Ukraine regained more territory last month than it lost to Russian advances, a senior NATO military official has said, in one of the clearest signs yet that momentum on the battlefield has shifted in Kyiv’s favour.
Speaking on NATO’s support to Ukraine, the official said that despite the war having now lasted longer than the First World War, Russia has “not achieved a single strategic objective”, and that “in fact the last month Ukraine regained more territory than it ceded”.
The official was careful to qualify the scale of Russian advances where they do occur, noting that they are typically measured “in meters per day, not kilometers”, and that they come at what the official called an extraordinary cost in Russian casualties and equipment, even as Moscow retains the ability to generate tactical pressure, mass fires and absorb losses at a level the official said most Western nations would find militarily and politically unsustainable.
Unable to generate momentum at the front line, the official said, Russia has increasingly turned to terror-focused strikes against the rear, hitting civilian infrastructure including housing, shopping centres, hospitals and cultural heritage sites, a shift the official framed as evidence that Moscow has run out of better options on the ground.
The broader contest has become one of endurance, adaptation and industrial capacity, and on that measure the official said momentum currently lies with Ukraine, whose endurance and adaptability remain “extraordinary”, though consolidating and expanding on recent gains will depend on the timeliness and coordination of allied support.
The assessment sits beside a more cautious picture given by NATO earlier the same week, describing Russian advances over the past year as having slowed markedly, with only marginal Russian gains in places such as Zaporizhzhia and a particular drop in the rate of advance since January, while still warning that positional warfare, with Russia attempting to consolidate ground it already holds, remains the most likely shape of the war over the next six months.
Losing or gaining Metres is neither here nor there.
Need to continue support to Ukraine above and beyond what we are currently doing until Russia gives up and goes home.
“Ukraine regained more territory last month than it lost to Russian advances, a senior NATO military official has said, in one of the clearest signs yet that momentum on the battlefield has shifted in Kyiv’s favour.”
Next month, its possible that Ukraine could lose more ground than it gained. So, it’s a little disingenuous to conclude that momentum has shifted to Ukraine based on one data pointing.
What have been Ukraine’s gains/losses in the last 3, 6, and 9 months? Show a trend and let the data set you free.