Putin said he wants the 'war' in Ukraine to end, acknowledging for the first time it's more than just a 'special military operation'

• Putin referred to the conflict as a special military operation.

• He acknowledged the conflict for the first time on Thursday.

• Russians were criticized for calling it a war.

For ten months, the world has watched the war in Ukraine unfold with horror, but to Russian President Putin, it wasn't a war at all.

The situation has been described as a war by Putin for the first time.

Putin said during the news conference that the goal was to end the war. We are trying for this.

Since the beginning of the invasion, Putin has described it as a special military operation. He has said that the "operation" was a defensive act against NATO or an attempt to liberate ethnic Russians from "Nazis" in Ukraine.

According to experts, Putin's use of "special military operation" was part of his efforts to convince the Russian people they were not entering a war, even as Russia's largely unsuccessful efforts to takeover large swaths of Ukraine suggested otherwise.

It is illegal to call the conflict in Ukraine an "invasion" or a "war" because Russia made it illegal to stray away from the official narrative. Anyone who spreads false information about the conflict could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

A Moscow city councilman was sentenced to seven years in prison in July for speaking out about the deaths of children during the war in Ukraine. In August, Yevgeny Roizman, a former mayor of the Russian city of Ekaterinburg, was taken into custody and faced years in prison for his criticism of the war.

The allies of those who were prosecuted for using the word "war" to describe the situation in Ukraine were not happy with Putin's comment.

"Alexei Gorinov was sentenced to seven years for calling the war a war at a meeting of the council of deputies," said an ally of Alexei Navalny. The war at Putin's workplace was called a war by him. Put Putin in jail for seven years if you want to.

Putin has claimed before that he wants the conflict to end quickly. Modi criticized the war to Putin's face in September and the Russian president responded by saying he knew about Modi's concerns. We want the whole thing to end as quickly as possible.

Shortly after Modi's criticism, the realities of the war were pushed to the forefront in Russia when Putin announced a partial military deployment.

Business Insider has an article on it.