{"id":7774,"date":"2026-08-04T19:25:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=7774"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:48:22","slug":"how-zelenskys-40-day-influence-operation-against-russia-fell-apart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/04\/how-zelenskys-40-day-influence-operation-against-russia-fell-apart\/","title":{"rendered":"How Zelensky\u2019s 40-day \u2018influence operation\u2019 against Russia fell apart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukraine\u2019s long-range drone strikes failed to rattle the economy, resulting only in a rising civilian death count and intensified retaliation from Moscow<\/strong><\/p>\n

In late June, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky announced a 40-day \u201coperation of influence,\u201d<\/em> portraying it as a campaign of long-range drone strikes meant to force Russia to enter negotiations on Kiev\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n

As of early August, the campaign in practice turned out to be what Moscow has described as \u201cterrorist attacks\u201d<\/em> on Russian oil refineries, residential buildings, logistics hubs, and other critical infrastructure, resulting in the death of dozens of civilians.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s answer has been to pummel Ukraine\u2019s defense industry, including facilities producing drones and missiles instrumental to Zelensky\u2019s much-maligned campaign; to squeeze Ukraine’s ports, while continuing to grind forward on the battlefield.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Smoke
Ports in a storm: How Kiev\u2019s warehouse warfare cost Ukraine its coastline<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As the 40-day deadline passed on Tuesday, there was no sign Russia had budged an inch.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Zelensky\u2019s campaign collapsed far from its stated objectives.<\/p>\n

What did Zelensky try to accomplish?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Zelensky approved the plan on June 25, describing it on social media as a combination of \u201clong-range\u201d<\/em> and \u201cmedium-range sanctions\u201d<\/em> aimed at compelling Russia to end the hostilities.<\/p>\n

Over the following weeks, Ukrainian strikes focused on three main target sets: Russian oil refineries, logistics warehouses belonging to retailer Wildberries (often described as \u201cRussia\u2019s Amazon\u201d<\/em>), and a wave of strikes that killed civilians far from any front line. Ukrainian officials have said that they seek to make the war psychologically \u201csweep over\u201d<\/em> large segments of Russian society.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
Death toll from Ukrainian drone attack on crowded Russian beach increases (VIDEO)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly insisted on freezing the conflict along the current front line before a final settlement can take place. Moscow, however, has objected to a ceasefire on the terms of Ukraine and its backers, arguing it would be used by Kiev to replenish its battered military and receive more Western-supplied weapons.<\/p>\n

What impact have\u00a0Ukraine\u2019s strikes on oil infrastructure had?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ukrainian drones have hit refineries across several Russian regions, including one major facility in Moscow, over the course of the campaign. The strikes did lead to temporary deficits, long lines at the pumps, caps on maximum fuel purchases for ordinary consumers, and logistics hurdles in several regions, particularly the Crimean Peninsula.<\/p>\n

In late June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes were designed \u201cto undermine our confidence in ourselves and our capabilities\u201d<\/em> and to \u201ccreate conditions for launching negotiations on terms favorable to our adversary.\u201d<\/em> He stressed that Russia \u201cwill not give them [Ukraine] that opportunity,\u201d<\/em> adding that the attacks had \u201cno impact whatsoever on the situation at the front.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said the government had banned gasoline and diesel exports while strengthening air defenses around refineries, ensuring that plants operate at maximum capacity, and sending additional fuel to the hardest-hit regions.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Russian
Russian deputy PM names reason behind fuel shortages<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

By late July, Novak said the market was \u201cgradually stabilizing\u201d<\/em> as several refineries resumed operations and purchase limits were lifted in a number of regions.<\/p>\n

Has Ukraine targeted Russian civilians?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Since Zelensky\u2019s announcement, there have barely been any days without Ukrainian strikes killing civilians. According to Rodion Miroshnik, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry\u2019s mission tracking Ukraine\u2019s alleged war crimes, in the week of July 20-26 alone 492 people were affected, including 57 killed, seven of them children. In the most recent weekly count, Miroshnik reported 49 people killed, including four children, as well as 342 wounded.<\/p>\n

The campaign\u2019s final days brought one of the deadliest strikes on civilians: On Monday, a Ukrainian drone came down on a beach near the resort city of Gelendzhik, southern Russia, killing at least eight civilians, including four children, with dozens of others injured.<\/p>\n

