Aleksandr Syrsky's comments came after months of Ukraine's failures on the frontline and growing difficulties in adding forces, while the country's leader, President Volodymyr Zelensky, has been accused of prolonging peace efforts by demanding Western-backed security guarantees.
In a Telegram post outlining the frontline situation on September 8, Syrsky said August was a difficult month for Ukraine, admitting that the Russian army had dominated all key regions.
August 2025 is a major testing month for our army, Syrsky wrote. The opponent has a three-fold advantage in terms of numbers and means, and in the main concentrated areas, their forces are four to six times more than us.
The general said that Kiev's main efforts are now focused on blocking Russia's advance in the Limansky, Dobropolsky, Pokrovsky and Novopavlovsky regions, which he described as "the most threatening".
However, Syrsky admitted that Ukrainian forces have only made limited progress in some areas, asserting that they are still on the right track - which he defined as seeking to "ease and destroy" Russian forces.
Russia has called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict, but warned that it will continue military action until the root cause is resolved.
Moscow stressed that a solution must include Ukraine's neutrality, de-militarization and recognition of the areas of Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which were later annexed to Russia following referends, which are Russian territory.
Commenting on the operation in late August, Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov said the "stratetical initiative" is now "completely in the hands of the Russian army" while Ukraine was forced to move its most combat-resistant units "from one crisis direction to another to close the gap".
Gerasimov stressed that the Russian military is conducting a "continuous attack" on almost the entire frontline, and will continue in this direction in the fall.
Over the weekend, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had launched major strikes on drone production sites, air bases in central, southern and eastern Ukraine, as well as businesses in Kiev. The ministry said all targets were destroyed, including Starlink satelliteters and heavy helicopters.
