SpaceWar.com reports: “Russia advanced by almost 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 miles) in Ukraine in 2024, seven times more than in 2023, an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War showed Tuesday.

The data highlights the pressure Ukraine faces as it enters 2025, with Moscow pouring resources into its nearly three-year invasion and uncertainty hanging over future US aid for Kyiv under a Donald Trump presidency.

Much of the Russian gains came in the autumn, as they took 610 square kilometres in October and 725 square kilometres in November. Those two months saw the Russians capture the most territory since March 2022, in the early weeks of the conflict.

Russia’s advance slowed in December, coming to 465 square kilometres in the first 30 days of the month.

But it is already nearly four times bigger than in the same month of the previous year and two-and-a-half times more than in December 2022…”