On his 73rd birthday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told senior military commanders that Moscow’s forces had seized nearly 5,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory this year, a gain he said cements Russia’s strategic initiative in the nearly four-year-old war, according to “Reuters”.
Speaking at a meeting near St. Petersburg, Putin claimed Ukrainian troops were retreating “throughout the line of combat contact,” despite mounting resistance. According to him, Russian advances this year alone account for almost one percent of Ukraine’s landmass, pushing the Kremlin’s total control to about 20 percent of the country.
“This year, we have liberated nearly 5,000 square kilometers of territory—4,900 to be precise—and 212 localities,” Putin said, insisting that Ukrainian efforts to strike deep into Russian territory would not alter the battlefield balance.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its troops captured two more villages this week, as the front now stretches over 1,250 kilometers. General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, told commanders that Russian forces were “advancing in practically all directions,” with the fiercest clashes unfolding around Pokrovsk and toward the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Moscow’s forces are pressing on key cities in Donetsk, including Siversk and Kostyantynivka, while intensifying operations in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk further south. Gerasimov added that Russia was working to create buffer zones in Ukraine’s northern Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
Kyiv, however, offers a different picture. Ukrainian officials insist Russian offensives have failed to capture any major city this year, while Ukrainian troops have retaken ground near Dobropillia in Donetsk and pushed back Russian footholds in Sumy. President Volodymyr Zelensky has highlighted these counter-gains, framing them as proof that Ukraine remains resilient in the face of Moscow’s grinding advance.
