Russia's ambassador to the UK Andrei Kilin has made what Sky News described as an extraordinary admission that the war in Ukraine has cost Russia a lot. It is the first time a senior Russian official has spoken so frankly about the toll the conflict is taking on the country.
In previous interviews, Kilin had repeated the usual Kremlin lines that Russian forces are advancing and victory is inevitable. But this time, he was much more blunt, acknowledging that the war has become enormously expensive and that things are not going entirely as Moscow would have liked.
The economic strain is visible across Russia. Sky News reported from St. Petersburg where closed cafes and shuttered shops are everywhere along the main street. More than two hundred thousand small and medium-sized businesses closed their doors in the first three months of this year alone as the cost of war piles up.
One florist in St. Petersburg who used to have three shops recently had to close one because of growing costs and declining demand. She told Sky News there are no growth opportunities and that utility bills have tripled.
The interview came on the same day that Ukrainian drones struck oil infrastructure in St. Petersburg, sending huge plumes of thick black smoke rising above the city just as delegates arrived for Putin's flagship economic forum. The timing underscored the growing vulnerability of Russian cities to long-range Ukrainian strikes.
Sky News correspondent Ivor Bennett, reporting from St. Petersburg, said the cost of war has become so great that it is now impossible to ignore. Prices in shops are rising, drone attacks are happening more frequently and further from the front line, and there is growing discontent in a way there has not been before.
The Kremlin appears to realise it must acknowledge the economic difficulties. Putin himself recently said on Victory Day that the war is coming to an end, though he added that Russia will achieve its goals through diplomatic means or, if necessary, by military force.