Ukraine captured nearly 400 square miles from Russia in one week: General

Kiev has been extremely tight-lipped about the particularly ambitious operation, which has caught Moscow and many observers of the conflict off guard, but has begun to reveal more information publicly.

“As of now, we control about 1,000 square kilometers of the territory of the Russian Federation. The troops are performing their tasks,” Syrskyi said in a video call with the Ukrainian leadership. “Fighting is ongoing along the entire front line,” he said, adding that the situation is “under our control.”

Business Insider could not independently verify the figure provided, but Syrski’s assessment suggests that Ukrainian gains over the past week are approaching the total area of ​​land seized in Russian advances since January — which would be an impressive feat for Kiev, given view the challenges that his armies could forces faced.

According to Mitch Belcher, a geospatial analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, which tracks battlefield movements and developments, Russian forces occupied approximately 108,163 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory as of December 31. By August 11, this figure had increased to 109,338 square kilometers. .

“We estimate that Russian forces have occupied an additional 1,175 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory so far in 2024,” he told BI on Monday. That’s just over 450 square miles. A key question, however, is whether Ukraine can hold on to its recent gains.

Ukraine’s bold offensive into Russia began on August 6, with thousands of soldiers escorted by armored vehicles crossing the border into the Kursk region. Kiev appears to have advanced several miles deep into Russia and controls dozens of settlements. More than 100,000 civilians fled the area during the fighting.

The overall purpose of the raid is not immediately clear. Conflict analysts have suggested that Ukraine could try to relieve some pressure on its forces elsewhere along the extended front line, gain leverage for potential territorial negotiations with Russia, or even humiliate Moscow and boost morale in Kiev.

“We are grateful to all soldiers and commanders for their firmness and decisive actions,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app on Monday.

Some experts have suggested that, at the very least, the Kursk operation temporarily gave Ukraine the battlefield initiative in one area of ​​the front line, while challenging Russia’s overall theater-wide initiative.

ISW experts wrote in their assessment on Sunday that “Russia’s possession of the theater-wide initiative from November 2023 has allowed Russia to determine the location, timing, scope and requirements of the fight in Ukraine and has forced Ukraine to expend materiel and manpower in reactive defensive operations. .”

“However, the Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region forced the Kremlin and the Russian military command to react and redeploy forces and assets to the sector where Ukrainian forces launched attacks,” they said.

How that plays out remains to be seen. John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told reporters last week that the Biden administration had been in contact with its Ukrainian counterparts about the ongoing operation.

“We’re working to get a better understanding of what they’re doing, what their goals are, what their strategy is,” he said Friday.

Ryan Pickrell contributed to this report.