Ukraine Says It Has Retaken Over 600 Sq Km of Territory This Year, a Sign of Shifting Battlefield

Key news on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(中央社, Kyiv, 8th, Combined Foreign Reports) Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi stated today that Ukrainian forces have retaken over 600 square kilometers of territory since the beginning of the year. This is the latest sign of a shift in the battlefield situation after years of slow but relentless Russian advances.

According to a Reuters report, Syrskyi said on the Telegram messaging app that in May alone, Ukraine retook 100 square kilometers more territory than it lost.

Syrskyi did not specify in which areas the progress was made, only stating that Ukrainian forces maintain the initiative in certain sectors of the 1,200-kilometer front line.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said last month that Ukraine had retaken approximately 600 square kilometers of territory in 2026.

Reuters could not independently verify these claims. The drone war has created vast no-man's lands, or "kill zones," along the front line, making it extremely difficult to independently define the line of Ukrainian territorial control.

However, independent organizations that map the battlefield have also reported that the overall pace of Russian advances has slowed or reversed in recent months, the first such occurrence since Ukraine's failed counteroffensive in 2023.

Syrskyi stated that Russian forces are still trying to advance in eastern and southern Ukraine, noting that the number of daily combat clashes has increased significantly. He described the front-line situation as "difficult and rapidly changing."

He pointed out that the area around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk is one of the most intense combat zones.

The Ukrainian independent battlefield map site DeepState has shown Pokrovsk as being under full Russian control for several weeks. Russian forces claimed to have captured the city last December.

In the initial months of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian forces recaptured large swathes of territory in a series of counteroffensives. However, a major counteroffensive in 2023 failed, and Russian forces have been making gains ever since.

Ukrainian forces launched offensives in the south and southeast earlier this year, which analysts say has helped to blunt Russia's spring offensive and its actions around Pokrovsk. (Editor: Liu Shuqin) 1150608