Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Friday that Russia’s military offensives this year have largely failed to achieve their objectives, with Moscow paying a heavy price in casualties.
In his nightly video address, Zelensky reported that Ukrainian forces inflicted significant losses on Russian troops near Dobropillia, in eastern Donetsk, where Moscow sought a breakthrough along the front. “Our forces are neutralizing them,” Zelensky stressed, noting that Russia’s ambitions to secure a major advance near the logistics hub of Pokrovsk were thwarted.
General Syrskyi told reporters that Russia’s spring and summer campaigns had been effectively disrupted, despite limited advances in several sectors. He described the Russian tactic as “a thousand cuts” – launching numerous small infantry assaults by groups of 4–6 soldiers using terrain and wooded areas to try to penetrate Ukrainian lines.
According to Syrskyi, Russia currently has 712,000 troops engaged along a 1,250-kilometer frontline, but key objectives – including creating a “buffer zone” in Sumy and Kharkiv, seizing Pokrovsk, and capturing the entirety of Donetsk – have failed. Russia currently controls about 70% of Donetsk Oblast, but full occupation remains out of reach.
Ukraine has also struck 85 military and industrial targets inside Russia over the past two months, including airbases, storage facilities, and factories.
Meanwhile, President Zelensky dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that Moscow is achieving its battlefield goals. “For years, they have been forced to invent new excuses for why their announced timelines keep shifting,” Zelensky said.
This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly shifted his rhetoric on the war. After previously stating that Kyiv had “no cards left to play,” Trump now claims that Ukraine can recover all territory occupied by Russia — around 20% of the country. However, he offered no significant new U.S. assistance, instead urging European allies to take on a greater share of the support burden.
Moscow insists it is advancing and urges Kyiv to negotiate peace, but Ukraine has rejected those terms, calling them a disguised surrender.
