Ukraine Retakes More Land Than Russia Seized For The First Time In Over a Year And a Half
Ukraine regained more territory than Russia seized in April, the first time Moscow suffered a net territorial loss since Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August 2024, according to analysis from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
CNN detailed that Ukrainian officers are detecting a shift in Russian morale after months of relentless fighting. Kyrylo Bondarenko, an officer in the Ukrainian unmanned aerial systems unit Lazar’s Group near Zaporizhzhia, told the network that Russian troops appear exhausted.
“We can see and feel how the mood among the Russian troops on the front line is changing,” Bondarenko said. “We have managed to turn the tide.” The numbers appear to support that assessment.
ISW’s battlefield data detailed that Russia suffered a net loss of 116 square kilometers, or about 45 square miles, in April. The shift is small in geographic terms, especially considering that Russia still controls close to 20% of Ukraine. However, it stands in contrast with President Vladimir Putin‘s argument that Russia’s larger army and slow territorial gains make Ukrainian resistance futile.
Christina Harward, the Russia deputy team lead at ISW, told CNN that Putin’s negotiating strategy depends on convincing Western governments that continued support for Kyiv is pointless and that Ukraine should accept Moscow’s demands. The recent battlefield data, she said, is “poking holes” in that narrative.
Ukraine’s gains have been driven in large part by its drones units. After years of focusing heavily on short-range attacks along the front and long-range strikes deep inside Russia, Kyiv has expanded mid-range strikes against Russian logistics, command posts, ammunition depots, and drone sites.
Ukraine carried out more than 160 mid-range strikes in April at distances of 120 to 150 kilometers. The targets included more than 65 logistics and ammunition depots, 33 drone control points and workshops, and 17 troop command posts in occupied Ukraine and Russian border regions. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry described the strikes as “a systemic campaign to exhaust Russia.”
However, Ukrainian officers told CNN that Russian forces continue to launch assaults, especially near Zaporizhzhia and around heavily contested areas such as Pokrovsk, but are struggling to hold ground. Instead, Russian troops have increasingly tried to infiltrate Ukrainian-held areas and claim advances that they cannot sustain.
That does not mean Ukraine is suddenly winning the war, and Russia can still inflict devastating damage from the air. Reuters reported Thursday that Moscow launched its heaviest two-day drone attack of the war, firing 1,567 drones and 56 missiles at Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, according to Ukrainian officials. At least 15 civilians were killed, and more than 180 facilities were damaged.
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said more civilians were killed or injured in the first four months of 2026 than during the same period in any of the previous three years. UN data showed 815 civilians killed and 4,174 injured from January through April, a 21% increase from the same period in 2025.
