At a meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense on October 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that during 2025, Russian troops had occupied a total of 4,900 sq km of Ukrainian territory and 212 population centers. This is less than 1 percent of Ukraine's total territory.
Ukrainian publications also confirm this figure, emphasizing that Russia has captured only 5,842 sq km of territory in the last three years. The total area captured since the start of the war, however, exceeds 108 thousand sq km.
The achievements mentioned by Putin are quite small when compared to the area of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Ukrainian army currently controls 30 percent of the Donetsk region, which is approximately 8,000 sq km.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Russia is failing to achieve significant results on the front. It was previously reported that the US, through intelligence data, is assisting Ukraine in launching strikes deep inside Russian territory.
