Russian troops have intensified their offensive in Ukraine in January, conquering nearly twice as much territory as in December, according to an analysis conducted by AFP based on data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The Russian army occupied 481 square kilometers in Ukraine in January, compared to 244 square kilometers in December 2025. This is one of the largest advances in a winter month since the launch of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
These territorial gains are recorded under difficult weather conditions for Ukraine, with extremely low temperatures, which significantly hinder the conduct of offensive operations, reports News.ro.
The Situation in Donbas
In Donbas, the industrial and mining region in eastern Ukraine claimed by Moscow, the Russian army currently controls almost the entire Lugansk region and about 83% of the territory of the Donetsk region.
In the ongoing diplomatic negotiations, Russia is demanding the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from certain areas of the Donetsk region under Kiev’s control, a request so far rejected by the Ukrainian authorities.
18 months to completely conquer Donbas
As in previous months, the bulk of the Russian advance in January took place in other regions as well. This is about Dnipropetrovsk, in central-eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops penetrated in the summer of 2025, and about Zaporijjea, in the south, where Moscow’s forces are about 30 kilometers from the regional capital. The Russian army also advanced in the Kharkov regions, in the northeast, and Sumy, in the north.
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