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Russia Struggling to Launch Major Offensives After Heavy Losses in Sumy
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has provided an update on Russia’s military offensives, revealing that Moscow has focused its efforts on four main axes this year: Sumy, Novopavlivka, Pokrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia, he wrote in a post on X on September 17.
However, according to Zelenskyy, the Russian operation in Sumy has already failed, with Russia suffering significant losses, particularly in manpower.
Russia prepared offensive operations along four main axes this year: Sumy, Novopavlivka, Pokrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 17, 2025
The Sumy operation has already failed – Russia suffered heavy losses, especially in manpower, and has redeployed forces to other fronts. Ukrainian Armed Forces…
As a result, Moscow has had to redeploy forces to other fronts. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have inflicted even greater casualties on Russian troops in the region. Zelenskyy hinted that further details about the area affected would be made public in the coming days.
Currently, Russia is left with two main offensive operations. Zelenskyy emphasized that due to heavy losses, Russia is now struggling to launch large-scale offensives even in these areas.
“Russia is left with two operations. But it has lost so much manpower that it cannot deliver strong additional actions in the above mentioned directions,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“I believe that, as of now, they lack the strength for large-scale offensives,” he continued.
Previouly, it was reported that Russian troops on the Kupyansk axis are likely suffering ten times more losses than Ukrainian defenders. Commanders note that enemy soldiers are poorly trained, undersupplied, and lack basic necessities such as food and water, Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported.
