The Russian army has advanced 478 km² into Ukrainian territory since the beginning of October. This is its largest territorial gain over a month since March 2022 and the first weeks of the war, according to an AFP analysis this Monday, October 28 based on data from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
By October 27, Russian forces had gained more ground than during the months of August and September (477 and 459 km²), already marked by significant movements of the front line, particularly in the east of the country. Ukraine around the town of Pokrovsk.
The Donetsk region, in which this important logistical node is located, alone concentrated two thirds of the Russian advances in October (324 km²). Moscow’s forces are now only a few kilometers from the city, which they are approaching from the south and east.
This advance illustrates the difficulties encountered by the Ukrainian army in the east of the country, facing more numerous and better armed Russian soldiers. They are also regaining ground further north of the front line: in October, they took more than 40 km² towards Kupiansk, a city captured by Russian troops at the start of the conflict then recaptured by Ukraine in September 2022 .
By October 27, Russian forces had gained more ground than during the months of August and September (477 and 459 km²).
© / Sophie RAMIS, Valentin RAKOVSKY, Cléa PECULIER / AFP
More than 2,660 km² conquered since the start of the year
The last time Kremlin troops made such territorial gains was in March 2022, when their operations extended into the north of the country towards kyiv, in a phase of the conflict where the front line was much more mobile than today.
Russian forces had conquered 584 km² of Ukrainian territory over the whole of 2023. Since January 1, 2024, they have already taken more than 2,660, an area slightly larger than the metropolitan area of Moscow.
Since the start of the war on February 24, 2022, Russia had taken 67,192 km² of Ukrainian territory as of October 27. With Crimea, annexed in 2014, and the Donbass territories controlled by separatists before the Russian offensive, Moscow currently controls around 18.2% of Ukraine’s territory. AFP calculations are made from files communicated daily by theISWwhich is based on public information disseminated by both camps, and the analysis of satellite images.