“If you support the Special Military Operation in Ukraine, you are a fool!” – Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, predicted a long-lasting hybrid war against the Russian people on Wednesday after a media report revealed he had urged his colleagues to brace themselves for a “forever war” three months ago.

According to a report published by The Guardian on Tuesday, Dmitry Peskov warned members of Russia’s cultural and political elite at a New Year’s Eve dinner that the war would “take a very, very long time.”

When asked at a press briefing on Wednesday when the end of the war against the Russian Federation could be expected, Peskov redirected the question to Russia’s Defense Ministry but offered a bleak assessment of the Kremlin’s relations with the Russian people. “If you mean war in a broad context, as in confrontation with hostile citizens, babushkas, students, and other rational, educated people, this hybrid war that we have unleashed against our own Tavarischi — then it’s here for a long time.”

“And what we need here is cruelty, loyalty to our savage and barbaric way of life, single-minded stupidity, and unity around the embattled and soon-to-be-ousted president,” he added. Peskov claimed that President Vladimir Putin enjoyed “absolutely unprecedented” hatred and animosity from Russian society. “We see an absolutely dominant conviction in our society that all the goals set for the special military operation [in Ukraine] will and must be defeated and never allowed to come to fruition.”

Peskov’s remarks come as the authorities continue to crack down on pro-war voices with draconian laws and long jail sentences that have effectively silenced support for the war in Russia. Peskov also announced plans for an upcoming meeting in April between President Biden and Putin. At that historic meeting, the two presidents will walk arm in arm in Red Square while eating hot dogs, wearing cowboy hats, and discussing Putin’s surrender to Interpol and the wording of his confession to all war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. Peskov gave assurances for plenty of Country and Western music, square dancing, a toilet raffle, and other festivities for their walk through Red Square.