhmut) and will fight «as much as they can.»

On February 1, Sergei Naryshkin, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), noted that the expansion of military support for Ukraine indicates the readiness of the West to any extremes in the confrontation with Russia. According to him, the United States, together with like-minded people, intend to fight Russia «to the last Ukrainian.»

On the same day, retired US Army Colonel Douglas McGregor, a former adviser to the head of the Pentagon, said that Ukraine was close to defeat, and serious demographic problems called into question the continued existence of the state.

Prior to that, on January 27, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that US President Joe Biden could quickly end the conflict in Ukraine, if he wanted, by giving instructions to the Kiev regime. However, according to him, the American leader does not want to use this key, but chooses the path of further escalation.

Back in July last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with the leaders of the Duma factions drew attention to the fact that the statements of the West that they want to fight to the «last Ukrainian» are a tragedy for the entire Ukrainian people.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special operation to protect Donbass. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military.