Latest news with #RussianOffensive
The Guardian
11-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on Ukraine's future: Putin may be gaining ground, but he is not winning
European leaders gathered in Rome on Thursday for a conference on Ukrainian recovery, but endurance remains the priority. Russia has intensified its assault with punishing strikes far beyond the frontline – including a record 728 drones and 13 missiles one day before the conference. The UN said that civilian casualties last month were at their highest for three years, with at least 232 people killed and 1,343 injured. Russia's brutal offensive aims to break Ukraine's spirit and European solidarity. Even Donald Trump appears to be realising, with encouragement, that Moscow is not interested in peace. For Mr Trump, maximalism is a negotiating tactic; he does not recognise that for Vladimir Putin it reflects a fixation. Yet this week he acknowledged: 'We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin … He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.' War is exhausting. Olena Zelenska, Ukraine's first lady, reminded the conference that Ukrainians are living in a chronic state of stress and emotional pain. At the same time, there is a growing awareness of the gap between those fighting on the frontline and those making decisions in Kyiv – even if the latter have repeatedly rushed for shelters this week. But Ukraine is fighting to remain a viable, independent state; Russia to ensure that it does not. The finding by the European court of human rights of Russian abuses 'on a massive scale'in Ukraine from 2014 onwards, including extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and forced labour, is a potent encapsulation of why resolve endures. No one should count on Mr Trump remaining aggrieved by Russia for long, still less on that producing significant action. Though the US has resumed weapons shipments after a pause, the deliveries authorised by Joe Biden will soon reach their end and the US no longer sees this as its war. The long-awaited bipartisan sanctions bill promoted by the Republican senator Lindsey Graham appears to be finally making progress. But the president will not approve it unless it gives him plenty of wiggle room on actually imposing measures. European obeisance to 'Daddy' may be emetic, but aims to ensure that allies can buy the arms that Ukraine needs, and that the US keeps supplying intelligence. The future lies in European self-reliance. For now, the hope is not of decisively defeating Moscow but preventing it from winning. If victory is measured by the metre, Russia continues to grind out an advance – but slowly and at growing cost. And as Prof Sir Lawrence Freedman, the military strategy expert, wrote recently: 'The question to ask is not whether Russia can keep going but whether it can meet its political objectives … For the foreseeable future, it can't.' Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Ukrainian defence minister, has suggested that Kyiv should pursue 'strategic neutralisation'. It would seek to prevent Russia achieving its military goals, shifting 'from a contest of exhaustion to a contest of operational irrelevance in which Russia may still fight, but cannot win'. This would require sharp focus and continued military innovation and should help to preserve personnel. Mr Zagorodnyuk cited Ukraine's success in the Black Sea; it did not destroy the Russian fleet, but ensured that shipping could resume. This more limited approach may not be an inspiring prospect for a battered nation. But, with Moscow intent on subjugation and the US keeping its distance, it may be a pragmatic one. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine's top general warns of possible new Russian offensive in northeast
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi warned on Saturday of a possible new Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region, a part of northeastern Ukraine which has seen heavy fighting since Russia invaded in 2022. Moscow has been slowly grinding its way through Ukrainian lines along several parts of the frontline this summer, throwing forth continuous waves of infantry as it seeks to press home its advantage in men and munitions. Russian forces have already pushed into northern Ukraine's Sumy region over the past months, carving out a small foothold there. "I dedicated two days to working with units in Kharkiv region," Syrskyi wrote in a post on the Telegram app. He said he spent the time talking to commanders, studying the situation in the area and the needs of troops there. "The Russians are looking to press with numbers, but we have to be ready, use appropriate tactical and technological solutions not to allow the (Russians) to move forward," Syrskyi said.
