Zelenskyy: Since year start, we have recaptured 460 sq km
Defense forces have recaptured 460 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory during counterattacks since the beginning of 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced.
"Since the beginning of the year, we have recaptured 460 square kilometers," Zelenskyy said in an interview with Italy’s Corriere Della Sera, published on Tuesday.
Commenting on the issue of Russia’s demographic advantage over Ukraine, he emphasized that "we are actually striving for dialogue, we want peace," but at the same time, "we are trying to be strong, producing technical resources and more drones, which will compensate for the shortage of soldiers."
"We’re diversifying our forms of war, which allows us to resist. We’re not losing, but Russia is still dissatisfied. They’re losing a lot of people, up to 35,000 a month. That’s a gigantic figure. Putin is currently planning to mobilize 400,000 new soldiers, but his army has stopped growing, losses are equal to the number of new recruits, they’re blocked, close to crisis. Serious negotiations will begin when his army starts to shrink," the Ukrainian leader said.
He also noted that Ukraine is also facing a shortage of military personnel, and “that’s why we want to end the war.”
"But meanwhile, Putin has lost his winter offensive. He attacked power plants in the depths of the cold, wanted to divide us, and tried to turn the civilian population against the army to force it to cease hostilities. But he failed: with the arrival of warmer weather, hope is reviving. Now the Russians will try a spring offensive, but I think they will lose again; many soldiers will die in vain," Zelenskyy said.
As reported, on February 23, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky announced that Ukrainian troops had liberated 400 square kilometers of territory in southern Ukraine since the end of January.
