UK Intelligence: Russia Accelerates Territorial Gains in Ukraine
Russian forces have significantly increased the pace of their territorial gains in Ukraine during May and June 2025, according to a new assessment by UK Defence Intelligence published on X, The Gaze reports.
In June alone, Russian troops likely seized between 550 and 600 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory—an average of 18–20 square kilometers per day.
This marks a slight uptick from May, which also saw a notable rise compared to the 200 square kilometers captured in April.
According to the report, the recent advances have mostly occurred in rural and less urbanized areas, suggesting a tactical shift.
Russian forces are focusing on probing weak points along Ukraine’s defensive lines through small-scale assaults, allowing them to identify opportunistic zones for breakthrough operations.
Despite these gains, UK intelligence notes that Russia continues to face serious challenges in trying to capture fortified urban centers such as Pokrovsk and Kupiansk.
“Directly assaulting these areas would require significantly greater mass,” the report says.
Instead of launching large-scale urban offensives, Russian troops are attempting to encircle and isolate strategic cities by targeting logistics routes and ground lines of communication—a strategy aimed at gradually weakening Ukrainian positions without committing to high-risk frontal assaults.
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