Russian forces delay Zaporizhzhia offensive — Ukraine’s top general

He wrote about this on Telegram.

“In August, the Russians aimed to gain a strategic advantage, break through, and encircle our troops in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad area, planning large-scale offensives in the Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia directions. However, our forces prevented these plans. Russian troops were forced to postpone their offensive in Zaporizhzhia and redeploy marine units to Donetsk region,” the Commander-in-Chief said.

According to him, in the Dobropillia sector, Russian troops captured 13.5 sq km but lost 25.5 sq km. In the Pokrovsk direction, they took 5 sq km, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces regained control over 26 sq km.

Meanwhile, in the Huliaipole and Prydniprovskyi directions, the Ukrainian Defense Forces prevented any territorial losses, and in the Sumy region, they recaptured 4 sq km.

“The Russians use a ‘creeping’ advance tactic with small infantry groups, attempting to infiltrate settlements by moving through the interposition area and avoiding direct clashes,” Syrskyi said.

Overall, in August, Ukrainian forces regained control over 58 sq km of territory.

Strikes on Russia and its losses

Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief noted that in August, Ukraine struck 60 targets on Russian territory using Deep Strike systems.

“In total, our drones hit over 67,000 Russian targets last month. The effectiveness of strikes under the Middle Strike program increased by 25%,” Syrskyi emphasized.

“Just in August, Russian personnel losses amounted to 28,790. Since the beginning of 2025, 297,350 Russian occupiers have been killed or wounded,” he concluded.

• On August 18, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said the Russian army is transferring its units from Sumy to Zaporizhzhia, planning active combat actions there.