Ukrainian military leaders have declared their intention to intensify attacks inside Russia, responding directly to Moscow's plans to mobilise more than 400,000 new soldiers this year.
Kremlin's Massive Mobilisation Drive
The pledge from Kyiv comes as Kremlin war chiefs scramble to create 11 new divisions in 2026, aiming to conscript approximately 409,000 personnel. This significant reinforcement drive is part of Russia's ongoing effort to force a result in a war that has now lasted nearly four years.
Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, stated that Ukraine understands defence alone cannot win the war. "We will conduct offensive operations and fight to retain the initiative," Syrsky confirmed, directly addressing the Russian plans. He outlined that Ukraine will maintain a strategic defensive posture while simultaneously launching offensives to keep Russian forces off balance.
Ukraine's Strategy: Taking the Fight to Russia
The Ukrainian strategy involves striking targets on Russian soil to divert crucial soldiers and resources away from the frontline. This approach follows a wave of successful strikes by Kyiv over the weekend, which repeatedly hit key Kremlin oil installations, degrading a major source of Russia's war funding.
Syrsky argued that Russia is failing in its core objective. "We did not allow the enemy to make critical breakthroughs, thwarted his plans, and repeatedly forced him to postpone the dates of planned operations," he said last week. He emphasised that the past year proved Ukraine's capacity to systematically exhaust the enemy and significantly reduce his potential.
The Staggering Cost of Russia's War
The human and material cost to Russia has been immense. Moscow has suffered well over a million troops killed or injured. On some of the bloodiest battlefields, up to 1,000 Russian troops have died in a single day during futile frontal assaults.
Foreign reinforcements have also paid a heavy price. Out of more than 10,000 North Korean troops sent to aid Russia, particularly in the Kursk region, thousands have been killed. Frontline officers have complained that much of the weaponry and ammunition supplied by Pyongyang is degraded and ineffective.
Russia's equipment losses are equally staggering, including:
- 11,573 tanks
- 36,333 artillery weapons
- Over 23,000 armoured vehicles
- 434 warplanes and 347 helicopters
- 28 warships, with several submarines seriously damaged by Ukrainian sabotage missions
Despite deploying between 600,000 and 700,000 combat troops in Ukraine during 2025 and using infantry-heavy assault tactics, Russian forces captured only about 2,000 square miles of territory—an area slightly larger than Norfolk but representing less than one percent of Ukraine. This minimal gain came at the cost of nearly half a million Russian casualties.
As the Kremlin prepares for another large-scale mobilisation, Ukraine's command is signalling a decisive shift in strategy, aiming to ensure that Russia's planned reinforcements face immediate and escalating pressure on multiple fronts.
