Russian Gain in Ukraine War
Dr. Syed Mehboob
Economic and Political Analyst
http//: www.thenewslark.com
Peace is vital for a balanced and multipolar world. The global scenario is changing very fast. Israel, with the help of America, committed genocide in Gaza and crushed all international law, rules, and arms under its feet. American and Western countries imposed the Ukraine war to engage Russia and not to allow it to play its role in a balanced and multipolar world. If there were no Ukraine war, then Russia might have been able to play its role more effectively, and the current chaos in the Middle East could have been avoided. The recent USA and Israel attack on Iran and killing the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei and his family has jeopardized global peace.
Despite billions of dollars in financial and military aid from American and Western countries to Ukraine, Ukraine failed to achieve its objectives. So far, Ukraine lost 119,500 soldiers and mercenaries this winter; it lost 16,300 drones and 1,400 tanks and other armored vehicles in combat operations between December and February. Ukraine lost nearly 50,000 Ukrainian fighters and mercenaries, and in January, around 35,000, and in February, exceeded 34,500. During this period, Ukraine also lost around 16,300 drones, 1,400 tanks and other armored vehicles, 1,600 field artillery pieces and mortars, as well as nearly 1,100 ammunition, fuel, and supplies.
Ukrainian Loss in three months
Soldiers Drones Tanks
Per month 39,833 5,433 467
Per Day 1,327 181 15
Per Hour 55 7.5 1 tank every two hours
This is a huge loss, but American and European policymakers are blindly throwing billions of dollars hard-earned money of their taxpayers' hard-earned money in this useless war for their personal satisfaction, which is not in any way beneficial for the common American and European people.
Besides these achievements, Russian forces liberated over eight settlements in the special operation zone this winter. In February 2026 alone, Russian military personnel have liberated more than twenty-four settlements in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk Regions and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and took control of more than three hundred sixty square kilometers of territory. In December alone, the Russian Armed Forces liberated thirty-four settlements. Overall, more than five hundred forty square kilometers of territory were liberated. In January this year, the Russian Armed Forces liberated twenty-four settlements in the aforementioned regions and the DPR, around four hundred and seventy square kilometers of territory. In February 2026, the Russian Armed Forces liberated twenty-four settlements, taking control of more than 360 square kilometers. Overall, during the winter, Russian forces strengthened their tactical position along the forward edge and, in a number of areas, advanced deep into the enemy’s defenses.
Analysts at the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), say Russia took about 4,700 sq. km (1,800 sq miles) of territory in 2025 - an area about twice the size of the city of Moscow - although Russia claims to have taken 6,000 sq km.
In eastern Ukraine, Moscow's war machine has been churning mile by mile through the wide-open fields of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions - also known as the Donbas - surrounding and overwhelming villages and towns.
A Russian summer attack near the eastern town of Pokrovsk did make rapid advances just north of the town and Russia has recently made advances in the town itself and to the east of nearby Kostyantynivka.
The town, once a key logistics hub for Ukraine's military, is already in ruins.
Russian officials previously claimed to have captured Pokrovsk, known in Russian as Krasnoarmeysk, which includes a major road and railway junction that used to connect the upper parts of the Donetsk region with key cities to the west, such as Dnipro.But Ukraine says it still holds the northern parts of the town.
Its fall would be Russia's biggest battlefield victory since it took the city of Avdiivka about 40km (25 miles) to the east in early 2024 and could give Moscow a platform to drive north towards the two biggest remaining Ukrainian-controlled cities in the Donetsk region, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Ukraine is losing ground, and Russia is trying to create a buffer zone inside Ukraine's northern borders and get within artillery range of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city.
Russia's forces have recently gained limited control over a spear of land to the south of Vovchansk that would bring them closer to this target.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he wants this buffer zone to protect Russia, after Ukrainian forces captured a swathe of territory further north in Kursk in the summer of 2024. Russian forces eventually drove them out, with the help of North Korean troops.
Russia has also been carrying out strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure - in particular its energy facilities such as electricity substations and power plants.
They include a reported overnight attack on 22 February in Kyiv and around the capital city, where dozens of strikes targeted energy infrastructure.
Ukraine have experienced severe power cuts or been left with no running water or heating during some of the coldest months of the winter.
As of six months ago, Ukraine's interior ministry had recorded more than 70,000 people as officially missing - both soldiers and civilians - but the breakdown is never given and the true figure may be higher. However, Zelensky said at the start of February that 55,000 soldiers had been killed.
Russian Ukraine was started on 24 February 2022, and since then, Russian had many gains. Russia has captured and still controls large parts of Donetsk Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, and Kherson Oblast. Russia has created a land corridor linking mainland Russia to Crimea. Russia has strategic relations with China and Iran, has an important role in BRICS, and also has good relations with Pakistan, India, the Central Asian countries, and many African countries.
It is very important for the durable global peace that Russia must end the Ukrainian war and play its role more effectively in the world to pave the way for global durable peace and a multipolar world.
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