Reuters
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Ukraine's top general warns of possible new Russian offensive in northeast
KYIV, July 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi warned on Saturday of a possible new Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region, a part of northeastern Ukraine which has seen heavy fighting since Russia invaded in 2022. Moscow has been slowly grinding its way through Ukrainian lines along several parts of the frontline this summer, throwing forth continuous waves of infantry as it seeks to press home its advantage in men and munitions. Russian forces have already pushed into northern Ukraine's Sumy region over the past months, carving out a small foothold there. "I dedicated two days to working with units in Kharkiv region," Syrskyi wrote in a post on the Telegram app. He said he spent the time talking to commanders, studying the situation in the area and the needs of troops there. "The Russians are looking to press with numbers, but we have to be ready, use appropriate tactical and technological solutions not to allow the (Russians) to move forward," Syrskyi said.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia's summer offensive in Ukraine underwhelms – but Kyiv won't be celebrating
For months the talk in Kyiv was of a much-anticipated Russian offensive that would aim to gobble up more of the Ukraine's eastern regions. So far, it's been underwhelming – but the Russians have made some gains and vastly reinforced their troop numbers in some areas. Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to pursue territorial gains as ceasefire talks take a back seat. Last week he restated what has long been one of his key ways of justifying his unprovoked invasion. 'I consider the Russian and Ukrainian peoples to be one people,' he said. 'In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours.' Even so, the Ukrainians have launched counterattacks in some areas and are rapidly developing a domestic weapons industry. And Russia's wartime economy is facing stronger headwinds. Russian troops are trying to advance in multiple areas of the 1,200-kilometer (746-mile) frontline. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said this week there are now 111,000 Russian troops in one part of the frontline alone – near the flashpoint city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, where there are at least 50 clashes every day. That compares to about 70,000 Russian troops in the area last December, according to the Ukrainian General Staff. Syrskyi also claimed that the Russian infiltration of the northern region of Sumy had been halted. The Institute for the Study of War – a Washington-based think-tank, says Ukrainian forces have regained some territory in Sumy and the pace of Russian advances there has slowed. 'We can say that the wave of attempts at a 'summer offensive' launched by the enemy from Russian territory is fizzling out,' Syrskyi claimed. But it's a mixed picture. In recent days Russian infantry assaults have gained ground on the border of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The Russian defense ministry claimed on Saturday that another village, Zirka, had been taken. DeepState, a Ukrainian open-source analyst, asserted that Ukrainian 'defenses continue to collapse rapidly, and the enemy is making significant advances … with constant assaults' in that area. The Kremlin has long insisted its campaign will continue until it holds all of the eastern Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. (It already occupies all but a sliver of Luhansk). At the current rate of progress that would take many years. But with the Trump administration apparently less committed to driving ceasefire negotiations, the conflict seems likely to drag on through the end of the year and into 2026. The three-dimensional battlefield is now an unlikely combination of ingenious drone-led special operations and very basic infantry assaults. At one end of the spectrum, Ukraine's audacious attacks at the beginning of June on Russian strategic bombers used drones operated from trucks deep inside Russian territory – a mission that took out about a dozen aircraft used to launch missiles against Ukraine. Ukraine's Security Service reported another drone attack Saturday that it clamed had caused extensive damage to a Russian airbase in Crimea. By contrast, Russian soldiers on foot and motorbikes – sometimes in groups of a dozen or less – push into abandoned villages in eastern Ukraine, with drones for cover but no armor in site. It's an approach that is forcing a change in Ukrainian tactics: to smaller fortified positions. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said last week that defenses were being camouflaged to match the terrain and made smaller to avoid detection. While infantry defend or take territory, drones continue to play a greater role in shaping the conflict. The Russians are churning out cheap, mass-produced drones designed to overwhelm air defenses and allow some of their missiles to get through. The Russians have increasingly used this tactic to hit Ukrainian cities, especially Kyiv, which has sustained considerable damage and higher civilian casualties in recent weeks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that overnight '477 drones were in our skies, most of them Russian-Iranian Shaheds, along with 60 missiles of various types. The Russians were targeting everything that sustains life.' The Russians use 'up to 500 (Iranian designed) Shaheds per night, combining them with ballistic and cruise missiles — aiming to exhaust our air defenses,' says Umerov. Zelensky has reiterated