Russia Says It Seized 1,700 Sq Km Of Ukrainian Land This Year; Kyiv, Maps Dispute Claim

MOSCOW, April 21 — Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Tuesday that Russian forces have taken roughly 1,700 square kilometres (about 656 square miles) of Ukrainian territory so far this year while he inspected front-line units, according to footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry.

Frontline Developments

Gerasimov said the Southern Grouping of Russian forces is pressing an assault on what he described as the Donetsk "fortress belt," naming Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka. He said Russian units were about 7–12 km (4.3–7.5 miles) from Sloviansk and Kramatorsk and already fighting in parts of Kostiantynivka. He also reported advances in parts of Sumy and the Kharkiv region aimed, he said, at creating a "security zone."

A firefighter extinguishes burning cars at the site of a residential area which was hit during overnight Russian drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine April 21, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Sumy region/Handout via REUTERS

Ukraine’s military reported it had repelled two Russian attempts to outflank villages near Sloviansk in the previous 24 hours, and said Moscow had carried out multiple attacks near Kostiantynivka and nearby settlements. Kyiv also said Russian forces made several attempts to breach defences close to the Russian border in the Kharkiv region.

Disputed Figures And Mapping

Reuters was unable to independently verify Gerasimov’s battlefield figures. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s General Staff declined to comment on the specific claim. Pro‑Ukrainian mapping projects place Russia’s gains this year at about 600 square kilometres, substantially lower than the Russian figure.

Firefighters extinguish burning cars at the site of a residential area which was hit during overnight Russian drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine April 21, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Sumy region/Handout via REUTERS

Separately, top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said in mid‑April that Kyiv’s forces had retaken nearly 50 square kilometres in March, underscoring ongoing local counter‑attacks.

Territorial Control Estimates

Gerasimov cited Russian assessments that Moscow controls about 90% of the Donbas region, roughly 75% of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and small strips of territory in Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Russia also continues to hold Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula it annexed in 2014 — a move that remains internationally unrecognised by most countries.

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov attend an expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry Board at the National Defence Control Centre in Moscow, Russia December 16, 2024. Sputnik/Grigory Sysoev/Kremlin via REUTERS/File Photo

Pro‑Ukrainian mapping projects estimate Russia currently controls about 116,793 square kilometres — roughly 19.35% of Ukraine — and note that the pace of Russian advances has slowed this year.

“Since the beginning of this year, a total of 80 settlements and more than 1,700 square kilometres of territory have come under our control,” Gerasimov said in Defence Ministry footage.

Reporting by Reuters; additional reporting from Kyiv. The battlefield situation is fluid and claims from both sides remain difficult to verify independently.