Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russian forces had captured nearly 5,000 square kilometres (1,930 square miles) of Ukrainian territory so far in 2025, claiming Moscow now holds “full strategic initiative” on the battlefield.
Speaking at a meeting with senior military commanders in northwestern Russia to mark his 73rd birthday, Putin said the territorial gains included 212 localities, representing almost 1% of Ukraine’s land area. Russia now controls nearly 20% of the country, according to the Kremlin’s own figures.
“At this time, the Russian armed forces fully hold the strategic initiative,” Putin said, according to an official transcript. “This year, we have liberated nearly 5,000 square kilometres of territory — 4,900 — and 212 localities.”
He claimed that Ukrainian troops were “retreating throughout the line of combat contact, despite attempts at fierce resistance,” and that Kyiv’s attempts to strike inside Russia would not alter the situation after more than three and a half years of war.
Moscow reports steady advances
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had captured two additional villages along the 1,250-kilometre (775-mile) front line.
General Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s General Staff, told the meeting that Russian troops were “advancing in practically all directions,” with the heaviest fighting centred around Pokrovsk and nearby areas of the Donetsk region.
Gerasimov said Moscow’s forces were also moving towards Siversk and Kostyantynivka in Donetsk, while continuing efforts to push forward in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions in southern Ukraine. In the north, he said, troops were establishing buffer zones in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
Ukraine’s military, however, has disputed Moscow’s claims, saying Russian offensives have failed to capture any major city this year. Ukrainian officials report gains of their own in Donetsk, particularly near Dobropillia, and in Sumy, where Kyiv says it has reclaimed territory along the border.
War goals unchanged
Putin reiterated that Russia’s objectives remain the same as when he launched the invasion in February 2022, describing it again as a “special military operation” aimed at “demilitarising and denazifying” Ukraine.
The Russian leader’s comments come amid ongoing fighting across multiple regions, with both sides locked in a prolonged and costly conflict that shows no sign of ending soon.
