Putin's Army Has Significantly Changed Pace On The Frontline Throughout 2025, UK Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putin’s army has slowed down significantly with its territorial gains in Ukraine over the last few months, according to the UK.Russia still occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian land, but is continuing to push forward and try to seize more territory.Putin has even issued his largest conscription call yet to bolster his army, all while Donald Trump is trying to negotiate a peace deal.However, Russia is not actually having that much success on the frontline, according to the British Ministry of Defence (MoD).In its latest social media update on the war, the MoD said: “Russian territorial gains in Ukraine have decreased during the first quarter of 2025, with Russian forces highly likely seizing only 143 sq km of Ukrainian territory in March 2025, an average of less than 5 square kilometres per day.”The British officials traced this decreased progress back to the end of last year.“Russia’s rate of advance has dropped month by month since November 2024, when its forces seized more than 700 sq km,” the MoD said.“Most of the advances by Russian forces in March 2025 were in central Donetsk oblast, but Russia not did not improve its operational position.”And, according to the intelligence officers, Ukraine is successfully pushing some of the Russian forces back.“Ukrainian forces also carried out tactical counter-attacks, reversing some of Russia’s gains around Pokrovsk,” they said.“The level of Russian ground attacks on several axes was reduced through much of March 2025.“These began to increase towards the end of the month but have not resulted in a higher rate of advance.”It’s worth noting Russia’s casualty rate has also reached around 900,000 – wounded or dead –  since Putin invaded Ukraine back in 2022, according to the MoD.But, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned over the weekend, Russia is still launching daily air strikes on Ukraine.Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 05 April 2025. Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/M4zHzkP1GS#StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/1vdj0VpqYg— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 5, 2025The MoD’s update comes after one of Putin’s ministers spurned the US proposals for a peace plan.Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told the media that “there is no place for our main demand” in the American proposals, and so Moscow “cannot accept” such a plan.Trump has been pushing for a quick resolution to the Ukraine war, even if it means settling on Russia’s terms.The US president did manage to secure partial ceasefires in the Black Sea and against Ukrainian energy infrastructure – but both sides now claim that brief truce has already been broken.US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Friday that the world will know “in a matter of weeks” if Russia is “serious about peace or not”.Related...Lammy Issues Stern Warning To Putin As Ukraine Talks Stall: 'We Know What You're Doing'Putin Has Drawn 'Condemnation From Russian Parents' Over Major Ukraine War Move, UK SaysHow On Earth Did Vladimir Putin Avoid Donald Trump's Tariffs – But Ukraine Didn't?