Why Russia's Planned Offensives Failed Again! - Silicon Curtain

Edition No241 | 04-09-2025 - This summer Putin expected thunder and damnation, the smiting of Ukrainian forces and major advances on the frontlines in all directions. What he got and mud and blood, twisted armour and incremental gains in some places, and humiliating retreats in others. Ukraine of course has eyes on a maximalist prize, the recovery of all its sovereign land and people, but at a minimum, it can count as a success just holding the invaders at bay for another year, fighting them to a standstill and exacting a huge price in bodies and treasure. For Putin it’s different. Whereas his maximalist aims might be delusional, his minimum success, to satisfy the baying Z-Patriot mob and propagandists, is so much more than his armies managed to achieve.

Russia launched big fighting talk and bigger bombardments from Sumy to Pokrovsk, sought kilometres of gains, but ran into a wall of Ukrainian resilience. Modern warfare does not favour manoeuvre, with drones to observe, ambush, drop ordnance and undertake kamikaze strikes. A transparent battlefield where forces are massing means a target rich environment is massing. This is partly why Russia’s summer offensives have failed to meet their strategic objectives; how both sides can still plausibly claim to have momentum dominance; why 2025 is shaping up as stasis on the ground that favours Ukraine, and disfavours Russia. It’s also why Putin needs photo-ops in Alaska and China to appear strong while his army bleeds for inches.