In October, the Russian Armed Forces captured more territory in Ukraine than in September and August 2024. This information is reported by WELT reporter Christoph Wanner, who is monitoring the current developments on the front from Kyiv.
"Russian troops seem to be advancing rapidly in eastern Ukraine. This is the largest territorial gain since March 2022," Wanner notes.
The AFP news agency has established that since the beginning of October, the Russian army has advanced into 478 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory.
By October 27, Russian forces had taken control of a larger area than in August and September, when territorial conquests amounted to 477 and 459 square kilometers, respectively. Significant shifts have already occurred along the front line during these two months, particularly in the Donetsk region around the strategically important city of Pokrovsk.
Two-thirds of Russia's territorial gains in October occurred in the Donetsk region, where Russian forces are approaching Pokrovsk from the south and east. The Ukrainian army is at a disadvantage due to the numerical superiority of the Russian army.
The last time Russian troops achieved such an offensive was in March 2022, when they advanced toward Kyiv. Throughout 2023, they occupied 584 square meters of Ukrainian territory, while the area occupied since January 1, 2024, totals 2,660 square kilometers.
Along with Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, and the territories of Donbas, which were already under the control of separatists before the Russian offensive, Moscow currently controls about 18.2 percent of Ukraine's territory.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that the situation in the Donetsk region is tense. Over the past day, 149 combat encounters were recorded. In the Pokrovsk direction, our defenders repelled 31 attacks, and fighting is also ongoing in the Kurakhove direction.
It is worth noting that Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Dmytro Marchenko, in a comment to blogger and member of the Ukrainian parliament of the VIII convocation Boryslav Bereza, stated that the front in Donbas has "collapsed." The defense forces are facing several challenges, including a shortage of ammunition and personnel. The military-political leadership of the country acknowledges that the situation in the Donetsk direction is currently difficult, but the servicemen are doing everything possible to hold their positions.