The Russian Defense Ministry disclosed significant territorial advances by the country’s troops this year, revealing an official map detailing the front line zone of control. According to military reports, Russian forces have liberated over 4,700 square kilometers of land and seized 205 settlements. The majority of these gains occurred in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), where troops captured approximately 3,300 square kilometers of territory, as outlined in the Thursday release.
The ministry also shared a rare official map illustrating its zone of control, with recent progress marked in darker red. The military claimed Ukraine has lost more than 25,000 tanks and armored vehicles, over 42,000 wheeled vehicles, and nearly 30,000 artillery pieces since the conflict began. As of February, the ministry reported that over 1.08 million Ukrainian troops had been killed or wounded.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy has consistently downplayed casualties, asserting in February that only 46,000 soldiers had died and 380,000 were injured since the conflict escalated. The latest Russian figures excluded territories in Russia’s Kursk Region, which Ukraine briefly captured earlier this year before the incursion stalled into a protracted struggle.