Russian progress in Ukraine practically stopped in March. For the first time in two and a half years, Moscow did not gain new territories, and Kyiv reports modest gains.
The Russian army did not make any significant territorial gains in the war in Ukraine in March. This happened for the first time in the last two and a half years. TASR informs about this with reference to the AFP agency, which on a monthly basis analyzes the data of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
- The Russian army did not gain new territories in Ukraine in March.
- Ukrainian forces recaptured nine square kilometers.
- The Russian advance was slowed by counter-offensives and restrictions.
- The Russians lost positions between Donetsk and Dnepropetrovsk.
The analysis shows that Ukrainian forces managed to regain nine square kilometers of territory in March, while the advance of Russian troops slowed along the entire front line. This figure does not include the infiltration operations of Russian forces behind the front line or the gains declared by the Russian side, which ISW neither confirmed nor denied. The institute collaborated on the analysis with the Critical Threats project launched by the American Enterprise Institute think tank.
According to ISW, the Russian army is slowing down its advance from the end of 2025 due to Ukrainian counter-offensives in the southeast of the country. Moscow recorded gains of 319 square kilometers in January and 123 square kilometers in February, the lowest since April 2024.
They restricted the popular platform
ISW attributes the slowdown of the Russian offensive not only to Ukraine’s counterattacks, but also to cutting off Russian forces from access to the Starlink satellite communications system and the Kremlin’s efforts to restrict access to the Telegram app. This platform, also popular with Russian frontline soldiers, has been almost unusable in recent months due to blocking by the authorities.
As in February, Russia also lost positions in the southern sector of the front between the Donetsk and Dnepropetrovsk regions in March. While at the end of January it occupied a territory with an area of more than 400 square kilometers, in February it was only 200 and in March 144 square kilometers. However, the situation remains unfavorable for Kyiv further north in the Donetsk region towards the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
In 2025, the Russian army advanced more in Ukraine than in the previous 24 months. However, for the first quarter of 2026, Russia’s territorial gains are half that of the same period last year. Four years after the start of the invasion by Russian forces, Russia occupies just over 19 percent of Ukraine’s territory. Most of it was occupied in the first weeks of the conflict. About seven percent of the territory, including the Crimean peninsula and parts of the Donbass, was already under the control of Russia or pro-Russian separatists before the invasion.
