Ukraine Foils Russia's Summer Offensive Plans Syrskyi

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi stated this while speaking to journalists, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.

“As for the most challenging areas and directions of the enemy's active offensive: the enemy planned to achieve success by summer on its main axes of advance - moving forward, taking control, and by early autumn creating a 'buffer zone' in Kharkiv and Sumy regions, capturing the Pokrovsk agglomeration, reaching the borders of Donetsk region, and taking several territories in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson regions. But these plans were not realized - thanks to the skillful actions of our soldiers, the competent and deliberate decisions of commanders, timely implementation of corps reforms, and effective strikes against enemy rear positions. We can say that Russia's spring-summer campaign has been effectively thwarted,” Syrskyi said.

He explained that since early summer, the enemy shifted to a new tactic - the so-called“thousand cuts,” which involves deploying many small assault groups of 4–6 soldiers. Their main task is to use the terrain to infiltrate as deeply as possible into Ukrainian territory, regroup, advance again, and then paralyze logistics, troop rotations, and destroy supply depots.

“This situation developed in the Dobropillia sector of the front, where the enemy - using the 8th and 51st Combined Arms Armies and the 68th Army Corps - began applying this tactic in practice. The same tactic is being used by the enemy in the Novopavlivka sector,” Syrskyi noted.

Read also: Defense Forces conduct active counteroffensive operations and achieve success - Syrskyi

According to him, after a series of heavy battles in the Pokrovsk sector, near the town of Myrnohrad and the settlement of Novoekonomichne, fighting gradually shifted northward. Stretching the front line and enjoying a significant advantage in manpower and equipment, enemy units - mainly brigades of the 51st Army and forward battalions - managed to advance in small groups to a depth of 12 to 20 kilometers.

The Commander-in-Chief reported that anticipating such developments, Ukrainian command redeployed a number of its units.

“The plan was to cut the enemy grouping along the barrier line - the Kazennyi Torets River. This way, those enemy units that had advanced deeper found themselves in a sort of 'pocket.' At the same time, our Air Assault units struck from the north and south to close this line. The enemy found itself trapped. At present, their forces are being destroyed. The territory that has been liberated amounts to 168 square kilometers, and about 182 square kilometers have been cleared of sabotage groups. In total, roughly 360 square kilometers have been freed and secured so far, and this process continues,” Syrskyi said, adding that the situation is somewhat similar to last year's events in Kursk region, when Ukraine's Defense Forces managed to free up reserves thanks to newly formed brigades.

He said that the enemy was forced to redeploy a marine grouping - four brigades and one marine regiment - from tSumy direction to Novopavlivka, and later to Dobropillia.

“After our successful actions in the Dobropillia direction, the enemy abandoned its offensive on the Novopavlivka axis and shifted marines to Dobropillia. Now those units have suffered losses and achieved no success,” Syrskyi explained.

According to him, Defense Forces are currently eliminating more than 200 Russian troops daily in that area.

“Of course, this situation will continue to develop. I expect the enemy to keep employing reserves by redeploying them,” the Commander-in-Chief noted.

He added that the highly effective actions of Ukrainian assault regiments and Air Assault Forces, which demonstrated strong training and motivation, proved their combat effectiveness in practice.

Read also: Ukraine thwarts Russia's attempted offensive in Dnipropetrovsk region – CinC Syrskyi

As reported, over the past day there were 200 combat engagements between Ukraine's Defense Forces and Russian troops, 67 of them in the Pokrovsk sector. The enemy has also intensified its activity in the Lyman, Toretsk, and Novopavlivka sectors.

MENAFN26092025000193011044ID1110115110