Russia took only 119㎢ of Ukrainian land this year... “Aftermath of supply route hit”

The US daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 6th (local time) that the Russian military is having difficulty expanding its occupied territory this year due to being blocked by Ukraine's drone attacks and counterattacks.

According to the U.S. think tank Institute for War Studies (ISW), the territory that the Russian military secured in Ukraine from January to October of this year is about 119㎢. It fell far short of the 4,854㎢ secured last year. In particular, in the past two months, more territory was lost than newly occupied territory.

Analysis suggests that the Ukrainian military's more powerful mid-range drone strike operations had a decisive influence on the Russian military's struggles.

The Ukrainian military used drones produced by domestic companies to target Russian military supply routes behind the front lines. Because of this, Russian front-line troops had difficulty supplying military supplies such as ammunition and deploying additional troops.

George Barros, an analyst at ISW, explained the recent war situation by saying, "The Russian military's military supply system has been disrupted and has not yet properly recovered."

This year, the Russian army attempted to surround major cities in eastern Donetsk Oblast, where the Ukrainian army had built strong defense facilities, but the situation did not go as planned.

Ukrainian forces repulsed Russian attempts to advance beyond the Pokrovsk region this spring and then launched a large-scale counteroffensive in Liman in September.

Through this operation, approximately 277㎢ of territory was recaptured across 16 regions in the Liman area by mid-October, and approximately 8,000 Russian casualties occurred, according to the Ukrainian 3rd Corps.

As the siege plan was thwarted, the Russian army is concentrating its forces in Dobrophilia, southwest of Kramatorsk, in order to break through the Ukrainian defense line within the year.

However, it is reported that the Russian army is only making limited progress despite massive casualties.

“Every time the enemy tries to advance, we pay a heavy price,” said Lt. Col. Kirillo Dubrovsky, commander of the 1st Corps of the Ukrainian National Guard. “Most assault teams are destroyed before they even approach our positions.”