War against Ukraine is a failure for Putin - Foreign minister lists key reasons
Photo: Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (Getty Images)
Russia is failing in its war against Ukraine, both on the battlefield and in the economic sphere. Throughout 2025, it suffered massive losses, while the pace of territorial occupation remained minimal, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
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Military failure and record-low advances
The Foreign Minister said Russia lost 480,000 soldiers killed or wounded in 2025. At that cost, Moscow managed to occupy only an additional 0.7% of Ukraine’s territory.
The slowdown in Russian advances intensified in January 2026. Despite daily losses exceeding 1,000 troops, Russian forces captured just 0.04% of territory over the month — the lowest figure in the past nine months.
In the Donetsk region alone, Russia has occupied an additional 21% of the region over the past two years (since January 2024), at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives. That territory is smaller than the part of the Donetsk region currently under Ukrainian control.
Economy is in a deep recession
Alongside military failures, Russia’s economy is showing signs of deep recession.
Sybiha noted that Russia’s regional budget deficit reached a record $21 billion in 2025 — eight times higher than in 2023.
Moscow has also failed to halt declining output across 12 key industries. In 2025, 15% more businesses shut down, while another 10% are on the brink of bankruptcy.
According to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, poor planning and sanctions could cost Russia at least $25 billion in oil revenue this year.
War returns to Russia
Sybiha stressed that Ukraine has intensified strikes on military targets inside Russia. In 2025, 719 such attacks were recorded, inflicting an estimated $15 billion in damage on Russia.
"The war is coming back to where it came from—to Russia. And it's only fair... The sooner Putin loses any illusions about his ability to achieve anything militarily, the sooner peace efforts will succeed," he said.
The minister also stressed that strengthening sanctions pressure remains critical to speeding up the end of the war — in particular, tougher measures against Russia’s so-called shadow fleet and its energy sector, along with increased defense support for Ukraine.
Earlier, Reuters reported that Russia’s oil and gas revenues fell to their lowest level since 2020 in January. Lower global crude oil prices and a strengthening of the Russian ruble drove the decline.
