If Russian troops have significantly slowed down on the front in Ukraine in the first half of 2026, Kyiv is still “far from a turning point in the war”, said the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrsky, on Friday.
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The military leader estimated in a report published Friday on Telegram that Russia had failed to achieve the objectives of its offensive, while Moscow benefited from “almost double the number of personnel and equipment”.
According to him, Russian forces, which previously carried out “active offensive operations on 13 axes”, are now only pursuing “six or seven” at most, and are suffering heavy losses while Kyiv pursues a “strategy of exhaustion” of the adversary.
He also praised the long-range Ukrainian strikes which have targeted 697 targets in Russia since the start of the year, causing according to him more than 6.1 billion dollars (around 5.3 billion euros) in direct and indirect economic losses.
Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure in recent months have caused fuel shortages in many Russian regions and in Crimea, a peninsula annexed in 2014.
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The commander-in-chief, however, warned that Moscow was pursuing its military objectives in Ukraine’s eastern regions.
“The intensity of missile and drone strikes continues to increase, as does the use of guided aerial bombs and the number of crimes committed against the civilian population,” he added, asserting that “the enemy must not be underestimated.”
These statements come two days after the NATO summit in Ankara, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky secured new Western commitments on air defense.
American President Donald Trump notably announced his agreement in principle to authorize Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptor missiles under license, considered essential to counter Russian ballistic missiles.
