On October 7, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin marked his 73rd birthday with a stark declaration: Russian forces have seized nearly 5,000 square kilometres (about 1,930 square miles) of Ukrainian territory so far this year. Addressing top military commanders near St. Petersburg, Putin asserted that Moscow now holds the "complete strategic initiative" in the war, which has dragged on for more than three and a half years. According to multiple reports, including Reuters and FRANCE 24, these territorial gains represent roughly 1% of Ukraine’s total land area, bringing the amount of Ukrainian territory under Russian control to nearly 20%.
Putin’s remarks, delivered at a high-level military meeting, were unambiguous. "At this time, the Russian armed forces fully hold the strategic initiative," he said, according to a Kremlin transcript. "This year, we have liberated nearly 5,000 square km of territory – 4,900 – and 212 localities." The Russian president claimed that Ukrainian forces are "retreating throughout the line of combat contact, despite attempts at fierce resistance." He also dismissed Kyiv’s efforts to strike deep inside Russian territory, insisting such actions would not tip the balance of the conflict.
Russia’s Defence Ministry reinforced Putin’s statements, reporting the capture of two more Ukrainian villages—Novovasylivka in the southeastern Zaporizhia region and Fedorivka in the eastern Donetsk region. Russian Army General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff and overall commander of Russia’s war effort, echoed the president’s tone. "Russian forces are advancing in practically all directions," Gerasimov told the meeting, highlighting that the heaviest fighting was gripping areas near Pokrovsk and towards Dnipropetrovsk. He noted that Moscow’s troops were moving on key cities such as Siversk and Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region, and were clearing Ukrainian forces from Kupiansk in the northeast, a city under Russian attack for months.
Gerasimov also pointed to ongoing efforts to establish buffer zones in the northern Sumy and Kharkiv regions. The front line, according to Ukraine’s top commander, now stretches over 1,250 kilometres (about 775 miles), underscoring the sheer scale of the conflict. Russian advances were also reported in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions further south, as Moscow seeks to consolidate its territorial gains and apply pressure across multiple fronts.
Despite these claims, Ukrainian officials have pushed back. Ukraine’s military dismissed Russia’s recent offensives as a failure, emphasizing that Moscow’s forces have not managed to capture a single major Ukrainian city in 2025. Ukrainian accounts, cited by Reuters, say Kyiv’s troops have made gains in the Donetsk region—particularly around Dobropillia, near the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk—and have regained ground in the border Sumy region, where Russia has tried to establish a foothold. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself has noted these Ukrainian advances, even as Russian forces press their attacks elsewhere.
The fighting has not been limited to the front lines. On October 8, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region reported that three people were killed and one injured by Ukrainian shelling. Meanwhile, Russian air defence units claimed to have destroyed 184 Ukrainian drones in recent attacks, and intercepted a drone flying towards Moscow, according to the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency and Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Russia’s state nuclear energy company alleged that a Ukrainian drone attempted to strike a nuclear plant in the Voronezh region bordering Ukraine, but the unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into a cooling tower with no damage reported.
The impact of the war continues to ripple through Ukraine’s infrastructure and economy. Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk stated that Russian air strikes have caused "significant" damage to the country’s gas production capacity by targeting regional gas infrastructure and power transmission facilities in front-line regions. As a result, Ukraine is now seeking to increase its natural gas imports by 30 percent, with discussions underway with Group of Seven (G7) countries to secure additional supplies.
President Zelenskyy has also accused Russia of using oil tankers for intelligence gathering and sabotage operations, a charge that adds another layer of complexity to the conflict. According to Al Jazeera, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is cooperating with its allies to counter these alleged efforts.
The international response to the ongoing war remains fractured and tense. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia is awaiting clarity from the United States about the possible supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Peskov warned that such weapons could theoretically carry nuclear warheads and described their potential provision as a "serious escalation." The Kremlin, however, maintained that for now it assumes U.S. President Donald Trump still seeks a peace settlement in Ukraine.
Diplomatic efforts have continued, if haltingly. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with Putin on October 7, emphasizing the need for diplomatic initiatives to gain momentum and achieve a "just and lasting peace" in the Russia-Ukraine war, according to Erdogan’s office. Turkiye, Erdogan said, will continue to work for peace, even as bilateral and regional issues remain on the table.
Yet some European leaders are skeptical about Moscow’s willingness to negotiate. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that she believes Russia is not interested in a peace deal with Ukraine, arguing that the only way forward is to apply pressure, continue supporting Ukraine, and maintain sanctions on Russia. This sentiment was echoed by actions within the European Union, where member governments agreed to impose new limits on the travel of Russian diplomats within the bloc, as reported by the Financial Times.
The war’s legal and political reverberations have also reached Poland. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that it is not in Poland’s interest to hand over a Ukrainian man wanted by Germany for suspected involvement in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions three years ago. Tusk criticized Russia’s construction of the pipelines as being "against the vital interests not only of our countries, but of all of Europe." A Polish court ruled that the Ukrainian diver in question must remain in custody for another 40 days while legal proceedings continue.
Amidst the turmoil, Ukraine’s foreign currency reserves stood at $46.5 billion as of October 1, 2025, according to the National Bank of Ukraine—a figure that highlights the country’s ongoing efforts to maintain economic stability in the face of relentless military and political pressure.
As the war grinds on, each side remains committed to its narrative of progress and resistance. With no clear end in sight, the conflict continues to reshape the region’s political, economic, and human landscape, leaving the world watching for signs of either escalation or, perhaps, a breakthrough toward peace.
