In an interview with Le Monde, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief said Russia is burning through manpower faster than it can replace it - and that Moscow’s plans for a major 2025 offensive failed.
Ukraine’s president and military describe the front-line situation as extremely difficult, but Russia’s 2025 plans fell apart, according to Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Syrskyi said Russia had prepared a large-scale offensive for 2025 with goals that went beyond pressuring individual sectors of the front. Moscow aimed to seize all of Donbas, parts of Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions, and create a “buffer zone” in Kharkiv and Sumy regions — but “failed,” he said.
The Ukrainian commander stressed the conflict has not frozen. Territory continued to change hands, and fighting is unfolding on land, in the air and at sea — pushing back against assessments that the war has reached a stalemate.
Drones and a new logic of combat
Technology is reshaping the psychology of war, Syrskyi said. Infantry remains critical because much of the assault work is done “on foot,” making each infantryman “literally worth his weight in gold.” He said both sides use thousands of FPV drones daily, plus hundreds of reconnaissance drones to direct fire.
According to Syrskyi, 2025 was the first year “when losses in the Russian army exceeded the level of recruitment.” He said Ukrainian forces disable 1,000–1,100 Russian troops daily — killed or wounded. He did not provide figures for Ukrainian losses.
Syrskyi did not comment directly on diplomatic negotiations but said the mission for Ukraine’s forces is to prevent deep enemy advances toward Ukrainian defensive lines before talks conclude and, where possible, to liberate territory. He linked this to a chance for “honest negotiations” and a “just peace.”
