Russian summer offensive failed, and “SVO” lost its meaning – military analyst on the Russian fiasco
8 September 2025 15:34
Russia’s summer offensive in Donbas not only failed to achieve its goals, but also proved to be a failure. This was stated by military analyst and co-chairman of the Pravova Sprava initiative Dmitry Snegirev in an exclusive commentary for "Komersant Ukrainian".
“In August alone, the occupiers’ losses exceeded 35,000 people, and the advance was half as much as in previous months,” the expert emphasizes.
According to him, for almost four years of full-scale war, Russia has not been able to realize any of its stated strategic goals, including the establishment of full control over the Donetsk region.
The analyst gives a telling comparison:
“In November 2024, Russia’s advance amounted to about 750 square kilometers, while in August 2025 it was no more than 300 square kilometers. At the same time, the level of losses is commensurate,” Snegiryov notes.
This, in his opinion, demonstrates the tremendous success of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which manage not only to deter the enemy but also to inflict significant losses on it.
The Russian offensive had a political goal – to disrupt the negotiations
According to the expert, the August intensification of hostilities in the Donetsk region coincided with rumors of possible talks between the Russian president and the United States:
“In this way, Russia was trying to demonstrate that negotiations are pointless, because the Russian army is allegedly capable of taking Donetsk region by military means,” Snegiryov said.
Despite the fact that the Russian command tried to create a threat of operational encirclement in the areas of Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad and Dobropillia, the situation was stabilized.
“Thanks to the redeployment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reserves, the enemy was stopped. We managed to encircle some of the Russian assault groups,” the expert emphasizes.
According to him, more than a thousand occupants were eliminated, and about 50 more were taken prisoner.
Failure of not only the summer offensive, but the entire “SVO“
The analyst emphasizes that it is inappropriate to evaluate Russia’s actions solely in terms of seasonal offensives. We should talk about the fiasco of the entire so-called “special military operation”:
“The Russians did not even fulfill the intermediate tasks. Reaching the administrative borders of the Donetsk region remained an unattainable goal,” says Snegiryov.
Snegiryov draws attention to the absurdity of Russian propaganda:
“On June 30, the Russian media announced the complete liberation of the LPR, and on August 30, only 99.7%. This means the loss of 0.3% of the territory in just two months. This is the result of successful actions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces,” the expert emphasizes.
He emphasizes that Russia has already begun to lose the seized territories, in particular in the Luhansk region, despite the point tactical advances.
Territorial exchanges as an indicator of defeat
According to Snegiryov, the idea of possible “territorial exchanges” is being thrown into the information space again:
“We are talking about a scenario where Russia will offer to exchange parts of Sumy and Kharkiv regions for the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donetsk region,” the analyst explains.
In his opinion, this is a sign of desperation on the part of the Kremlin leadership, which cannot achieve its goals by military means. Snegiryov is convinced that the statements of the Russian command about the “success of the spring-summer campaign of 2025” are not true.
“The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine made it clear: the Russian summer offensive ended in nothing. And this is another proof of the fiasco of the Kremlin’s entire strategy,” Dmytro Snegiryov concludes.
Thus, despite mobilization efforts, concentration of forces and attempts to attack in several key areas, the Russian army suffered another strategic defeat.
The August campaign did not bring any breakthroughs, but was accompanied by enormous losses that exceeded 35,000 people in just one month. This once again confirms the Kremlin’s inability to achieve any of the goals of the so-called “special operation.” The fact that over the four years of war, Russia has not been able to reach even the administrative boundaries of the Donetsk region indicates not just tactical miscalculations, but a complete strategic failure to implement the planned military and political campaign.
