Syrskyi: Ukrainian forces thwart Russia’s large-scale plans in 2025
Despite difficulties on the battlefield, Ukraine’s armed forces succeeded in disrupting Russia’s large-scale offensive plans in 2025, including preventing the capture of the entire Donbas as well as territories in three regions, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, believes.
According to Ukrinform, Syrskyi said this in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde.
“Russia was preparing its forces for a large-scale offensive operation in 2025. It intended to seize the entire Donbas, territories in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson regions, and to create a buffer zone in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions. However, it failed to achieve these goals,” Syrskyi said.
According to him, several active actions by the Ukrainian military prevented Russia from carrying out those plans.
“We conducted two offensive operations on Russian territory: in March–April in the Belgorod region and then in May–June in the Kursk region. This forced the enemy to redeploy its forces. As a result, they were unable to launch the offensive operation they had planned for the spring,” he explained.
Russia also failed to launch a large-scale offensive in the southeastern sector of the front line or to advance deep into the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions as planned, Syrskyi added.
“In August, the enemy launched an offensive toward Dobropillia, attempting to encircle the Pokrovsk–Myrnohrad urban area. To disrupt these plans, we launched a counteroffensive in the Dobropillia direction. Forward units of Russia’s 51st Army were effectively encircled. To prevent their destruction, the Russians redeployed their naval infantry to this area, where they have since been bogged down in fighting,” Syrskyi said.
The general once again rejected claims by Russia’s top military leadership about supposed victories in Kupiansk and Pokrovsk.
“Despite statements by General Gerasimov and Putin himself, 97% of Kupiansk is currently under Ukrainian control. The enemy has been trying to capture Pokrovsk for 19 months. They have committed all their forces to the assault, but we have managed to retain control of the northern part of the town and stabilize the situation in the west,” Syrskyi said.
At the same time, the general added that deep Ukrainian strikes against military targets inside Russia, including airfields, bases, military factories, and oil and gas sector companies, allowed Ukrainian forces to hit “719 targets and inflict damage exceeding $15 billion in 2025.” In addition, Ukrainian forces successfully deprived Russia’s Black Sea Fleet of the ability to use its base in Sevastopol.
As Ukrinform previously reported, Russian troops have stepped up efforts to encircle Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad.
Photo: Oleksandr Syrskyi / Facebook