After more than four years since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia occupies just over 19% of the country.
The Russian army lost control of about 120 km2 of Ukrainian territory in April, a first since the Ukrainian counter-offensive in August 2023, according to an analysis by the AFP of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
After more than four years of large-scale warfare, intense fighting continues constantly on the front lines, while difficult diplomatic negotiations have been suspended since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East. Moscow recently proposed a brief ceasefire for the May 9 commemorations in Russia of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, while Kiev demands an extended ceasefire to facilitate talks, which the Kremlin refuses.
However, the retreat of Moscow’s forces reported by ISW is not total: Russian soldiers remain infiltrated in three-quarters of the areas where Ukraine has regained ground.
Russian troops constantly send small groups of soldiers to take positions in parts of the front line, consisting of moving zones several kilometers wide constantly exposed to drone strikes, and hide there to favor the advance of the main troops. These infiltration operations in areas not entirely controlled by Russia are not counted in the estimates of territories held by each side.
Kiev’s gain is consistent with the slowdown in Russian advances since December 2025, to the point that Moscow’s forces had recorded almost no progress in Ukrainian territory in March (23 km2).
A marginal advance “The Ukrainian land counterattacks and medium-range strikes, the blocking of Russian use of Starlink terminals in Ukraine in February 2026, and the repression of Telegram by the Kremlin have exacerbated existing problems within the Russian army,” the institute states.
It also points to a possible effect of “seasonal trends” with thawing frozen lands and spring rains that “degrade conditions” for troop movement.
In April, without making a breakthrough, the Ukrainian army managed to advance in various places along the front line: about forty square kilometers in each of the three regions of Zaporijjia, Kharkiv, and Donetsk. However, Russia has taken a few square kilometers to the east of Kramatorsk (Donetsk).
These estimates also exclude advances claimed by the Russian side but neither confirmed nor denied by ISW, which works with the Critical Threats Project, a component of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), another American think tank specializing in conflict studies.
If the Ukrainian gains in April are the first in two and a half years, they remain marginal: 120 km² represent only 0.02% of Ukrainian territory including Crimea and the Donbass.
After more than four years since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia occupies just over 19% of the country, including 7% in Crimea and in the industrial basin areas of Donbass, already under Russian control or pro-Russian separatists before the invasion in February 2022. The majority of Russian advances were made during the early weeks of the conflict.
