Russia’s territorial advance in Ukraine slowed last month, according to a senior NATO official, even as Moscow continues to pursue further territorial gains, European Pravda reported.
Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, the official said Russian forces advanced at an average rate of 3.79 square kilometers (1.46 square miles) per day in June.
That compares with about 16 square kilometers (6.2 square miles) per day during the same month last year, a nearly fourfold slowdown.
Despite the reduced pace, NATO estimates that Russia is still aiming to capture more than 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles) of Ukrainian territory.
However, the official said Moscow is unlikely to achieve its stated objectives or meet its planned timelines.
The assessment follows an earlier NATO estimate that Russia has suffered more than 1.4 million military casualties since the start of the full-scale invasion, while maintaining its military objectives in Ukraine.
Russia Maintains Territorial Demands
The latest NATO assessment comes as the Kremlin continues to insist on its territorial objectives despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would continue its campaign to seize full control of the four Ukrainian regions it claims to have annexed: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
In doing so, he rejected a Ukrainian proposal to limit hostilities in those regions and suspend long-range strikes.
Putin said Russia’s goal remains the “complete liberation” of Donbas and what Moscow refers to as “Novorossiya,” a term it uses for parts of southern and eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly rejected the idea of ceding territory as part of a peace agreement, arguing that Ukraine has neither the legal nor the moral right to surrender land to Russia.
