Russia may have set daily record for territory seized this year in Ukraine - media

This is according to AFP’s analysis of data from the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

On August 12, Russian forces took or claimed 110 square kilometers (42.5 square miles) of territory compared to the previous day — the biggest daily advance since late May 2024. In recent months, Moscow has typically needed five or six days to cover such ground, but its pace has picked up sharply in recent weeks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian troops had pushed up to 10 kilometers (six miles) near the eastern coal-mining town of Dobropillia, but vowed Kyiv would “destroy them.” Russia claimed on Wednesday to have taken two nearby villages.

Roughly 70 percent of Russia’s gains this year have been in the Donetsk region, which the Kremlin said it annexed in September 2022. As of August 12, Moscow controlled or claimed 79 percent of the region, up from 62 percent a year earlier. The Russian army has also been pressing its offensive toward Pokrovsk for more than 18 months, after seizing Bakhmut in May 2023.

Sloviansk and Kramatorsk — the last major cities under Ukrainian control in Donetsk — are also under threat. Kramatorsk serves as a key logistical hub for the front.

According to AFP’s analysis of ISW data, Russian forces have captured more than 6,100 square kilometers between August 12, 2024, and August 12, 2025 — four times more than the previous year. Still, these gains amount to less than 1 percent of Ukraine’s pre-war territory, including Crimea and Donbas. Overall, Russia now fully or partially controls about 19 percent of Ukraine.

The U.S. and Russian presidents, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, are scheduled to meet Friday in Alaska.