The Russian army “released” 5,000 square km in Ukraine this year and “advances in all directions”, say Putin Gherasimov also

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russian forces captured almost 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles) in Ukraine and that Moscow has retained the total strategic initiative on the battlefield, writes Reuters.

Speaking in a meeting with high Russian military commanders, Putin said that Ukrainian forces retreat to all sectors of the front.

According to the Kremlin leader, Kiev is trying to hit deep in the Russian territory, but this will not help change the situation in the war that lasts for more than three and a half years.

“At this moment, the Russian armed forces fully hold the strategic initiative,” said Putin, during the meeting that took place in the northwest of Russia, according to a transcript of his speech, offered by Kremlin.

“This year, we released almost 5,000 square km of territory – 4,900 (square kilometers, more precisely, no) – and 212 localities,” said the Russian president.

The Ukrainian forces, he said, “withdraws throughout the entire contact line, despite attempts of fierce resistance.”

Previously on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of two more villages along the front, a line that, according to the head commander of the Ukrainian army, General Oleksandr Sîrskîi, is now extending over 1,250 kilometers (775 miles).

The Ukrainian reports on the situation on the front line say that the Kiev forces have made progress in the Donetk region, especially near the city of Dobropillia. President Volodimir Zelenski also said that the Ukrainian forces regained land in the Sumî border region, where the Russian army managed to set a position.

General Gherasimov's announcement

General Valeri Gherasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, said, within the same meeting of the top commanders, that the Russian troops “practically advance in all directions”. The Ukrainian forces, he said, focus on slowing down the Russian army.

Gherasimov, the commander who supervises Russia's war effort, said that Moscow troops are advancing to the key cities Sork and Kostyantynivka, in the main operations theater in the Donetk region.

He said that the Ukrainian forces were eliminated from the city of Kupiansk, northeast Ukraine, for months under the siege of the Russian army, and that its troops are advancing in the regions of Zaporojie and Dnipropetrovsk, located further south. Also, Russian forces are making progress in creating buffer areas in Sumî and Kharkov regions, northern Ukraine, General Gherasimov also said.

In his statements within the meeting, Putin stressed that Russia's objectives remain the same as at the time of launching the “special military operation” in February 2022, saying that this aims to “demilitarize and denate” its younger neighbor.