That’s how much Ukraine controls Russia after a year of war

Twelve months of bloodshed. There is no end in sight. A year after the Russian attack, the center of gravity of the war is in the Donetsk region, mainly around the city of Bakhmut. The area has been under heavy fighting for months. Ukrainian troops hold position in Bakhmut. But the Russian army and the mercenaries of the Russian private army are closing in on Wagner.

According to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, 61, his units are now in control of the village of Berkhivka, just a few miles northwest of Bakhmut. Russian troops are also located south and east of Bakhmut. For example, the pincer around the disputed city would close a little further after the capture of Soledar in January. The next objective of the Russian forces would now be to cut off all supply lines for the Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut. The Ukrainian side has not yet provided any information about the situation in Berkhivka.

About 18 percent in Russian hands

The battles for Bachmut are extremely costly for both sides. There are no reliable casualty figures. According to Ukrainian General Staff spokesman Olexi Hromov, there were 380 clashes with Russian soldiers in the area in February alone. In Marinka, southwest of the city of Donetsk and in the region around the town of Kreminna in neighboring Luhansk Oblast, events similar to those around Bakhmut are taking place in the attempts of the troops of Russian President Vladimir Putin (70) to take important positions.

Russia currently controls about 18 percent of Ukraine. This includes the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014 as well as the areas behind the front lines in the east and south of the country. Shortly after the invasion that began on February 24, 2022, Russia still controlled almost 27 percent of Ukrainian territory in March 2022. But then Putin’s troops withdrew from the area north of the Ukrainian capital Kiev. The priority was now to conquer the Donbass region in the east of the country, it was said at the time.

No major changes in the front in winter

In the fall, Ukraine finally launched a series of successful counter-offensives and recaptured large parts of northeastern Ukraine and key areas in the south. In November, Russia left the southern city of Kherson and moved its positions southeast across the Dnieper River.

There have been no major changes along the front line since the onset of winter. In addition to some territorial gains by Russia in the smaller Donbass in terms of area, there is mainly a ruthless war of attrition. According to British estimates, the Russian troops would have changed tactics. “Your campaign now appears to be mainly focused on weakening the Ukrainian army, rather than focusing on capturing large amounts of territory,” the defense ministry said in London. “Russian leadership is likely to take a long-term approach, assuming that Russia’s population and resources will eventually exhaust Ukraine.”

Moscow’s declared goal remains the complete conquest of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts. There, Russia held independent referenda on joining the Russian Federation in September. The West criticized the procedure as contrary to international law. Nevertheless, Russia enshrined the inclusion of the areas in law a little later.

Source: Blick