Russia's Ukraine advance gained pace in August, AFP says

Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine gained pace in August after several slower months, but remained far below earlier years of the invasion, an AFP analysis of Institute for the Study of War data showed.

The analysis found that Russian forces made a net gain of around 90 square kilometres in August, their largest monthly advance since February. That was two to three times faster than in June and July, but much slower than Russia's average monthly gain of around 400 square kilometres in 2025.

Most of the August gains were in the Donetsk region, where AFP's analysis put Russia's captured territory at 73 square kilometres. Moscow also advanced almost 30 square kilometres in the Kharkiv region and made marginal gains in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Kyiv recorded small gains in August in three regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, where AFP said Ukraine has been regaining ground since the start of 2026.

Four and a half years into the war, Russia controls just over 19 percent of Ukraine, including Crimea and territories already controlled by separatists before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Most of Russia's territorial gains were made in the first weeks of the war.