OPINION — “Since January 2024, Russian forces have seized roughly 5,000 sq. kilometers [1,931 square miles] of extra Ukrainian territory, lower than one % of the nation. In sure areas, akin to Kharkiv, Russia’s charge of advance is as little as 50 meters [55 yards] per day on common. These incremental positive aspects have come at the price of heavy losses. This quarter [April 1, 2025-to-June 30, 2025], Russian casualties within the Russia-Ukraine conflict seemingly surpassed a million, together with roughly 250,000 killed and 750,000 wounded, lacking, or captured. Russian fatalities throughout three years of conflict in opposition to Ukraine are 15 occasions larger than these skilled in the course of the Soviet Union’s decade-long conflict in Afghanistan.”
That is an excerpt from the 120-page Special Inspector General for Operation Atlantic Resolve Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, required by a provision within the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
Released publicly August 12, 2025, the report [seventh in the series] summarized U.S. Government help to Ukraine and the broader response to Russia’s full-scale invasion, together with help for the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), help for NATO companions, and U.S. army, diplomatic, and humanitarian exercise.
I discovered the report, achieved collectively by the acting-Inspectors General of the Defense Department (DoD), State Department (DoS) and Agency for International Development (AID) – which is now a part of DoS, contained fascinating details and analyses about U.S., Ukrainian, Russian and NATO nation actions that I had not learn elsewhere.
For instance, in response to the report, “The battle continued to be characterised by exchanges of artillery and UAS (unmanned plane techniques) strikes. Since final quarter, Russia’s artillery hearth charge elevated from roughly 23,000 rounds per day to between 27,000 and 28,000 rounds per day. Russia elevated its expenditure of one-way assault unmanned aerial automobiles (UAV) in one among its precedence areas from 7,000 in April to 10,000 in May. The DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) stated that, extrapolating from this one space, it’s doable that Russia is expending as much as 72,000 tactical UAVs monthly in roughly 9 essential operational areas.”
On the entrance traces, the report stated, a “novel Russian tactic is utilizing UAVs to ship grenades crammed with riot management brokers, akin to CS gasoline and Chloropicirin [a tear gas]…Russia deploys these UAVs to clear UAF (Ukraine Armed Forces) from entrenched combating positions and into extra open or weak areas. While these chemical brokers should not thought-about deadly, Russia makes use of them to form the battlefield and trigger UAF casualties.”
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Another Russian tactic, in response to the report, is “a constant enhance in Russia’s jamming of Global Navigation Satellite Systems alongside its borders, with a notable focus within the Baltic Sea area. This exercise is probably going a part of a broader power safety measure as Russia fields extra weapon techniques. However, additionally it is seemingly that the intensification of jamming within the Baltic area is a response to the Baltic states supporting Ukraine. The navigation jamming had a major unfavourable impact on business air and maritime site visitors within the area.”
The report additionally shared some fascinating numbers that assist paint an image of simply how a lot this conflict is costing Russia’s army. “Since January 2024, Russia has misplaced roughly 1,149 armored combating automobiles, 3,098 infantry combating automobiles, 300 self-propelled artillery automobiles, and 1,865 tanks, in response to a suppose tank evaluation. Russian losses of those platforms have been considerably increased than Ukraine’s, at ratios various from 5:1 to 2:1.”
As of June, in response to the report, “Ukraine had misplaced management of roughly 20 % of its general territory. Russian forces recaptured all however a small portion of Russia’s Kursk area [which Ukraine invaded in August 2024] and gained management of a whole lot of sq. kilometers [100 square kilometers equals 38.6 square miles] throughout Ukraine’s Sumy, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson areas since January, in response to the DIA.”
The report described different Ukrainian challenges saying that this quarter, “the UAF had struggled with insufficient recruitment, desertions from the entrance line, refusals to struggle, and undertrained personnel, leading to most of its frontline brigades working under fight energy…Despite these challenges, the Ukrainian authorities continued to reject calls to decrease the conscription age from 25 to 18 because of the potential long-term demographic results and public opposition. However, on July 29, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a regulation growing the utmost age for brand spanking new recruits to 60.”
The studies states that “Ukraine sought to bolster its ranks by recruiting contract troopers from overseas. In May, Ukraine opened a brand new recruitment middle and launched a digital promoting marketing campaign targeting recruitment in Latin America.” One end result, the report stated, “Veterans of Colombia’s drug conflict, skilled in guerrilla ways, signify a major contingent of Ukraine’s volunteers. Ukraine has recruited roughly 27,000 troopers monthly, roughly 15,000 under Russia’s recruitment charge. By providing contracts of as much as $3,000 monthly, Ukraine goals to bolster this whole by recruiting a number of thousand contract troopers from overseas.”
