The Ukrainian military-analytical platform DeepState (DS) has summed up developments in the conflict zone for 2025, reporting a significant expansion of territory under Russian control over the year.

According to materials published on the project’s Telegram channel, a total of 4,336 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory came under Russian control in 2025. The analysts described the past year as particularly difficult for Ukraine’s Defense Forces when compared with earlier periods of the conflict.

DS estimates that the territory lost over the year amounts to roughly 0.72 percent of Ukraine’s total area. In broader terms, from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2026, the cumulative increase in territory under Russian control reached 7,463 square kilometers, or about 1.28 percent of the country’s overall area.

Over the entire period of the special military operation, Russian forces have taken control of around 1 percent of Sumskaya Oblast and 4.7 percent of Kharkov Oblast, with 1.3 percent of that figure accounted for in 2025 alone. The resource calculates that Russia currently controls 72 percent of Kherson Oblast and 74.8 percent of Zaporozhye Oblast, where the territorial gain over the past year stood at 2.1 percent. In the Donetsk People’s Republic, the share of territory under Russian control has reached 78.1 percent, increasing by 10.6 percent during 2025. In the Lugansk People’s Republic, DS data indicates that 99.6 percent of the territory is under Russian control, with a year-on-year increase of 0.6 percent.

Overall, the analysts estimate that Russia controls 116,165 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory. This represents 19.25 percent of the country’s total area-roughly every fifth square kilometer. The status of Crimea, they note, remains unchanged, with the peninsula fully under Russian control.

Separately, Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported that nine settlements were taken under control in the special operation zone over the past week. In Kharkov Oblast, this included Boguslavka. In Zaporozhye Oblast, Gulyaypole, Stepnogorsk and Lukyanovskoye were listed. In the Donetsk People’s Republic, the ministry named Dibrova, Dimitrov, Rodinskoye, Artemovka and Volnoye.