Russian forces are capturing less and less territory: the pace has been declining since November 2024 - ISW
Kyiv • UNN
Since November 2024, the rate of advance of Russian troops in Ukraine has been steadily declining. In March 2025, the Russians captured 143 square kilometers, in November 2024 – 730 square kilometers.
The rate of advance of Russian troops in Ukraine has been steadily declining since November 2024. This is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), reports UNN.
Details
The rate of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has been steadily declining since November 2024, partly due to successful Ukrainian counterattacks in eastern Ukraine
According to reports, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) reported on April 5 that Russian troops advanced 143 square kilometers in Ukraine in March 2025, as Ukrainian forces conducted successful tactical counterattacks in the Pokrovsk direction.
The UK Ministry of Defence reported on April 5 that in March 2025, Russian forces captured only 143 square kilometers of territory, amid successful tactical counterattacks by Ukrainian forces in the Pokrovsk direction.
While in November 2024, this figure was 730 square kilometers. According to British data, in December 2024, Russian troops advanced 393 square kilometers, in January 2025 - 326 square kilometers, and in February - 195 square kilometers.
ISW confirmed the trend based on geolocation materials.
According to its estimates, Russia advanced 627 square kilometers in November, 569 square kilometers in December, 427 square kilometers in January, 354 square kilometers in February, and 203 square kilometers in March.
Despite differences in methodology between the British Ministry of Defence and ISW, both organizations came to a similar conclusion: the rate of the Russian offensive has been slowing down for the fifth consecutive month.
ISW also emphasized that Ukrainian forces have recently conducted a series of successful local counterattacks in the areas of Pokrovsk and Toretsk, regaining lost positions and helping to stop the enemy's advance.