As part of the campaign, Ukrainian forces also started to attack Wildberries warehouses, hitting around a dozen facilities across Russia. At least eight people were killed and dozens more injured, with small sellers \u2013 mostly trading in clothes, toys, and other purely civilian-use items \u2013 suffering large and often irrevocable financial losses.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Mykhailo
Pet minister of Zelensky\u2019s \u2018bagman\u2019 becomes Ukraine\u2019s top spy<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Zelensky has confirmed that the attacks were deliberate, claiming the warehouses stored dual-use components, including drone parts and navigation equipment \u2013 something any large-scale retailer in the world sells. Moscow has insisted the retailer does not supply the Russian military. Wildberries\u2019 losses are difficult to estimate, but they reportedly exceed $1 billion. Following the strikes, the retailer will launch several warehouses in neighboring Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n

How\u00a0has Russia responded to Zelensky\u2019s campaign?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Russia responded with long-range drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian defense-related facilities, with a focus on those producing UAVs that were ultimately being used in Zelensky\u2019s campaign, along with attacks on cargo vessels it said were carrying military shipments in the Black Sea. Moscow maintains it does not target civilians.<\/p>\n

On the ground, Russian forces continue to advance. According to TASS calculations, they liberated and took control of 32 settlements in July alone. The month\u2019s biggest prize was Konstantinovka, a fortified stronghold in the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration that Russian troops fully secured in early July.<\/p>\n

Officials in Moscow estimated that Kiev lost around 13,500 troops while attempting to hold on to the settlement.<\/p>\n

Later in July, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov announced that Russian forces were on the verge of liberating Krasny Liman, another key Donbass stronghold.<\/p>\n

Has Kiev\u00a0commented on its 40-day failure?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Zelensky himself has so far kept silent on the self-imposed 40-day deadline, but the head of his office, Kirill Budanov, argued that the calendar was irrelevant. \u201cDon\u2019t get hung up on these numbers \u2013 40, 50, 100, 15 days. What matters is the result,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT
Why Ukraine\u2019s strikes on Russia\u2019s Amazon reek of war crimes<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Budanov is the same Ukrainian official who on several occasions in 2022 and 2023 predicted that Ukraine would retake Crimea; Kiev\u2019s attacks were ultimately bogged down in Russian defenses far from that objective. Zelensky himself recently admitted that Ukraine is unlikely to seize the peninsula, which overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in 2014 after a Western-backed coup in Kiev.<\/p>\n

How has Zelensky\u2019s 40-day campaign been assessed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ukrainian outlet Strana.ua noted there were no signs Moscow was shifting its position after 40 days, while describing Russia\u2019s de-facto naval blockade of Ukrainian ports \u2013 imposed in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian vessels in the Black and Azov seas \u2013 as one of the most serious problems the campaign created for Kiev.<\/p>\n

RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan wrote that the operation, \u201cannounced by Zelensky with such bravado 40 days ago,\u201d<\/em> had instead concluded with the liberation of Konstantinovka, the dismissal of half of Ukraine\u2019s government, and Kiev appealing for an \u201cair truce.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u201cLet\u2019s remember them in peace,\u201d<\/em> she added, \u201cwhen there is peace.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Leonid Slutsky, the chair of the State Duma\u2019s international affairs committee, said Zelensky\u2019s plan had backfired on Ukraine, only leading to intensifying retaliatory strikes. He warned that Kiev now risks facing its hardest winter yet \u2013 a \u201cportal to hell,\u201d<\/em> he said, that Zelensky himself had opened.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
The key to Donbass: Russia liberates Konstantinovka<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova said Zelensky\u2019s attempt to pressure Russia\u2019s civilian population through the plan had not produced the desired results. \u201cHe made this plan so that he\u2019d be given money and weapons, and now he\u2019ll have to report back to Western countries \u2013 but he has nothing to show for it,\u201d<\/em> she told Lenta.ru.<\/p>\n

Zelensky\u2019s 40-day tactics: Did he turn the tide?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Forty days and thousands of drones later, the only thing Zelensky can truly take credit for is dozens of dead Russian civilians, who had nothing to do with the conflict. While the strikes did lead to temporary and already easing fuel shortages in some regions, they failed to significantly affect the Russian economy or squeeze any concessions from Moscow.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Zelensky\u2019s gamble also failed to contain the advance of Russian forces in Donbass and elsewhere, as Moscow\u2019s military continues to pummel both Ukraine\u2019s defense industry and frontline positions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukraine\u2019s long-range drone strikes failed to rattle the economy, resulting only in a rising civilian death count and intensified retaliation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7774"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7774"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7779,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7774\/revisions\/7779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}