Russia heavily inflates alleged statistics about territorial gains in 2024 - ISW

Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov heavily inflated alleged statistics about Russian territorial gains in 2024.

This is said in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrinform reports.

Analysts noted that Gerasimov claimed on December 18 that Russian forces seized roughly 4,500 square kilometers in 2024. ISW has observed confirmation that Russian forces have only seized 3,306 square kilometers in 2024, however.

“Gerasimov's exaggerated figures contrast with Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov's more accurate statements to the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) board meeting on December 16. Belousov claimed, for example, that Russian forces' average daily rate of advance is about 30 square kilometers,” the report says.

ISW observed geolocated evidence to assess that Russian forces advanced at a rate of roughly 27.96 square kilometers per day in November 2024. Belousov also claimed that Russian forces have seized roughly 99 percent of Luhansk region, 70 percent of Donetsk region, roughly 74 percent of Zaporizhzhia region, and roughly 76 percent of Kherson region.

ISW assesses that Russian forces occupy roughly 99 percent of Luhansk region, 66 percent of Donetsk region, and 73 percent of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions each.

As reported by Ukrinform, the total combat losses of the Russian army in Ukraine from February 24, 2022, to December 19, 2024, amounted to about 768,220 troops, including another 1,530 invaders killed or wounded in the past day.