INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Reflecting on 2024 in his annual end-of-year press conference, President Vladimir Putin described the year as a "landmark" in achieving the
settlements at the front and that the Armed Forces had grown to 1.5 million personnel, boasting that over 1,000 volunteers were signing
military contracts every day.These figures appear to have done little to give Moscow a significant advantage over Kyiv in the third year of
a war that it expected to win in a matter of days.While Moscow continues to occupy large swathes of Ukraine, it has not achieved significant
Kyiv, which has held parts of Russia's Kursk region since August, has also not advanced, leading analysts to debate whether the war had
II.The offensive has seen Kyiv capture over two dozen settlements in Kursk, including the town of Sudzha, a key natural gas transit hub
between Russia and Europe.A Ukrainian soldier walks along a damaged street in Sudzha, Kursk region.Yan Dobronosov / AFPThousands have been
evacuated from Kursk and remain displaced
Many others remain trapped in Kyiv-held territory.Analysts say that while the incursion is viewed as a significant military success for
Korean soldiers to the region to help claw back its lands, the U.S
Department of Defense said, with Kyiv reporting that it has encountered troops from the reclusive country in combat.As of November, Kyiv
still controlled 800 square kilometers of Kursk, down from previous estimates that it controlled almost 1,400 square kilometers, a Ukrainian
believe that the region could be used as a bargaining chip in potential ceasefire talks between Moscow and Kyiv, and that the fighting in
Kursk could intensify as Russia seeks a political win by regaining control of its territories.During his annual press conference this month,
and Ukraine have been ratcheting up their deadly aerial offensives, unleashing increasingly advanced weaponry and spurring fears that the
conflict could further escalate.U.S
President Joe Biden in November cleared Kyiv to use U.S.-made ATACMS long-range missiles against military targets inside Russia, a move that
Moscow had long warned would provoke a devastating response.On Nov
21, Russia launched the Oreshnik, an experimental, nuclear-capable ballistic missile, against Ukraine for the first time in what Putin
called a response to Kyiv's use of ATACMS against targets on Russian soil
The launch came days after Putin signed a decree lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.Experts believe the new missile flies
at 10 times the speed of sound and may be able to strike targets up to 5,500 kilometers away
of ATACMS has complicated Russia's logistics in frontline areas, their deployment has also had a modest impact on the overall course of
regions remained the epicenter of heavy fighting, with Moscow advancing and pressing overstretched and outgunned Ukrainian forces for
months.In October, the Russian army advanced 478 square kilometers into Ukrainian territory, a record since March 2022 in the first weeks of
the war, according to an AFP analysis of data from the U.S
The last time Russia made such advances was in March 2022, when they marched towards the capital Kyiv in the early stages of the war.As of
mid-December, Russian forces were only several kilometers from Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, which they have been approaching from the
near the Kharkiv region city of Kupiansk last month
Captured by Russian troops in the early stages of the war, Kupiansk was then retaken by Ukraine in a September 2022
counteroffensive.According to Stupak, the Russian army's tactic is to encircle settlements from all sides instead of launching costly and
Russia has suffered significant losses and appeared to show little concern for its troops
But Ukraine is also taking losses," Stupak said.Throughout 2023, Russian forces seized just 584 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory,
according to AFP analysis based on data released by the ISW.Yet since Jan
1, 2024, they have already taken more than 2,660 square kilometers, an area slightly bigger than the size of Moscow.From the start of the
war in February 2022 until Oct
27, 2024, Russia had taken 67,192 square kilometers of Kyiv's land.Along with the annexed Crimean peninsula and the areas of eastern Ukraine
controlled by Moscow-backed separatists before the Kremlin's February 2022 invasion, Russia currently controls 18.2% of Ukraine's 2013
territory.AFP contributed reporting.
