In 2025, Russia sought to end the war by crushing Ukraine, but the Defense Forces prevented any critical breakthroughs and disrupted the Russian plans.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote this on Facebook.
“The past year was a major test for us. The Russian aggressor tried to end the war against Ukraine—planning to finish it with our defeat and impose its terms from a position of strength. It attempted to seize the remaining territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions, the right bank of Kherson region, and aimed to reach Odessa to cut us off from the sea entirely. We did not allow the enemy to achieve critical breakthroughs; we derailed their plans and repeatedly forced them to postpone the timelines of their planned operations. We endured,” Syrskyi emphasized.
He noted that this became possible because Ukrainian soldiers worked to the limit, with full dedication, inflicting maximum losses on the occupiers and reducing the Russian army over the year by more than 418,000 killed and wounded.
“Thanks to the effective combat work of the Defense Forces, the enemy has long been unable to build up its grouping—because each month we eliminate more Russian soldiers than the aggressor country manages to mobilize. At the same time, in 2025 we managed to reduce our own personnel losses by 13%,” the Commander-in-Chief stated.
According to him, this year proved that the Ukrainian army is capable of systematically exhausting the Russian troops and significantly reducing its potential.
“The Defense Forces did not allow the aggressor to carry out its plans, preserved strategic positions, and prepared the foundation for further actions,” Syrskyi stressed.
