Moscow controls 1,700 km² and the Russian army launches an attack on the belt of forts

Lieutenant General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the Russian General Staff, announced that the Russian armed forces have succeeded in controlling an area of 1,700 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory since the beginning of this year, in addition to 80 residential areas. Gerasimov pointed out in statements published by the Russian Ministry of Defense that the southern Russian military units launch attacks on what is known as the "Donetsk Fortress Belt," which includes strategic cities Slovyansk, Kramatorsk and Kostyantynevka. According to Russian leadership estimates, Russian troops are located between 7 and 12 kilometers from the cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, while battles are already taking place in parts of the city of Kostyantynevka. On the other hand, the Ukrainian leadership, through General Oleksandr Sirsky, Commander of the Ukrainian Army, announced the restoration of control over about 50 square kilometers of its territory last March, while indicating Pro-Ukraine maps show actual Russian gains of 592 square kilometers this year. Russian forces continue their military operations in several axes, advancing in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions of northern and northeastern Ukraine, with the aim of establishing what Gerasimov described as a "security zone." According to official Russian estimates, Moscow currently controls about 90% of the Donbas region and 75% of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, in addition to parts of Other regions, while Ukrainian sources show that Russia controls 19.35% of the total Ukrainian territory.