Video Description
Even against a backdrop of the War in Ukraine, Russia has often used the Victory Day parade to try and project strength to audiences at home and abroad.
The 2025 Parade for the 80th anniversary was a major event - with representatives form dozens of countries attending as some of Russia's most advanced military systems rolled through red square.
This year, the heavy equipment was mostly only present on screens, most foreign leaders stayed away, and the parade was cut down in time and scale over 'security concerns.' It was a more humble display that prompted a number of news sources to quickly as if Ukraine had 'turned the tide'.'
The thing is, even significant symbols are just that, symbols, and so today I want to look at some of the harder indicators of whether the balance on the Ukrainian battlefield has shifted at all since 2025.
So let's talk force (re)generation, territorial control, and the constant fight for technological advantage at the front.
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/PerunAU
Reading and Sourcing (Partial):
Visually confirmed loss data per Oryx and Warspotting
Fires mapping per Clement Molin on twitter (@clement_molin)
https://x.com/clement_molin?lang=en
UA USF Grouping hit data per USF Dashboard
https://sbs-group.army/en/subdivision/usf_grouping?period=monthly_4
Lee & Putiata - Creation of Russian Strategic Reserves (2025)
https://twomarines.substack.com/p/creation-of-russian-strategic-reserves
Reporting on Russian territorial gains in 2025
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/01/02/russian-army-makes-biggest-territorial-gains-in-2025-since-first-year-of-full-scale-invasion-a91601
Reporting on strike on Russia's fiber optic factory
https://united24media.com/latest-news/a-year-after-ukrainian-drone-strikes-russias-only-fiber-optic-factory-still-isnt-working-16295
Putin's 'finish off' comments - 2025
https://www.barrons.com/news/putin-calls-to-remove-zelensky-finish-off-ukrainian-troops-9bac654d
Included Brave One Image
https://armourersbench.com/2025/05/12/brave1-market-ukraines-new-online-marketplace-for-drones-kit-equipment/
UGV evacuates 77-year-old woman
https://united24media.com/latest-news/ukrainian-ground-robot-rescues-77-year-old-woman-from-lyman-frontline-video-18243
Reporting on Ukrainian UGV logistics goals
https://www.euractiv.com/news/ukraine-targets-fully-robotic-frontline-supply-chain-with-25000-ground-drones/
Visually confirmed loss data per Oryx and Warspotting
Reporting on Russian territorial gains in 2025
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/01/02/russian-army-makes-biggest-territorial-gains-in-2025-since-first-year-of-full-scale-invasion-a91601
Reporting on strike on Russia's fiber optic factory
https://united24media.com/latest-news/a-year-after-ukrainian-drone-strikes-russias-only-fiber-optic-factory-still-isnt-working-16295
Putin's 'finish off' comments - 2025
https://www.barrons.com/news/putin-calls-to-remove-zelensky-finish-off-ukrainian-troops-9bac654d
Included Brave One Image
https://armourersbench.com/2025/05/12/brave1-market-ukraines-new-online-marketplace-for-drones-kit-equipment/
UGV evacuates 77-year-old woman
https://united24media.com/latest-news/ukrainian-ground-robot-rescues-77-year-old-woman-from-lyman-frontline-video-18243
Reporting on Ukrainian UGV logistics goals
https://www.euractiv.com/news/ukraine-targets-fully-robotic-frontline-supply-chain-with-25000-ground-drones/z
Report on Russian USF
https://jamestown.org/russias-unmanned-systems-forces-become-wildcard-in-moscows-military-modernization/
Caveats & Comments:
All normal caveats and comments apply. In particular – I would like to note as always that this material has been created for entertainment purposes and is not intended to be a complete or comprehensive examination of the topic in question and should not be relied upon to inform financial or any other decision, evaluation, or similar.
Any content relating to the conduct, views, activities or any aspect of any person or character in this video is included for entertainment purposes and does not represent an assertion of fact on those matters or any matters in relation to that person or character.
Care has been taken in compiling data, quotes, and other inputs from various sources but errors can occur. Quotes and included data should be considered illustrative, not definitive and their veracity should not be relied on.
Timestamps:
00:00:00 — Intro
00:01:39 — What Am I Talking About?
00:02:11 — That's in a Parade?
00:10:02 — Force Regeneration & Reform
00:16:38 — the Grind
00:24:57 — Battlefield Movements
00:42:43 — the Tech Edge
00:56:03 — the State of the War?
00:59:02 — Channel Update