Ukraine Seizes Upper Hand On Battlefield Leaving Putin Stuck

Vladimir Putin is “stuck” as Ukraine has pushed Russia onto the back foot on the battlefield, according to an expert.

The Russian president scaled down his annual Victory Day parade – meant to honour Russia’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 – over the weekend even though Moscow normally uses the occasion to demonstrate its military strength.

Ukraine did not act on its threats to attack the celebration, abiding by a brief US-brokered ceasefire.

Putin also claimed he thinks the war is “coming to an end”, even though international negotiations have stalled.

Phillips O’Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, told BBC Radio 4 he believes the Russian president is feeling trapped.

He said: “I think he is feeling some pressure because the war is not going well for Russia.

“Here we are, more than four years after this three-day war started. The Russian military has lost between 1.3 million and 1.4 million soldiers – that’s a massive number.

“Russian gains have all but ended in the last few months. They can’t move forward. The Ukrainians are doing very effective long-range strikes across Russia.

“It’s a very difficult situation for Putin to justify to the Russian population.

“So I think in some sense he’s trying to project confidence, this will be over soon, we’re winning.

“But it’s also a sign that he’s a bit stuck. What he said or thought was going to happen is clearly not happening.”

O’Brien pointed out that Ukraine is now using robots as frontline cavalry and to repel Russian drones, effectively cutting down on its own human losses.

Soldiers have been removed from the frontline and replaced with machines.

“The Ukrainian military is in many ways so much farther ahead than western militaries in understanding the new war,” the specialist said.

“They’ve done this to keep their casualties down. It’s a very modern way of fighting the war and it’s how Ukraine, with its smaller population, has to fight.

“The Russians have not adjusted as quickly. They’re still fighting a very manpower intensive war.

“Because of that, they’re suffering enormous casualties.”

He added: “That’s why Ukraine is arguably in a better situation in 2026 than it was in 2025.”

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