Igor Girkin, the former “defense minister” of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR) who has fought against Ukraine since 2014, called the Russian army’s actions this summer “a disgrace.” His comments followed the Ukrainian Cabinet’s decision to allow men aged 18 to 22 to travel abroad.
Girkin said the move suggests Ukraine’s armed forces are not facing an acute manpower shortage and are meeting their objectives with the forces they have.
“The enemy has no need to conscript that age group, tighten travel restrictions, or even maintain the previous travel regime,” he wrote in a letter published on Telegram.
In Girkin’s view, the only Russian achievement in Ukraine was pushing Ukrainian defenders out of Chasiv Yar, a city Russian forces assaulted for 16 months.
“It’s a disgrace. It’s a slap on the nose to our wonderful ‘genius’ politicians, military leaders and other geostrategists,” Girkin said.
Military-political analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko of the Ukrainian Information Resistance group said the objectives set by Russia’s command for the summer campaign were not met. He noted that despite attempts to advance, the Russian army has largely relied on infantry assaults, limiting its capabilities at the front. As a result, over the summer Russian forces failed to capture a single major city or achieve operational-tactical objectives.
Miroslav Hai, a veteran of the Russia-Ukraine war and a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer, said Russia’s summer 2025 offensive did not deliver the result President Vladimir Putin wanted and the war has reached a stalemate. With the current balance of forces, the front line is shifting at a tactical level, but no major changes are expected.
At the same time, retired Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko said it is too early to declare Russia’s summer offensive a complete failure. He said the Russian forces are still pursuing two priorities: the capture of four Ukrainian regions and the creation of buffer zones in Kharkiv and Sumy regions.
“If the enemy has resources and reserves, we cannot call the summer offensive a failure. On the contrary, given the prospect of those reserves being deployed, Ukraine urgently needs to address mobilization,” Romanenko said.
