Russia scores highest Ukraine gains since first year of war

The Saint Javelin mural is pictured on the wall of a nine-storey residential building in the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital on May 26, 2022. (Pavlo Bagmut / Ukrinform / Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Russia’s battlefield gains in Ukraine last year were the highest since 2022, an AFP analysis showed, as Kyiv was set to host security advisers from allied states on Saturday despite Moscow’s unrelenting strikes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said around 15 countries would attend the talks, along with representatives from the European Union and NATO, with a U.S. delegation joining the meeting via video link.

The talks -- and a subsequent summit of leaders from the so-called coalition of the willing planned for next week in France -- are the latest in a flurry of efforts to end the nearly four-year war.

Zelensky said in a New Year’s Eve address that a U.S.-brokered peace deal was “90 per cent” ready, though the important issue of territory remains unresolved.

The diplomatic push comes as Russia presses its advantage against outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.

The Russian army captured more than 5,600 square kilometres (2,160 square miles), or nearly one percent, of Ukrainian territory in 2025, according to an analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which works with the Critical Threats Project.

This includes areas that Kyiv and military analysts say are controlled by Russia, as well as those claimed by Moscow’s army.

The land captured is more than in the previous two years combined, though far short of the more than 60,000 square kilometres Russia took in 2022, the first year of its all-out invasion.

‘Heinous’

Moscow has kept up its aerial barrage of Ukraine, with the latest strike on a residential area of the major city of Kharkiv, reducing parts of multi-storey buildings to smouldering piles of rubble.

AFP images from the site showed firefighters tackling the blaze and rescuers scrambling to evacuate people to safety.

The local authorities said a three-year-old child was killed and at least 19 people were wounded in the attack, which Zelensky slammed as “heinous”.

“Unfortunately, this is how the Russians treat life and people -- they continue killing, despite all efforts by the world, and especially by the United States, in the diplomatic process,” he said on social media.

Russia’s defence ministry rejected Ukraine’s claim, saying in a statement its forces “did not plan or carry out strikes using missiles or air strikes within the city limits of Kharkiv”.

Underlining the deadly risks for civilians, Ukrainian officials on Friday ordered the evacuation of more than 3,000 children and their parents from 44 front-line settlements in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, where Russian troops have been advancing.

More than 150,000 people have been evacuated from front-line areas since June 1, said Ukrainian Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba.

On Thursday, Russia accused Kyiv of a strike on a hotel and a cafe in Ukraine’s occupied south that killed 28 people, and warned of “consequences” -- but Ukraine said the attack targeted a military gathering that was closed to civilians.

AFP was not able to verify either account.

Zelensky names top aide

On Friday, Zelensky named military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov as his new top aide, after the president’s previous chief of staff resigned in November over a corruption scandal.

Budanov has built up a legendary reputation in Ukraine, credited with a series of daring operations against Russia.

When formally appointed, he will succeed Andriy Yermak, who resigned in November after investigators raided his house as part of a sweeping corruption probe.

Zelensky also said he wanted to replace Defence Minister Denys Shymgal, who was only appointed six months ago, with 34-year-old political novice Mykhailo Fedorov, who is currently minister of digital transformation.

“Mykhailo is deeply involved in issues related to drones and is very effective in the digitalisation of state services and processes,” the president added.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a “special military operation” to prevent the expansion of the NATO alliance -- a war aim that Kyiv has called a lie.

Moscow has since captured large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, while firing on Ukrainian towns and cities in daily drone and missile attacks.