Russian forces seized 144 square kilometers (about 56 square miles) of Ukrainian territory in the past week, marking an advance nearly 1.5 times faster than in the previous three weeks, according to analysis by journalists at Agentstvo using data from the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState.
The acceleration comes as Donald Trump prepares to meet Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for negotiations aimed at ending the almost three-and-a-half-year conflict. The recent 144-square-kilometer capture approaches Russia’s summer peak of 225 square kilometers (about 87 square miles) seized in early July.
Most of the new gains — nearly 60 square kilometers (about 23 square miles) — occurred around Pokrovsk, a strategically important logistics hub in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces captured the village of Zatyshok and advanced near Belytske, both located along key supply routes to Pokrovsk. Military analyst Ruslan Leviev, who founded the military analysis group Conflict Intelligence Team, warns that Russian advances could threaten Ukraine’s ability to resupply forces in the Donetsk region and potentially lead to a “pocket collapse” or “mini-collapse of the front line.”