Why Moscow is accused of exaggerating the earnings on the front. The huge number of the dead Russian soldiers in Ukraine was revealed by the opposition press

“Russia's territorial earnings remain disproportionately limited and slow in relation to the big losses suffered” and, for this reason, the Kremlin intensifies the propaganda campaign to influence the Western decision-making process, writes the Institute for the Study of the War, a thinktank based in Washington.

The Russian war bloggers have criticized the Ministry of Defense and the head of the army, General Valeri Gherasimov, accusing the exaggeration of the progress on the Ukraine Fighting Field, according to the Institute for War Study (ISW).

Gherasimov stated on August 30 that the Russian forces captured 3,500 square km of territory and 149 settlements from March 2025.

“ISW has noticed evidence that Russian forces only earned about 2,346 km from Ukrainian territory and captured 130 settlements” at that time, the American Think Tank said.

The military bloggers also characterized the figures of Gherasimov as “a very large exaggeration” and asked what elements of the Russian military control structure provides false reports to the high Russian command.

ISW said that “Russia's territorial gains remain disproportionately limited and slow in relation to the big losses suffered” and that, because of this, the Kremlin intensifies the propaganda campaign to influence the Western decision -making process: accusing the European states of prolonging the war, making nuclear threats and claiming that Victoria Russia is unite in Ukraine.

“Russia's earnings were largely gradual and slow”

The Ukrainian General Staff reported on August 30 that the Russian forces suffered 210,000 victims in the regions of Kharkov, Luhansk and Donetsk between January and August 2025, an average of 26,250 victims per month.

According to the same source, the Russian forces suffered a total of 290,000 victims throughout the theater of operations between January and August 2025, an average of 36,250 victims per month.

Independent Russian publications Meduza and Mediazona reported on August 29 that the data in the Russian register of inheritance (RND) suggest that at least 93,000 Russian soldiers died in 2024 – almost twice as much as in 2023 (about 50,000) and estimated, using a predictive model, that at least 56,000 Russian soldiers died from 2025.

In contrast, “Russia's earnings have been largely gradual and slow for many months, and Russia's pace is incredibly slow in accordance with the rules of modern mechanized war,” the ISW observes.

Any evaluation of Russia's performance and strength on the battlefield must examine both the rate of advance and the losses resulting in order to obtain these winnings, says the think-tank.

How much territory Russia controls, according to Gherasimov

Gherasimov said on Saturday that Russian forces are engaged in a permanent offensive throughout the entire line of the Ukraine and have “Strategic Initiative”, reports Reuters.

“The combined group of troops continues a permanent offensive along the entire line of the front,” Gherasimov said in a speech in front of the Russian commanders made public by Zvezda, the official newspaper of the Ministry of Defense. “Currently, the strategic initiative is completely of Russian forces,” he added.

Gherasimov also stated that Russia currently controls 99.7% of the Lugansk region, 79% of the Donetk region, 74% of the Zapoari region and 76% of the Herson region.

Since March, Russia has won over 3,500 kmp territory in Ukraine and has been controlling 149 villages, Gherasimov added.

The Russian forces began to press this month in the Dnipropetrovsk region (in the center-east of Ukraine), General Valeri Gherasimov claiming that seven villages in the region are now under Russian control.