Ukraine has pledged to intensify attacks on Russian territory after the Kremlin ordered the creation of 11 new divisions and the mobilisation of more than 400,000 troops for the war. The total number of Russian forces to be conscripted in 2026 is 409,000, with the possibility of additional reinforcements from North Korea.
Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, said the country could not win by defence alone. 'We understand that you cannot win a war by defense alone. That is why we will conduct offensive operations and fight to retain the initiative,' he said. He confirmed that Russia intended to form at least 11 divisions and conscript about 409,000 personnel, while Ukraine would continue a strategic defensive operation alongside offensive actions.
Russia has suffered heavy losses in nearly four years of warfare, with more than one million troops killed or injured. Ukraine has also successfully degraded Russian oil exports and hampered the ability of local officials to heat civilians during winter. Some battlefields have seen up to 1,000 Russian troops killed in a single day, as commanders order full-frontal assaults that have become suicide missions.
Thousands of North Korean troops, out of over 10,000 sent by Pyongyang, have been killed, particularly in the Kursk region. Frontline officers have also complained about poor weaponry and defective ammunition supplied by North Korea. Russia has lost 11,573 tanks, 36,333 artillery pieces, more than 23,000 armoured vehicles, 434 warplanes, 347 helicopters and 28 warships, while several submarines have been damaged by Ukrainian sabotage missions.
Syrsky argued that Russia's offensive was failing, making glacial progress and capturing only small areas. In 2025, Russian forces using 600,000-700,000 combat troops captured roughly 2,000 square miles of Ukrainian territory, slightly less than one per cent of the country and a little larger than Norfolk, at a cost of nearly 500,000 troops. He said the defence forces had exhausted the enemy and prepared the ground for future Ukrainian operations.
