Ukraine foiled major Russian offensive planned for late 2025, Zelensky says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine successfully foiled a major offensive operation planned by Russia for late last year.

Zelensky made the remarks in an interview with CNN.

According to the Ukrainian leader, Russia had planned to launch a prepared offensive operation at the end of last year and continue it into this spring.

"They prepared this operation. These were our counteroffensive steps, parallel steps. We wanted to do it so as not to give Russia the possibility to attack us massively on the battlefield,” Zelensky said.

He explained that the Ukrainian army began its counteroffensive in late 2025 and regained control of 434 square kilometers of territory.

"This is not only about our steps on the battlefield. It is also about drone, about our projects of drone operations," Zelensky said.

As a result of Ukraine's use of unmanned systems, including FPV and other drones, Russia has been losing 30,000-35,000 troops per month on the battlefield, Zelensky added.

"It's not about deep strikes. It's all about our forces, our army. So we prepared for the offensive operations, disrupted their operation, and destroyed so many Russian soldiers," Zelensky said.

As Ukrinform previously reported, Zelensky also stated that Russian forces are currently unable to advance with heavy equipment, instead attempting infiltration using small groups, while Russia shows no real intention of ending the war.

Photo: Volodymyr Zelensky / Telegram