Standing in front of giant flags paying homage to the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, 20-year-old Kirill Bobichev said he wants the conflict with Ukraine over.
Moscow's offensive against Ukraine has dragged on for more than three years, with the United States holding separate talks with Kyiv and Moscow to try to end the conflict.
Bobichev does not believe a three-day truce announced by President Vladimir Putin for May 8-10 -- which coincides with celebrations marking the victory over the Nazis -- will make any difference.
"I would like the war to be over already," he told AFP in the southern city of Volgograd.
He said the conflict was taking a heavy toll on Russia's population and economy.
"But I don't think there will be a ceasefire. It won't be from the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces."
Putin said he expected Ukraine to also order to its army to halt fighting but said Moscow was prepared to respond should the three-day truce be broken.
The Kremlin chief had offered a similar halt to the fighting over Easter in a move Ukraine and its Western backers dismissed as a PR stunt by Putin.
Both sides said there had been hundreds of violations though also reported a dip in fighting.
For Putin, the symbolism of offering the truce on May 8-10 is heavy -- especially on the streets of Volgograd, the Russian city known as Stalingrad during the Soviet era.
Russia will celebrate 80 years since the end of World War II on May 9.
"Victory Day", which Putin has transformed into a bombastic display of Russia's military might, will be marked by massive parades in Moscow and cities across the country.
World War II -- known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War -- is the central historical narrative of Putin's quarter-century rule.
The former KGB spy has repeatedly invoked victory over Nazi Germany to justify his offensive against Ukraine, branding the "Kyiv regime" as "neo-Nazis" that need to be removed from power.
Kyiv and the West reject that narrative as propaganda and call Russia's campaign an illegal land grab that has killed tens of thousands of civilians and seen Moscow seize swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine.
'The people need hope'
The Battle of Stalingrad has mythic status in Russia, as a key turning point in World War II.
"In the run-up to such a great holiday, the people need hope," said Oksana Dudko, 39.
"The truce is a very important step. It will bring peace to everyone, even if only temporarily," she told AFP.
Despite the 30-hour Easter truce having failed to bring the two sides closer to resolving the conflict, others in Volgograd were also hopeful.
"I want peaceful times, I want to establish contacts with different countries, to study abroad, to exchange experiences so that I can bring this experience to our country and improve it," said Polina Knyazevskaya, 21.
Russia has been isolated from the West since it ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022, with heavy sanctions that complicate foreign travel.
"We are all waiting for talks between Putin and Trump, hoping that it will bring some changes for the country, for the better," said Knyazevskaya, who was volunteering at a forum for Putin and his ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
The US president is pushing both sides to agree to a ceasefire -- though has stoked concerns in Kyiv that he will push them to accept a deal favourable to Moscow.
Lev Loganov, a 79-year-old former oil worker, hoped the three-day truce, if it materialises, would offer both Moscow and Kyiv time for reflection.
"There will be time for people to think things through, weigh up the losses and the possible future losses," he said, standing under a flag celebrating Russia's WWII victory.
"Both sides have already suffered heavy losses. Now we must weigh up everything. What was it all for? What were all the sacrifices for?"