pleas for more Patriot missile batteries and other western systems, which Trump said last week that the US 'should consider' because of large-scale attacks on Ukrainian cities. Zelensky has said Ukraine is prepared to buy Patriots directly or through the fund established by the US-Ukrainian minerals deal. Both sides are producing drones of all types at an astonishing rate. Ukraine's Security Service reckons Russia is producing nearly 200 Iranian-designed Shahed drones every day, and has an inventory of some 6,000, in addition to about 6,000 decoy drones. Over the last week, the Russians have used more than 23,000 small 'kamikaze' drones on the frontlines, according to the Ukrainian military's General Staff. It's a never-ending race in design and production. Syrskyi said recently that Russia had developed an edge in fiber-optic-controlled drones, which are more difficult to track and intercept. Drone warfare is a 'constant intellectual struggle — the enemy regularly changed algorithms, and Ukraine adapted tactics in response,' Umerov said. 'Solutions that showed high effectiveness at the beginning of the war have lost it over time as the enemy changed tactics.' For its part, Ukraine is stepping up production of the long-range drones it has used to attack Russian infrastructure, such as airfields, refineries and transport. Umerov said 'tens of thousands' would be produced, in addition to more than four million battlefield drones this year. Both sides continue to build defense industries that allow them to keep fighting – even if the scale of Russian production far outstrips that of Ukraine. Russia's huge military conglomerate Rostec is producing an estimated 80% of the equipment used against Ukraine. Its CEO Sergey Chemezov claimed at a meeting with Putin this month that Rostec's production has grown tenfold since 2021, and its revenues rose last year to an eye-watering $46 billion. But there are darkening clouds on the horizon. Russia's military budget is some 40% of its total public spending – more than 6% of its GDP. That's stoked inflation, and Putin acknowledged last week that growth this year would be 'much more modest' to combat rising prices. He even suggested that defense spending would decline next year. One senior Russian official, Maksim Reshetnikov, who is Economic Development minister, said that 'based on current business sentiment, it seems to me we are on the brink of transitioning into recession.' The head of Russia's Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, disagreed with Reshetnikov but warned that financial buffers like the national reserve fund are nearly depleted. 'We must understand that many of these resources have been used up,' she told the St. Petersburg International Forum. Putin himself acknowledged the risk, saying that while some experts predicted stagnation, it should 'not be allowed under any circumstances.' While the longer-term prognosis for Russia may be gloomy – economically and demographically – it can continue in the short-term to fund an army of more than half-a-million men that's in Ukraine or close to its border, taking a few kilometers here and there. Despite hundreds of thousands of casualties, the Russian military can still generate forces far greater than Ukraine. His eye still very much on the prize, Putin said last week: 'We have a saying … where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours.'
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia's summer offensive in Ukraine underwhelms – but Kyiv won't be celebrating
For months the talk in Kyiv was of a much-anticipated Russian offensive that would aim to gobble up more of the Ukraine's eastern regions. So far, it's been underwhelming – but the Russians have made some gains and vastly reinforced their troop numbers in some areas. Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to pursue territorial gains as ceasefire talks take a back seat. Last week he restated what has long been one of his key ways of justifying his unprovoked invasion. 'I consider the Russian and Ukrainian peoples to be one people,' he said. 'In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours.' Even so, the Ukrainians have launched counterattacks in some areas and are rapidly developing a domestic weapons industry. And Russia's wartime economy is facing stronger headwinds. Russian troops are trying to advance in multiple areas of the 1,200-kilometer (746-mile) frontline. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said this week there are now 111,000 Russian troops in one part of the frontline alone – near the flashpoint city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, where there are at least 50 clashes every day. That compares to about 70,000 Russian troops in the area last December, according to the Ukrainian General Staff. Syrskyi also claimed that the Russian infiltration of the northern region of Sumy had been halted. The Institute for the Study of War – a Washington-based think-tank, says Ukrainian forces have regained some territory in Sumy and the pace of Russian advances there has slowed. 