The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrsky, reported on the achievements of the Defense Forces of Ukraine in August 2025. Thus, the Ukrainian army liberated 58 sq km of territory from Russian occupiers.
Points of attention
- The Ukrainian Defense Forces liberated 58 sq km of territory from Russian occupiers and targeted 60 military sites in Russia in August 2025.
- Strategic efforts were focused on deterring the enemy, active defense, and restoring lost territories to counter Russian advancements.
- Organizational changes within the Armed Forces of Ukraine have led to more efficient troop management and improved effectiveness in combat operations.
Syrsky reported on the successes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in August
August 2025 was a month of great challenges for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but there were many positive results.
We focused our main efforts on containing the enemy and inflicting the maximum possible losses on him. We had to stabilize the situation in the most threatening directions, such as Lymansky, Dobropilsky, Pokrovsky, Novopavlovsky, and at the same time apply active defense tactics, restore lost territories, cover our cities from enemy missile and drone strikes, and strike deep into Russia.
Oleksandr Syrsky
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General
At the same time, August became a month of organizational changes in the Armed Forces. The transition to the corps system is being completed, army corps are acquiring their powers, accepting sets of troops and bands of responsibility.
This reform is starting to bear fruit. Military management is becoming more efficient and effective.
Currently, the enemy has a threefold advantage in forces and means, and in the main areas of concentration of its efforts, it can prevail four to six times.
However, I express my deep gratitude to our officers, sergeants, and especially soldiers: their professional skills, resilience, dedication, and courage are thwarting the plans of the Russian occupiers.
In August, the enemy hoped to achieve a strategic advantage, to break through and encircle our troops in the Pokrovsko-Mirnograd agglomeration area, and planned large-scale offensive operations in the Novopavlovsk and Zaporizhzhia directions. However, our troops prevented these intentions from being realized. The Russians were forced to postpone the offensive in Zaporizhzhia and transfer marine units to the Donetsk region.
In fact, the month when the occupiers hoped for their breakthroughs and made maximum efforts to do so became the month of the enemy's relatively smallest territorial gains in recent times.
So, if we take the Dobropil direction, where the enemy created an offensive group, then here the Russians captured 13.5 sq. km, but they lost 25.5 sq. km. In the Pokrovsky direction, their gain was 5 sq. km, while our troops regained control over 26 sq. km.
The defense forces did not allow the loss of territories in the Hulyaipil and Prydniprovsk directions, and in the North-Slobozhansk direction, in addition, they recaptured 4 sq. km.
The enemy uses the tactic of "creeping" advance by small infantry groups, trying to infiltrate populated areas, using the space between positions and avoiding clashes.
At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have their own successes. During August, control over 58 sq. km of territory was restored, and a number of settlements were liberated.
During this period, our Deep Strike weapons have hit 60 targets on Russian territory. The Russian Federation's capabilities to produce fuels and lubricants for the army, their aircraft weapons, missiles and UAVs, and air defense systems have been weakened, and the functioning of the transportation system has been disrupted.
In total, our drones hit more than 67,000 enemy targets last month. And the effectiveness of the Middle Strike program increased by 25%.
In August alone, the occupiers' losses in manpower amounted to 28,790 people. And since the beginning of 2025, 297,350 Russian invaders have been eliminated and wounded.
