- Category
- War in Ukraine
Putin Says Russia Captured 2.44 Million Square Kilometers of Ukraine, Four Times Its Actual Size
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed that his army had captured “2,440 thousand square kilometers” of Ukrainian territory—an area more than four times larger than Ukraine itself, according to The Moscow Times on June 5.
Speaking at a meeting with heads of international news agencies, Putin said Russian forces were advancing daily in all directions and credited them with taking an impossible amount of land.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
“Recently, I will not name the number of settlements now because I am afraid of making a mistake, but roughly two thousand four hundred forty thousand square kilometers have been brought under the control of the Russian army,” he said.
Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory before 2014 covered about 603,600 square kilometers. In the transcript published on the Kremlin’s website, the word “thousand” was removed from Putin’s quote, leaving the figure as “2,440 square kilometers.”
🤔 Putin stated that the Russian army has allegedly already seized 2,044,000 km² of Ukrainian territory—four times more than Ukraine’s total area.
— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) June 5, 2026
He also said that the seizure of territory is continuing "on a daily basis." pic.twitter.com/q2bHhFlTOX
Putin also claimed that Russia had “completely,” or 100%, occupied the self-proclaimed “Luhansk People’s Republic” and had advanced in the Donetsk region.
“Not so long ago, Ukraine controlled somewhere around 25% [of the Donetsk People’s Republic], now it is less than 15%,” he said.
He also claimed that Russia controls “80% of the Zaporizhzhia region” and said the seizure of Ukrainian territory “continues on a daily basis.”
In reality, Russian forces have been losing previously occupied territory for the second month in a row. According to calculations by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russia’s net territorial losses amounted to 116 square kilometers in April and increased to 281.1 square kilometers in May.
ISW analysts assessed that from December 2025 through May 2026, Russian forces advanced by only 40.64 square kilometers in Ukraine, compared with 515.84 square kilometers during the same period in 2024–2025.
The reduction of Russian-controlled territory is being recorded for the first time since 2023, when Ukrainian forces launched their counteroffensive. Over the past two months, Russian troops have lost nearly all the territory they captured between January and March, according to ISW estimates.
-15d5b0422dc78b007fc829d4bb3862b8.jpg)
Analysts have linked Russia’s slowed advance to major battlefield changes, including Ukrainian ground counterattacks, expanded medium-range Ukrainian drone strikes, the blocking of Starlink terminals for Russian forces in February 2026, and Kremlin restrictions on Telegram use at the front.
The Pentagon has also acknowledged that Ukrainian forces have liberated part of their territory this year. According to the US military, Ukraine regained around 400 square kilometers in the first months of 2026.
Earlier, Ukrainian troops used a ground robotic system to help clear Russian infantry from Novoplatonivka in the Kharkiv region after Moscow’s forces had claimed they had captured the village.
Discuss this article:
-457ad7ae19a951ebdca94e9b6bf6309d.png)
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
