A Russian political science professor argues that the war in Ukraine could simply escalate into a larger conflict, allowing the Russian military to test and compare its power with NATO.

Alexei Fenenko, an associate professor at the Faculty of World Politics at Moscow State University and a research fellow at the Institute for International Security Studies, said the war in Ukraine was just a test and an introduction to another conflict.

"The war in Ukraine is a test for a possible world conflict in the future. "We are testing weapons against NATO, we will find out how much stronger our weapons are than theirs," the professor said.

Putin ally says the Ukraine war is a REHEARSAL for a bigger conflict between Russia and NATO and a 'learning experience' https://t.co/0i1dav0PBX

- AJAK (@ AjakAjak1652) May 21, 2022

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"It could be a good experience for learning about future conflicts," he told a Russian state television host, who responded in shock, saying: "It's a terrifying experiment," the Daily Mail reported.

This unusual statement is the latest example of the Kremlin's attempt to control the narrative of the war in Ukraine, in which Putin's forces suffered more casualties than they had obviously expected. At present, Russian troops are exposed to counterattacks in the Kharkov, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to a recent report by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia has lost more than 28.000 troops. Ukrainian troops destroyed 1.263 tanks, 3.090 armored vehicles, 204 aircraft, 168 helicopters and hundreds of artillery and rocket launchers. It is impossible to verify these figures from independent sources, and Western intelligence estimates put the number of Russian troops at between 7.000 and 15.000 by the end of March.