Ukraine says frontline dynamics show Russia ‘not winning and will not win this war’
Kanyshai Butun
06 September 2026•Update: 06 September 2026
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Sunday that frontline dynamics show Russia “is not winning and will not win this war.”
Citing publicly available sources, Sybiha said the average pace of Russia’s “already slow advance” was 3.5 times slower in 2026 than in 2025, adding that Moscow had captured less than 0.2% of additional territory in Ukraine this year.
He said the net balance between territory captured by Russia and territory recaptured by Ukraine in August was roughly 5 square kilometers.
Sybiha said 42,000 Russian troops were killed or wounded in August, calling the figure “one of the highest monthly casualty rates of the war.”
He said Ukraine carried out a record 70 successful long-range strikes against legitimate military targets in Russia in August in response to Moscow’s attacks, five more than in the previous year.
“Given the situation in the Russian economy and its inability to counter Ukraine’s long-range sanctions, things will only get worse for Russia,” he wrote on the US social media company X.
Addressing the situation in Donbas, Sybiha said Russia had failed to achieve an operational breakthrough and still did not control 20% of the Donetsk region, despite Moscow concentrating most of its efforts there.
“At its current pace, it would take the Russian occupiers over two years to capture that remaining land.,” he said.
Sybiha acknowledged that winning the war would be difficult for Ukraine but said Moscow “is not in a strong position either” and is “not in a position to dictate terms.”
“Whatever fabricated maps Russian generals present to Putin, the reality on the ground shows that he is not winning and will not win this war,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that country’s forces were increasing the pace of their advance in the war with Ukraine, adding that Moscow had captured 270 square kilometers (104 square miles) of territory and 15 settlements in Ukraine’s Donetsk region in August.