Russian state media have been ordered not to “draw attention” to the fact that Friday will mark the first 100 days of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. The Latvia-based news site Meduza says the Kremlin is apparently afraid that allowing the pundits on state TV to discuss the landmark date would just remind people how much Putin’s “special operation” has been “dragged out.” Russians were warned to avoid any mention of the word “war” after the Feb. 24 invasion, but Kremlin propagandists now routinely portray the conflict in Ukraine as the beginning of a wider war with NATO, the beginning of a global conflict, helping to explain away Russia’s military failures. “Focusing on dates related to the war can make Russians think about the goals and success of the invasion,” a source in Russia's Presidential Administration told Meduza, drawing a comparison with five-year plans in the Soviet Union, which also tended to end in failure.