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

(Seoul, Rome = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim A-ram, Correspondent Min Gyeong-rak = Foreign media such as the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and AFP reported on the 8th (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. The monthly average area of ​​occupied territory also decreased significantly from 400 ㎢ last year to 11 ㎢ this year.

AFP news agency analyzed that the speed of Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territory has been slowing down overall since the beginning of this year. In particular, in the past two months, Russia has lost more territory than newly occupied territory. Ukraine carried out a counteroffensive near Kramatorsk and Liman last September and recaptured 172 ㎢ of territory, and also regained an additional 60 ㎢ of territory last month.

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.

The Ukrainian 3rd Corps said that this operation resulted in approximately 8,000 Russian casualties.

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.”

There is speculation that such propaganda by the Ukrainian military could have an impact on the end-of-war negotiations taking place this week. The Donbas territorial issue is one of the core agendas of the end-of-war negotiations. Russia's stance is that it will continue to use military force until it secures the Donbas region, but Ukraine is fighting back, saying it cannot give up its territory. End-of-war negotiations between the two sides, mediated by the United States, will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the 10th to 11th.

Armed conflict between the two sides is expected to continue even during the end-of-war negotiations. It is interpreted as a stepping stone to secure leadership in negotiations.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it struck a power plant in Ukraine's Zhytomyr region overnight. Ukrainian private energy company DTEK reported that energy facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk region were attacked overnight and more than 600,000 residents suffered power outages.