Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief highlights achievements of his one year in office: 377 military targets hit in Russia
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported that during his year in office, Ukraine's defence forces hit 377 military targets in Russia, with a maximum range of 1,700 km.
Source: Oleksandr Syrskyi on the occasion of his first anniversary as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Quote from Oleksandr Syrskyi: "DeepStrike's range deep into Russian territory has already reached 1,700 kilometres. We are preparing new long-range weapons, which will indeed be used.
Сomprehensive damage has successfully inflicted 377 military targets in the Russian Federation over this year.
During the year, the Air Force of Ukraine and other units of the defence forces destroyed 9,200 air targets of various types, which is 2.4 times more than in 2023 (3,798)."
Details: The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine identified 8 priorities for his work:
Saving personnel;
Performing long-distance attacks;
To win you must be prepared;
Russia on fire;
Non-standard actions, not just defence;
Changing to win;
Capability strengthening;
Unity is the key to our resilience.
The Commander-in-Chief stated that the defence forces have "stopped the enemy's offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, prevented an offensive in Sumy Oblast and moved the war to the enemy's territory" in the past year, as well as restrained Russia's ongoing offensive in the east.
Quote from Oleksandr Syrskyi: "Over the past year, we have killed more enemy personnel and destroyed more military equipment and infrastructure than in previous years of the war."
Details: Syrskyi reminded that the Armed Forces have developed and are implementing a comprehensive programme to save servicemen's lives. The key areas of the programme are modernising the army, improving Ukrainian defenders' exercise programmes, and improving medical care at all stages. An important aspect of the programme is the actions of unit commanders.
Oleksandr Syrskyi also noted that in 2024 the state supplied more than 1.3 million drones to the front line.
Quote from Oleksandr Syrskyi: "We were the first in the world to create the Unmanned Systems Forces, scaling up the legendary units such as the Magyars Birds, Achilles, K-2 and others. We are developing robotic platforms, as well as land and naval drones. The enemy is fully experiencing the power of our FPV drones. Over the past year, the number of targets hit by various attack UAVs exceeded 461,000. A year ago, the advantage of Russian troops in artillery ammunition was approximately 1:10. Today, this ratio has dropped to almost 1:2."
He added that Ukrainian forces had destroyed about 13,050 Russian artillery systems over the past year (8,400 in the previous two years).
Syrskyi noted that the duration of basic general military training (BGMT) has been increased to 1.5 months and may be extended to 2 months.
"We are intensifying the training of instructors. We've successfully tested conducting BGMT at the facilities of combat brigades located in the rear. Furthermore, I strongly advocate for a 14-day adaptation course in military units after the BGMT, even before engaging in combat operations. The better prepared and psychologically stable our soldiers are, the stronger our positions at the front will be," he said.
Syrskyi also mentioned that for the first time this year, training on foreign weapons and military equipment is being conducted in Ukraine rather than abroad, which significantly optimises both costs and time. This achievement was made possible by increasing the number of foreign-trained instructors.
He also noted the creation of a buffer zone in Russia's Kursk Oblast, which thwarted Russia's plan to launch a new offensive against the Ukrainian cities of Sumy and Kharkiv.
"The total losses of Russian forces in personnel over the six months of active hostilities on the territory of the Russian Federation have amounted to more than 47,000 troops, including more than 19,000 fatalities. These were the most trained Russian troops. A group of North Korean mercenaries was also crushed. In the course of the operation, 924 Russian army servicemen were taken prisoner," he added.
Syrskyi pointed out that a year ago, work began on auditing military units and command structures, particularly the General Staff. As a result of this audit, several military structures and institutions were either disbanded or downsized.
"We reassigned the released personnel to reinforce operational and tactical command structures and combat units. As a result of downsizing security, maintenance, and support units, approximately 70,000 servicemen have been deployed to the combat zone," he said.
Syrskyi also stated that this year, the Ukrainian Armed Forces "have fully transitioned to NATO standards and principles in training and command and control of troops".
Quote: "At the end of the third year of the full-scale war, we continue to fight despite the challenges. We are enhancing mobilisation efforts and intensifying recruitment. At the same time, given the current circumstances, we are relying on the relocation and secondment of service members from non-combat military units to combat units. This process is already underway. After all, if the front line collapses, all our plans will be in vain."
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