Ex-CIA Director Petraeus: Russia Paying a 'Mad' Price in Losses for the Failure of Its Spring-Summer Campaign

Former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency David Petraeus told RBK-Ukraine in an interview that Russia is unable to achieve the goals it set for itself during its spring-summer campaign and is paying a "mad" price in losses for its attempts to advance along the front. In his words, despite Vladimir Putin's claims of "significant progress," the real picture along the line of contact looks fundamentally different: according to the former intelligence chief, the initiative lies with the Ukrainian side.

The Initiative on the Front and the Failure of Russian Plans

"I believe that the initiative on the front belongs to Ukraine, because Russia is unable to achieve what it was striving for. Despite Vladimir Putin's assertion that they are making significant progress, that simply does not correspond to reality," Petraeus emphasized. He pointed out that Ukrainian forces are not allowing Russian troops to carry out the key tasks of the spring-summer offensive — in particular, to capture the remaining part of the Donetsk region and the so-called fortified cities. "They have not even reached the fortified cities yet; they are only on their approaches," the former CIA director added.

"Unthinkable" Losses of the Russian Army

Petraeus paid particular attention to the scale of the Russian army's daily losses. "Ukraine is not only preventing Russia from achieving its goals but is also inflicting extraordinary losses on the Russians. More than 1,000 killed and wounded a day — for me, honestly, that is simply unthinkable," he stated. At the same time, Petraeus recalled that he himself had held five command positions at the rank of general, including three as a four-star general (in Iraq, Afghanistan, and U.S. Central Command), and noted that even such experience does not allow one to fully grasp the scale of the current losses on the Russian side.

Destroying Air Defense and Cutting Off Crimea

The former CIA director also drew attention to the fact that Ukraine is maintaining the initiative by systematically cutting off occupied Crimea from logistical supplies from Russia. In his words, Ukrainian forces are deliberately destroying Russian air and missile defense systems, including S-400 complexes. "They are destroying these systems, which means that in the coming months their strikes on the Russian Federation will be more successful," Petraeus summed up, referring to strikes on Russian territory.

Kyiv's Position: 'There Will Be No Victory for Both Sides'

Against the backdrop of these assessments, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that in the current war there can no longer be a victory for both sides and that the only realistic goal is to stop the fighting in order to save human lives. In his words, the Kremlin's strategic goal is not individual territories but the complete subjugation of all of Ukraine. Zelensky also commented on the idea of an "energy truce," previously voiced by Donald Trump: Kyiv, he said, is ready for such an agreement, but the parties' approaches to the concept of "energy" are fundamentally different — for Russia it is primarily the sale of oil and gas, while for Ukraine it is electricity in citizens' homes.

Contradictory Data

The assessments of the two key figures — Petraeus and Zelensky — show a difference in emphasis. Petraeus frames the situation as a tactical and strategic advantage for Ukraine on the front, backed by specific figures on enemy losses and the destruction of its air defense. Zelensky, by contrast, avoids the rhetoric of "victory" and positions the task exclusively as a cessation of hostilities, without giving a direct assessment of which side "holds the initiative." Moreover, Putin's claims of "significant progress" directly contradict Petraeus's assessment, which he calls inconsistent with reality. The discrepancy in the figures for daily losses (more than 1,000 according to Petraeus) had not been independently verified by third-party observers at the time of the interview, leaving room for debate over the accuracy of this estimate.

Diplomatic Context: The Meeting in New York

As RBK-Ukraine reported, preparations are currently underway for a meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump in New York, scheduled for the end of September 2026. The context of this meeting is being shaped against the backdrop of Petraeus's statements on the tactical position of the parties and the debate over the "energy truce," making the coming weeks crucial for a possible shift in the diplomatic dynamics around the conflict.