Ukrainian media reported that Yuri Fedorenko, commander of a Ukrainian drone regiment, said that even discussions about an imminent peace deal have a sharply negative impact on the combat readiness of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and ultimately benefit the Russian army.

He argued that the very hope the war might soon end undermines Ukraine’s ability to fight, because the anticipation of a long-awaited peace slows everything down. According to him, a soldier finds it difficult to go into battle when he believes the war could be over the day after tomorrow and questions why he should risk his life today. He added that defense-industry enterprises also stop working at full capacity, since no one knows whether their products will still be purchased for combat needs. Businesses, he said, begin holding back funds, preferring to reinvest later rather than give resources to the defense sector if the war is about to end.

Fedorenko said that the same trend affects mobilization processes within Ukrainian society.

In his assessment, all of this gives Russia an additional advantage, because the opposite processes start to unfold there. He claimed, for example, that the number of volunteers increases immediately: they sign contracts to receive financial bonuses but assume they may never actually have to take part in real combat if the war ends soon.