Russian invaders occupy 2,300 sq km of Ukrainian territory, capture 130 settlements in six months – ISW
Russian troops took control of approximately 2,346 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory and captured 130 settlements between March 1 and August 30, according to the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
It is noted that the Russian Defense Ministry is exaggerating its progress in its own statements. In particular, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, reported on August 30 that Russian troops had captured 3,500 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory and 149 settlements since March 2025.
Thus, according to ISW data, the occupiers advanced an average of 591 square kilometers per month.
"Russia's gains have been largely gradual and creeping for many months, and Russia's rate of advance is incredibly slow under the norms of modern mechanized warfare. Any assessment of Russia's battlefield performance and strength must examine both the tempo of advance and the resulting losses to make those gains," the analysts write.
ISW emphasizes that Russia's territorial gains remain disproportionately limited and slow compared to the high losses suffered. Citing the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it is reported that 210,000 occupiers were killed in Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk regions from January to August 2025, an average of 26,250 per month, and 290,000 or an average of 36,250 losses per month in the entire theater of operations for the same period.
With reference to the Russian Registry of Inheritance Cases, it is reported that at least 93,000 Russian servicemen died in 2024, and the losses of the occupiers since the beginning of 2025 are estimated at at least 56,000.
As reported, in December 2024, the Russian occupation forces occupied a total of 593 sq km of Ukrainian territory, and in January 2025 - 498 sq km in Ukraine and the Kursk region, or approximately 16.1 sq km per day. At the same time, according to ISW, Russian forces suffered approximately 96 casualties per 1 sq km of captured territory
