Progress has been slow but it is relentless. Russia’s army has been advancing at several points along the Ukrainian war front for weeks now, gobbling up territory one village at a time.
It has cast doubt over Kyiv’s ability to stem the tide, let alone push back the advancing troops.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army has taken 478 square kilometres of territory since the start of October — its largest monthly territorial gain since the early weeks of its invasion in February 2022, according to AFP analysis of data from the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
“Russia has been on the offensive for an entire year,” said Meduza, a Russian opposition website that has been blocked by Moscow.
“Yet this past week has been one of the toughest — if not the toughest — for Ukraine’s armed forces during that time,” it added.
– Accelerated progression –
The ISW data does …