Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russian forces have captured nearly 5,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory this year, asserting that Russia maintains full strategic initiative in the ongoing war. The statement came during a meeting with top military commanders in St. Petersburg on Putin’s 73rd birthday.

Putin claimed that Ukrainian forces are retreating across multiple fronts and stressed that Kyiv’s attempts to strike deep into Russian territory would not change the overall situation. He reiterated Moscow’s narrative that the conflict, which began in February 2022, is aimed at the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine.

Russia’s top military commander, General Valery Gerasimov, supported Putin’s statements, saying that Russian troops were

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