Russia loses nearly 1,300 troops for every square kilometer captured.

The pace of Russian troop advances in Ukraine has continued to slow since November 2025, and the occupiers are currently losing nearly 1,300 troops to capture every square kilometer of territory.

This is stated in a new report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Analysts note that Russia’s spring-summer offensive in 2026 failed to produce any significant operational results. According to their calculations, in June, Russian troops captured or advanced a total of 30.42 square kilometers, an average of just 1.01 square kilometers per day.

By comparison, in June 2025, the Russian army captured 481.25 square kilometers, advancing an average of 16.04 square kilometers per day.

The ISW notes that the pace of the Russian offensive has been steadily decelerating for over six months. Furthermore, occupation forces have still not been able to recapture the territories lost as a result of successful Ukrainian counteroffensives in the Kupyansk and Oleksandrivka directions, which lasted from late 2025 to the spring of 2026.

Russia’s greatest territorial gains are currently being recorded near Konstantinovka in the Donetsk region; however, as experts note, these are merely tactical in nature and are being achieved at the cost of significant losses.

According to ISW, from January to June 2025, Russian troops captured 2,189.87 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory. For the same period in 2026, this figure was only 622.6 square kilometers.

Analysts also calculated that in June 2026, Russia lost an average of 1,298 military personnel for every square kilometer of captured or occupied territory.

By comparison, in June 2025, the Russian army lost 32,680 troops, which corresponded to approximately 68 troops for every square kilometer captured.

The ISW emphasized that the current level of losses per unit of captured territory is more than 19 times higher than last year’s figures. According to analysts, this indicates the increasing effectiveness of Ukrainian defense forces both in deterring the Russian offensive and inflicting significant losses on the enemy.