Toxic Putin's inner circle urge him to end Ukraine War amid new offensive rumors

A “toxic” Vladimir Putin has begun to clash with his “inner circle,” who are reportedly growing frustrated and indicating it’s time to bring the war to a close.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested his army’s achievements with long-range strikes inside Russia and advances on the battlefield are generating tensions within the Kremlin.

“The situation on the front, together with our long-range sanctions and mid-range strikes, is creating a new atmosphere around Putin. A very toxic atmosphere,” he said, adding, “He alone is the reason this war began and hasn’t ended.”

Zelensky said that Putin is solely responsible for the losses the Russians continue to suffer, and “his retinue understands this – they are signaling it to our partners and to us. Russian society is beginning to feel it more and more as well. We need decisions to bring about peace.”

The Ukrainian president emphasized, “Ukraine has long been ready for this. We are now doing everything to ensure this war ends with dignity.”

He met with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner regarding the resumption of negotiations with Russia and is prepared to travel to Washington next week for discussions with Donald Trump.

Putin’s military is reportedly suffering casualties of 7,000 troops weekly, killed and wounded.

Zelensky’s assertions about upheaval in the Kremlin emerged as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and hardline Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a 35-minute face-to-face meeting in the Philippines today. Reporters ended up being ousted from the meeting after asking questions about Ukraine, which clearly rattled Lavrov, who at one point resorted to mocking a journalist’s haircut.

Early reports from the encounter suggested Lavrov maintained the Kremlin’s unwavering official position. The U.S. is attempting to initiate peace negotiations, which, up to this point, Putin has rejected with a demand for Ukraine’s massive surrender of the Donbas region.

The criticism of “toxic” Putin emerged as Ukraine once again struck Russia’s energy infrastructure overnight, hitting and detonating an oil refinery and a depot in Novosspasskoye, Ulyanovsk region, in a lethal drone assault.

Ukrainian drones also targeted a significant Transneft pumping, storage, and dispatch oil facility in Bashkortostan [Bashkiria], further disrupting Russian supplies, which are in disarray.

Voronezh was shaken by heavy overnight strikes resulting in “serious consequences”. Another facility belonging to Wildberries online marketplace, the Russian Amazon, was hit in the city — its roof reportedly damaged.

Ukraine has obliterated three major Wildberries facilities in the past five days, inflicting damage on the Russian economy. Voronezh regional governor Alexander Gusev stated, “Air defense forces spent the night repelling an enemy attack on civilian targets.

“Unfortunately, there are casualties and serious consequences.” A 3-year-old child was tragically killed, and others were wounded in the attack.

Another Wildberries location in Kazan was also struck overnight. Meanwhile, fresh assaults on power plants in Crimea left large areas of the peninsula without power.