Russia posts net territorial gain in July

In July 2026, Russian troops occupied more Ukrainian territory than Ukrainian forces managed to recapture. The net increase in the area controlled by Russian forces was 36 square kilometers.

That is according to the analytical project DeepState, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

"In July, the enemy occupied more territory than the Ukrainian Defense Forces recaptured. The increase shown on the map is 36 square kilometers," the statement said.

At the same time, the analysts clarified that they had revised data for May-July because the gains made by Ukrainian forces are reflected with a delay.

"In July, we reduced the area of occupied territories by 52 square kilometers. Of this, 25 square kilometers account for May and 27 square kilometers for June. Thus, the enemy's net gain in July could amount to 88 square kilometers. However, there were further gains by the Defense Forces in July. They were significantly smaller than previous gains, but they did occur," the statement said.

According to DeepState, gains of at least 49 and 83 square kilometers have also been recorded in two other areas.

"Therefore, as soon as the gains made by the Defense Forces are officially announced, we will publish the details and recalculate the statistics," the post said.

The analysts stressed that Russia's goal of occupying the entire Donetsk region in 2026 is unrealistic.

"At the current pace, they will have no chance of achieving this even in 2027," the post said.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said earlier that Russia continues offensive operations in some areas of the front, but has failed to achieve confirmed gains in most directions.

Photo: Chat GPT