Half a million dead but just 40sqkm gained in six months: Impact of Putin’s devastating war in numbers
After a bleak winter which saw months of fierce Russian bombing of Ukrainian energy infrastructure, the future is beginning to look more positive for Kyiv.
Nearly four-and-a-half years since Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s frontline advances have slowed almost to a halt, as Ukrainian counter-attacks and defensive tactics become more effective.
Successes in local counterattacks have become more frequent, as Ukrainian forces scale up their use of ground robots and short-range drone warfare.
But most importantly, Kyiv has succeeded in bringing home the war to Russia, inflicting costly damage to its fuel infrastructure which has caused major shortages. This has fomented public discontent in Russia, increasing the pressure on Putin to end the conflict.
Read more: How Ukraine’s audacious drone campaign sparked a fuel crisis 3,500km behind enemy lines
The cost of his war is laid bare in data showing the scale of Russian losses, offset against such small gains in territory.
Moscow’s gains on Ukrainian territory have dropped significantly since last year, to just a fraction of the territory they seized in May 2025, according to data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Between December 2025 and May 2025, Russians gained control of or infiltrated 40.64 square km – compared to 515.84 square km in the same period from last year.
“Russian forces thus seized or infiltrated into only 7.87 percent as much territory in 2026 as they advanced into in 2025,” the ISW said in its analysis.
For the first time in years, Moscow’s footprint in Ukraine stopped growing in spring 2026.
A combination of Ukraine’s expanded medium-range drone strike campaign, improved defensive tactics including frequent local counterattacks, and a drone dominated battlefield, have all contributed to slowing Russian advances.
The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) says that Russia has advanced at historically slow rates, a product of the defensive advantage that has shaped the war since 2023.
The dense minefields, multi-layered fortifications, heavy shelling and drone-saturated areas have created a danger zone more than 20 kilometres wide, slowing both Russian and Ukrainian advances.
In the most prominent Russian and Ukrainian offensives in the first half of 2026, troops advanced at an average of between 50 and 90 metres per day.
