Syrskyi: Russian losses have slowed the advance in Ukraine, Europe must get ready for war

European countries must prepare for the possibility that Russian aggression may extend beyond Ukraine. This was the warning of the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrskyi, during an exclusive interview with the BBC, where he spoke about the situation on the front, Moscow’s losses and the role of technology in the war.

He asked European allies to prepare their economies, armed forces and populations, as well as to invest in modern weapons and their defensive capabilities, without underestimating the risk of Russian aggression expanding.

Syrskyi claimed that the heavy losses of the Russian army, together with the use of new technologies, have helped Ukraine stabilize the front and prevent the advance of Moscow’s forces.

The former commander, who led the Ukrainian army from 2024, said that in the first six months of 2026, Russia took only 61 square kilometers of territory in total. He presented this figure as a clear indicator of the stabilization of the front line.

A slowdown in the Russian advance has also been observed by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), in a report cited by the BBC. During September 2026, the territory Russia lost was larger than the territory it occupied.

In Syrskyi’s assessment, Moscow’s total losses in the war are six times greater than Ukrainian losses. For the number of those killed, he claimed that this ratio could go up to 11 times.

Independent verification of these figures is not possible. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv publishes complete official tallies of soldiers killed during the war.

The interview was the first that Syrskyi gave after leaving the post. Alongside developments on the battlefield, he addressed clashes with defense leaders, objections to his style of command, and the prospect of a war reliant on drones and artificial intelligence.

Speaking about disagreements with former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the former general said they concerned the procurement of equipment and military supplies. He argued that the focus on drones had led to shortages of other essential means at the front, including unmanned ground vehicles, pickup trucks and motorcycles.

Even for drones, according to Syrskyi, supply remained insufficient: the army received only half the quantity it needed.

He rejected claims that his approach was too traditional for leading an army that is increasingly relying on technology. As an argument, Syrskyi mentioned the significant expansion of Ukraine’s use of drones during his command, including strikes over 2,000 kilometers behind enemy lines.

According to his claim, 80% of Russian losses are caused by drones. This percentage has also not been independently verified.

Criticism of the former commander has also been expressed by soldiers who served under his orders. In previous testimony to the BBC, they said they were asked to hold positions even in the face of the risk of encirclement by Russian troops, which had led to heavy losses.

Without denying that such situations had occurred, Syrskyi said that Ukraine faces an adversary with great superiority both in personnel and in weaponry.

For 2025, he described this superiority by saying that Russia possessed 18 times more aircraft and bombs, while in artillery and ammunition it had two and a half times more than Ukraine.

Syrskyi also defended the Ukrainian operation in the Russian region of Kursk. This operation began in August 2024 and ended with the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops in the spring of the following year.

According to him, the intervention in Kursk was necessary because it forced Moscow to bring forces there from other directions and gave the Ukrainian army the time needed to reorganize its units.

For the future of the conflict, the former commander predicted an increasing dependence on technology, with robots, automated systems and artificial intelligence being used more and more.

However, Syrskyi underlined that the decisive role on the battlefield will remain with humans, since the control and direction of these systems will continue to require human intervention.