(Dan Tri) – Russia announced that its military forces have controlled an additional 400 square kilometers of territory during the war in Ukraine since the beginning of the year until now.
Coal factory area in Avdiivka, Eastern Ukraine (Photo: Getty).
`Since the beginning of the year, 403 square kilometers have been under our control,` Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said during a meeting with military commanders on April 2, referring to progress made in the areas.
`The Russian armed forces continue to push Ukrainian units westward,` Shoigu said.
In February, Russia announced it had taken control of the frontline city of Avdiivka at the gateway to eastern Ukraine.
Mr. Shoigu said Russian forces took control of five settlements, including four in Donetsk and one in Zaporizhzhia, over the past month.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said last week that Ukraine is facing `material limitations` on its defense capabilities.
According to ISW, since October last year, Russia has expanded its control by an additional 505km2 of territory in Ukraine.
ISW estimates that Russia controls more than 100,000 square kilometers, equivalent to nearly 1/5 of Ukraine’s territory.
Military experts say that Russia is able to achieve this speed of attack partly because Ukraine is running out of weapons and ammunition, partly because of more favorable weather conditions.
According to ISW, lack of weapons and ammunition limits Ukraine’s ability to defend, while giving Russian forces the flexibility to conduct offensive operations and achieve significant success in the future.
Specifically, ISW said that Ukraine is preventing Russian forces from achieving significant tactical gains across the entire front line, but continued delays in US security assistance will likely increase tensions.
Minister Shoigu confirmed that the Russian military is continuing to `reduce the enemy’s combat power`.
`Since January, the armed forces of Ukraine have lost more than 80,000 troops, 14,000 weapons units, including more than 1,200 tanks and other armored vehicles,` Mr. Shoigu added.
According to Mr. Shoigu, from January until now, despite Kiev’s lack of success on the battlefield, Ukraine’s leadership `still tries to convince Western sponsors of its ability to fight the Russian army.`
Minister Shoigu said that to achieve the above goal, Kiev `used terrorism and long-range attacks on Russian territory, targeting civilians`.
According to Minister Shoigu, the Russian armed forces carried out 192 missile and drone attacks on energy and military facilities in Ukraine in March in response to Kiev’s attacks.
In an interview with Italian TV channel RAI in February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia currently controls about 26% of Ukraine’s territory, but cannot make further major advances due to resistance from
Russia has controlled the Crimean peninsula since 2014 after a controversial referendum.