The report additionally described the big selection of U.S. help offered to the world for the reason that Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
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For instance, since that date, the report stated, “Congress has appropriated or in any other case made accessible $187 billion for OAR and the broader Ukraine response,” out of which “$30 billion remained accessible for obligation” as of June 30, 2025.
Of the above talked about $187 billion, some $134 billion was thought-about “safety associated,” and included, the report stated, $45.78 billion appropriated to the DoD to interchange U.S. weapons and materiel donated to Ukraine; and $33.5 billion for applications Congress created to assist Ukraine purchase U.S. weaponry and in any other case present for its self-defense.
The largest quantity, $47.43 billion, was for forward-deployment of U.S. army forces and prepositioned shares in Eastern Europe to discourage aggression in opposition to NATO allies. I ought to observe right here, the report stated that in this previous quarter, the DoD maintained roughly 81,600 U.S. army and seven,400 civilian personnel within the European Command space of operations. These embody rotating from the U.S. to Europe, typically for 9 months, two armor brigade fight groups and one infantry brigade fight group.
The report notes: “None of the appropriation payments enacted within the present fiscal 12 months [which ends September 30, 2025]…have provisions appropriating or rescinding appropriated funds particularly for OAR,” which I remind readers are for the army response to the Ukraine conflict.
However, the report stated that the U.S. pause in Ukraine army help from March 3 to March 11, ordered by Trump within the wake of his confrontational Oval Office assembly with Zelensky, “had important residual results on the supply of safety help, together with Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System proximity fuzes and 155mm high-explosive ammunition. The short-term halt in processing new requests led to materiel being held in place whereas awaiting additional U.S. coverage determinations.”
With the Trump administration withdrawing from management of the Ukraine help actions, the report famous that NATO personnel assumed management over logistics and distant upkeep co-located in Jasionka, Poland. As host nation, Poland assumed the lead as soon as achieved by the U.S.
The U.S. and its worldwide companions continued to offer diverse coaching to the UAF at Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany, in addition to different places in Europe. This quarter, Grafenwoehr opened a brand new trench system designed to copy battlefield situations.
The report additionally stated that “The UAF faces a scarcity of medical doctors, nurses, paramedics, and specialists, particularly in frontline areas, resulting in overwhelmed amenities and diminished entry to care. The remaining healthcare staff are experiencing important trauma and burnout, additional exacerbating staffing points.” In addition, “the UAF doesn’t all the time make use of skilled medical personnel in response to their specialty, and dentists are sometimes employed as infantry troopers,” in response to the report.
State’s Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) leads the U.S. Government’s demining efforts in Ukraine. During the quarter, the report stated, “State PM/WRA supported implementers and Ukrainian authorities operators in clearing 11,200 acres of land in Ukraine, most of which was agricultural, and in destroying 4,556 landmines and gadgets of unexploded ordnance. The implementers additionally offered explosive ordnance threat training to eight,042 folks residing in or close to minefields.”
State PM/WRA “additionally offered 104 units of private protecting tools, 151 detectors, and 52 automobiles to Ukrainian authorities deminers, strengthening their means to conduct demining operations with out exterior help,” the report stated.
The report additionally offered some particulars on the impression of the Trump administration ending USAID applications, disclosing that of the 163 Ukraine international help applications for which State officers offered info, 85 had been terminated, 76 continued unchanged, and two had been amended.
One that was continued, in response to the report, associated to $45 million of USAID funds contracted out to the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Agency for a sequence of applications. One $25 million program was: “Procure, ship, and set up small-scale mills at choose cities close to Ukraine’s nuclear energy crops to make sure dependable energy technology to native crucial infrastructure,” in response to the report.
After pauses, the funds had been made accessible and following the completion of the international help overview, the DoE and the NNSA resumed actions associated to distributed energy technology and passive safety, together with finishing the total obligation of $45 million.
However, in response to the report, as of July 1, State assumed accountability for administering most international help, which concerned roughly $1 billion in energetic awards and greater than $3 billion in terminated awards that also require formal closeout. USAID Ukraine reported that just about 80 % of the mission’s technical and contract personnel had departed by June 25 as a way to adjust to the July 1 deadline for his or her separation from service.
“USAID Ukraine reported that 9 American former USAID workers had been being employed by State to handle help applications in Ukraine,” the report stated, including, “State reported that it plans to rent some former USAID international service nationals to handle help applications in Ukraine, however this had not but occurred as of the tip of the quarter.” As of mid-June, State had not but formally recognized contracting and grants officers for a lot of USAID applications.
The Inspectors General on this report record plans for the present quarter, and amongst them is a State Department IG proposed “Evaluation of Department of State Administration of Foreign Assistance Program from the U.S. Agency for International Development” which is able to “describe State’s administration of U.S. Agency for International Development international help applications and related awards transferred to State.”
I look ahead to studying that report, if and when it’s launched.
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