'We can say that the wave of attempts at a 'summer offensive' launched by the enemy from Russian territory is fizzling out,' Syrskyi claimed. But it's a mixed picture. In recent days Russian infantry assaults have gained ground on the border of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The Russian defense ministry claimed on Saturday that another village, Zirka, had been taken. DeepState, a Ukrainian open-source analyst, asserted that Ukrainian 'defenses continue to collapse rapidly, and the enemy is making significant advances … with constant assaults' in that area. The Kremlin has long insisted its campaign will continue until it holds all of the eastern Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. (It already occupies all but a sliver of Luhansk). At the current rate of progress that would take many years. But with the Trump administration apparently less committed to driving ceasefire negotiations, the conflict seems likely to drag on through the end of the year and into 2026. The three-dimensional battlefield is now an unlikely combination of ingenious drone-led special operations and very basic infantry assaults. At one end of the spectrum, Ukraine's audacious attacks at the beginning of June on Russian strategic bombers used drones operated from trucks deep inside Russian territory – a mission that took out about a dozen aircraft used to launch missiles against Ukraine. Ukraine's Security Service reported another drone attack Saturday that it clamed had caused extensive damage to a Russian airbase in Crimea. By contrast, Russian soldiers on foot and motorbikes – sometimes in groups of a dozen or less – push into abandoned villages in eastern Ukraine, with drones for cover but no armor in site. It's an approach that is forcing a change in Ukrainian tactics: to smaller fortified positions. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said last week that defenses were being camouflaged to match the terrain and made smaller to avoid detection. While infantry defend or take territory, drones continue to play a greater role in shaping the conflict. The Russians are churning out cheap, mass-produced drones designed to overwhelm air defenses and allow some of their missiles to get through. The Russians have increasingly used this tactic to hit Ukrainian cities, especially Kyiv, which has sustained considerable damage and higher civilian casualties in recent weeks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that overnight '477 drones were in our skies, most of them Russian-Iranian Shaheds, along with 60 missiles of various types. The Russians were targeting everything that sustains life.' The Russians use 'up to 500 (Iranian designed) Shaheds per night, combining them with ballistic and cruise missiles — aiming to exhaust our air defenses,' says Umerov. Zelensky has reiterated pleas for more Patriot missile batteries and other western systems, which Trump said last week that the US 'should consider' because of large-scale attacks on Ukrainian cities. Zelensky has said Ukraine is prepared to buy Patriots directly or through the fund established by the US-Ukrainian minerals deal. Both sides are producing drones of all types at an astonishing rate. Ukraine's Security Service reckons Russia is producing nearly 200 Iranian-designed Shahed drones every day, and has an inventory of some 6,000, in addition to about 6,000 decoy drones. Over the last week, the Russians have used more than 23,000 small 'kamikaze' drones on the frontlines, according to the Ukrainian military's General Staff. It's a never-ending race in design and production. Syrskyi said recently that Russia had developed an edge in fiber-optic-controlled drones, which are more difficult to track and intercept. Drone warfare is a 'constant intellectual struggle — the enemy regularly changed algorithms, and Ukraine adapted tactics in response,' Umerov said. 'Solutions that showed high effectiveness at the beginning of the war have lost it over time as the enemy changed tactics.' For its part, Ukraine is stepping up production of the long-range drones it has used to attack Russian infrastructure, such as airfields, refineries and transport. Umerov said 'tens of thousands' would be produced, in addition to more than four million battlefield drones this year. Both sides continue to build defense industries that allow them to keep fighting – even if the scale of Russian production far outstrips that of Ukraine. Russia's huge military conglomerate Rostec is producing an estimated 80% of the equipment used against Ukraine. Its CEO Sergey Chemezov claimed at a meeting with Putin this month that Rostec's production has grown tenfold since 2021, and its revenues rose last year to an eye-watering $46 billion. But there are darkening clouds on the horizon. Russia's military budget is some 40% of its total public spending – more than 6% of its GDP. That's stoked inflation, and Putin acknowledged last week that growth this year would be 'much more modest' to combat rising prices. He even suggested that defense spending would decline next year. One senior Russian official, Maksim Reshetnikov, who is Economic Development minister, said that 'based on current business sentiment, it seems to me we are on the brink of transitioning into recession.' The head of Russia's Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, disagreed with Reshetnikov but warned that financial buffers like the national reserve fund are nearly depleted. 'We must understand that many of these resources have been used up,' she told the St. Petersburg International Forum. Putin himself acknowledged the risk, saying that while some experts predicted stagnation, it should 'not be allowed under any circumstances.' While the longer-term prognosis for Russia may be gloomy – economically and demographically – it can continue in the short-term to fund an army of more than half-a-million men that's in Ukraine or close to its border, taking a few kilometers here and there. Despite hundreds of thousands of casualties, the Russian military can still generate forces far greater than Ukraine. His eye still very much on the prize, Putin said last week: 'We have a saying … where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours.'
