Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said that in the first half of 2026, the Russian army attempted to launch a large-scale offensive but effectively failed to achieve any of its stated goals.
According to Syrskyi, the enemy failed to carry out its plans despite having almost double the advantage in personnel and equipment.
He noted that while the Russian army previously conducted active offensive operations on 13 operational axes, it is now doing so on no more than six or seven.
Ukrainian troops, Syrskyi said, continue their defensive operation while combining it with stabilization measures. On some axes, the Defense Forces are conducting active operations and maintaining the operational initiative.
Syrskyi said the current ratio of Ukrainian assault actions to enemy actions is approximately 40 to 60. Thanks to the active actions of Ukraine’s Defense Forces, the pace of Russian advances in the first half of the year has slowed by more than half.
At the same time, the Russian army’s average monthly losses in killed and wounded amount to about 32,000 service members.
“We are consistently implementing a strategy of exhausting the Russian aggressor. In terms of the pace of advances, the sides have effectively approached parity”, Syrskyi said.
According to him, there is also a steady trend toward an increase in the ratio of territory liberated by Ukraine’s Defense Forces compared with areas where the enemy manages to advance.
At the same time, Syrskyi stressed that the enemy must not be underestimated, as a turning point in the war is still far away.
The commander-in-chief said Russia has not abandoned its plans for the full occupation of Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The aggressor also seeks to expand offensive actions in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions and to create or enlarge a buffer zone in Ukraine’s northern regions.
Syrskyi also noted the growing intensity of missile and drone strikes, the use of guided aerial bombs and the number of crimes against civilians.
Over the past six months, Deep Strike assets hit 697 targets on the territory of the Russian Federation. The direct and indirect economic damage inflicted on the enemy is estimated at no less than $6.1 billion.
The Middle Strike campaign is also proving effective, Syrskyi said: 7,028 enemy targets were hit in the first half of the year.
During this period, Ukrainian artillery carried out more than 456,000 fire missions. Missile forces conducted more than 1,140 strikes, Air Force aviation carried out more than 1,100, and support units conducted about 1,400.
During a military meeting, the Armed Forces also analyzed several problem areas, including the operational structure of brigades in defense and the excessive length of time service members spend in forward positions.
Syrskyi stressed that commanders must find opportunities to rotate personnel at least once every 60 days.
“This is a matter of the lives and health of our warriors, their combat capability and fair treatment of people”, the commander-in-chief said.
The meeting also included reports on the work of the Navy, logistics, the support system, training and recovery of units, as well as law and order in the military.
According to the results of the first half of the year, the number of criminal offenses in the Armed Forces decreased by 12%.
Syrskyi said he had set ambitious tasks for the next period and thanked Ukrainian service members for their daily work.
