‘There won’t be any post-war period’ The Kremlin is reportedly exploring ways to ‘normalize’ life in Russia after a ceasefire. But some insiders say that’s wishful thinking.
The Putin administration is discussing ways to “normalize” life in Russia in the event of a ceasefire with Ukraine, Verstka Media reported on Friday, citing Kremlin and state media sources. Proposed measures range from removing certain people from the Justice Ministry’s “foreign agents” blacklist to bringing back Ivan Urgant, Russia’s leading late-night talk show host before the full-scale invasion. However, not all of Verstka’s sources agreed that these proposals are serious; some expressed doubt that the Kremlin wants “normalization” or that Russia can ever return to its pre-war reality. Meduza summarizes the key points from Verstka’s reporting.
‘He abandoned us’
The Putin administration and Russia’s flagship state broadcaster, Channel One, have been discussing the return of the network’s most popular late night show, Evening Urgant, for the last several months, according to sources in the Kremlin and the network’s parent company, National Media Group.
Administration staff said there have been occasional attempts to “ask at the very top” for the return of host Ivan Urgant, who posted an anti-war message on Instagram and disappeared from Channel One following Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, they told Verstka that this would only be possible “after a ceasefire.”
One source familiar with the situation at Channel One described Urgant as “the favorite host of [Yury] Kovalchuk” — the owner of National Media Group and a close friend of Putin’s. “So Urgant’s return isn’t even up to officials in the presidential administration,” the source added.
According to this person, Urgant’s actions at the start of the war were viewed as a betrayal: “It was very emotional — like, ‘He’s weak, he fell for it, he abandoned us. We did so much for him, and this is how he repays us.’” However, Urgant and his team have reportedly downplayed the situation, saying he “reacted emotionally, didn’t think it through — that he’s a young, hot-headed creative.”
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Another source close to the Putin administration linked recent media uproar over a state media report that Urgant had registered as a sole proprietor in France to the ongoing negotiations about his return to Channel One. “The smear campaign is one thing, the negotiations are something separate. Somebody doesn’t want him back on the air,” the source said.
Multiple sources said they expect talks about Urgant’s return to resume after his scheduled performances in Haifa, Tel Aviv, Yerevan, Tbilisi, and Tashkent in April 2025. One source told Verstka that Urgant will then travel to Moscow, where an agreement has supposedly already been reached for his TV comeback. “The current discussions are about the format and conditions of his return. He likely won’t have to issue a public apology, but there will be sacrifices — loss of ‘creative independence,’ a new team, new producers, new scriptwriters, and so on,” the source explained.
A source close to the Putin administration also confirmed that any revived version of Evening Urgant would be more heavily censored than in the past: “I asked if he understood what kind of program this would be and how long he’d last. He gave me this sad look, like, ‘I understand, but I can’t live without my viewers.’” Urgant didn’t respond to Verstka’s request for comment.
At the same time, other Kremlin sources denied that there’s a concrete, agreed-upon plan for Urgant’s return. One official from the presidential administration’s public projects directorate said the president’s team has “other things to worry about” right now. Another person from Putin’s domestic policy team said the return of “runaway public figures” is currently handled on a case-by-case basis through personal connections rather than as part of an official directive.
‘You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube’
The debate over Urgant’s return is part of broader discussions within the presidential administration about “normalizing” life in Russia — an idea the Kremlin has reportedly been considering for several months. “There’s a plan called ‘Bring back the Russia of 2021’ aimed at drawing back people who left after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They’re developing and discussing it in anticipation of a possible halt in fighting,” one administration staffer told Verstka.
According to this source, Evening Urgant is part of these discussions, and an agreement has already been made to bring the show back “immediately after a peace deal is signed or hostilities cease.”
Beyond television, the Kremlin is also exploring ways to facilitate the return of Russians who left during the war but “did not engage in unlawful activities,” Verstka reports. Officials believe their return would contribute to the country’s “post-war recovery,” with a particular focus on reintegrating private entrepreneurs and IT specialists.
The “normalization” plan also includes proposals for simplifying the process of removing people from the foreign agent registry. One version of the plan reviewed by journalists suggests introducing a “probationary period” for those undergoing a “rehabilitation process,” during which their foreign agent designation could be reinstated if they violate certain conditions. The plan describes these measures as being aimed at “softening domestic policy, restoring public trust, and creating conditions for stable development in the post-war period.”
A source close to the Kremlin confirmed to Verstka that a roadmap for “normalization” is under discussion. However, he noted that multiple versions are being considered, as the Kremlin “always works through several concepts at once.”
For now, authorities have no plans for a broad “amnesty” of foreign agents, the source said. Instead, this initiative would aim to “showcase a few examples of their failure abroad — while leaving room for repentance.” According to him, officials are currently selecting candidates “who will be brought back, publicly reprimanded, and given a place here” before being removed from the foreign agents registry. “Only after this spectacle will they decide whether to launch a large-scale amnesty program,” he added.
Independent journalists are not among those being considered for “test cases,” another Verstka source said. “This plan doesn’t apply to people like you,” he told the outlet’s correspondent.
Meanwhile, the Putin administration “still has no real say” in the fate of foreign agents, a former Kremlin official pointed out. “[Putin's Chief of Staff] Anton Vaino chairs meetings on this topic, but the key decisionmakers are law enforcement and the FSB. No one argues with them. No one even opens their mouth anymore. The administration can add names, but it can’t remove them,” he said.
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However, Verstka notes that there seems to be no unified approach within the Kremlin. Some sources in the administration were unable to confirm that the government actually intends to carry out any “normalization” plans, expressing skepticism. Several noted that “the administration is always drafting something, but 90 percent of those plans end up in the shredder.”
One source said, “So far, nothing outside of the military-patriotic agenda is being considered.” He saw no reason for the Russian authorities to pursue normalization or a large-scale amnesty for foreign agents. “You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube,” he said, adding that those discussing such plans “have no grasp of what has actually happened.”
“Everything is so fundamentally different now that there won’t be any ‘post-war’ period,” he continued. “But I can imagine a five-person working group somewhere, reporting to Sergey Novikov, [head of Russia's Presidential Directorate for Social Projects]. They just haven’t been told that the real plan is to march on Kyiv.” He insisted that even if active fighting stops, “the war itself can’t be stopped,” and the Russian government will continue pouring money into rebuilding military capacity.
Another source close to the administration agreed: “I mean, first of all, why on earth would there be some kind of thaw? As if there was a thaw before the war. I’m honestly baffled by these well-meaning people who think the war will actually end.”
