Putin's announcement of new Russian military achievements and a verbal slip draws attention, with battlefield data showing a stark contrast
On June 4, during a meeting with heads of international news agencies, Putin stated that his forces appear to be advancing along all fronts every day: "In recent times, I'm not going to list the number of settlements for fear of making a mistake, but approximately 2,440 square kilometers have now come under Russian control."
Putin further explained that Russia has fully and completely occupied Luhansk Oblast and made significant advances in Donetsk Oblast: "Not long ago, Ukraine still controlled about 25% of (Donetsk Oblast), but now it's less than 15%." Additionally, he claimed that the Russian Federation holds 80% of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russian military progress significantly slowed in 2026, with Russian forces even experiencing net territorial losses. According to assessments by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), from December 2025 to May 2026, Russian forces managed to capture or infiltrate only about 40.64 square kilometers of territory—compared to over 515 square kilometers advanced during the same period a year earlier. In the same timeframe in 2026, Russia also lost 281.1 square kilometers of territory previously considered under its control.
DeepState analysis statistics indicate that May was the month since autumn 2023 when Russia’s offensive suffered its greatest setback, with the net gain in captured territory turning negative for the first time. In May, Russian forces captured just 14 square kilometers of Ukrainian land.
Notably, Putin made a verbal slip during his public speech, claiming that Russia had seized "24.4 million square kilometers"—roughly 40 times the actual area of Ukraine. Subsequently, the Kremlin quietly removed the character for "ten thousand" ("万") in the text version published online, correcting it to the more reasonable figure of "2,440 square kilometers."
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1867160589782092/
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