Ukrainian forces have recaptured nine settlements in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region since late January and are continuing a counteroffensive along the frontline, Kyiv’s general staff said on Monday.
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that over the past month Ukrainian troops had, for the first time since summer 2024, regained more territory than Russian forces managed to seize during the same period, reports Reuters.
“We have survived this difficult battle for winter,” Syrskyi said on Telegram, describing months of heavy fighting and sustained Russian pressure.
Russia intensified attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the winter, leaving millions without electricity and heating. At the same time, Moscow increased pressure along the roughly 1,200-km frontline, where Ukrainian units have been stretched by manpower shortages and constant assaults.
Despite that, Ukrainian forces held their positions and launched counterattacks in parts of the southeast, Syrskyi said.
The Ukrainian battlefield mapping project DeepState reported that Russian forces occupied 126 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory in February, the lowest monthly total in 20 months. It said Russian troops captured 371 square kilometres in January and February combined, compared with 517 square kilometres during the same period last year.
Reuters was unable to independently verify those figures.
Advances in the southeast
According to the general staff, Ukrainian troops have conducted operations near Oleksandrivka and Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region. DeepState said Ukrainian forces pushed Russian troops back near five villages in the area.
In northeastern Kharkiv region, Syrskyi said Ukrainian forces had strengthened control over the town of Kupiansk. In the east, they maintained defensive positions near the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, a focal point of intense fighting in recent months.
Reports of Ukrainian advances in Zaporizhzhia began emerging after Russian forces experienced widespread outages of Starlink communications terminals on the battlefield. The disruptions followed a decision by SpaceX owner Elon Musk to shut down access in response to a plea from Kyiv in late January.
Ukraine’s airborne assault forces command said restrictions on Russian access to Starlink had reduced Moscow’s situational awareness and disrupted communications along the frontline.
Work was under way to regain additional territory in Zaporizhzhia, the command said.
“During the operation, the enemy is being systematically and decisively pushed out of fortified positions,” it said on Telegram, adding that the effort began on Jan. 29.
The developments mark a shift after months in which Russian forces steadily advanced in parts of eastern Ukraine. While gains remain limited in scale, Kyiv has portrayed them as evidence that its troops can stabilise the front and, in some areas, regain lost ground.
Diplomatic efforts continue
The fighting continues as international efforts to broker a diplomatic settlement intensify. The war, launched by Russia in February 2022, is now in its fifth year.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that a new round of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Ukraine and Russia was still expected this week, despite U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend that have raised broader regional tensions.
Kyiv has previously said it will not accept any settlement that compromises its territorial integrity, while Moscow maintains control over swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine, including parts of Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.
On the battlefield, however, both sides continue to test each other’s positions. Ukrainian officials say their forces have blunted Russian winter offensives and are seeking opportunities to exploit weaknesses along the line of contact.
Whether the recent gains in Zaporizhzhia can be sustained remains unclear. Much of the frontline remains heavily fortified, with extensive minefields and entrenched positions on both sides.
For now, Ukrainian commanders say the winter campaign has ended without a major Russian breakthrough and with limited territorial losses – and, in some sectors, modest gains for Kyiv’s forces.
