The Russian army won 175 km² of Ukrainian territory during the month of April

According to information obtained by BloombergVladimir Putin refused a proposal made by Trump Steve Witkoff to freeze the front line on his current lines during their last meeting on April 25 . During the meeting, the Russian president would have insisted on Moscow’s desire to finish the conquest of the four oblasts partially occupied in the east and the south of Ukraine (Louhansk, Donetsk, Zaporijia and Kherson) before the conclusion of any agreement aimed at ending the war.

Since the beginning of April, the Russian army has intensified its operations in Ukraine as part of the launch of a new major spring offensive.

• The increase in temperatures in Ukraine in recent weeks provides more favorable land for military operations. The hardening of the soil and the end of the sludge season facilitates the circulation of armored vehicles compared to the winter months.
• At the same time, improving weather conditions promotes the densification of vegetation after the winter dormant period, providing better coverage to Russian units on the ground.
• This additional protection is all the more significant since it is now the drones that form the first Ukrainian lines of defense. In certain sectors of the front, the “gray” areas contested between the two armies increased from around 500 meters deep last year at seven kilometers .

According to the commander -in -chief of the Ukrainian armies Oleksandr Syrsky, the number of Russian offensive operations in the most active sectors of the front has almost doubled since the month of April compared to previous weeks . However, the Russian forces have not been able to progress significantly: the latter took 175 km² of additional Ukrainian territory during the month of April, a slight increase compared to March – but which remains far lower than the rate observed in the winter of 2024/2025 .

Several factors explain this low progression.

• Most of the Russian units deployed in Ukraine are exhausted by more than three years of war. In some of the main sectors, such as in Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk Oblast, some fighters have not experienced a break since 2023 .
• The Russian army still suffers from a deterioration of its equipment and supplies, a situation which continues to deteriorate due to the refusal of the command to temporarily suspend its offensives in order to allow maintenance repairs and operations.
• Technological innovations as well as the massification of production and use of drones allow the Ukrainian army to detect and end Russian assaults more quickly. kyiv thinks that he can produce 4.5 million drones this year, more than the target set by Moscow (from 3 to 4 million).

Despite relative stability on the front during the months of March and April, the end of spring and summer should provide more favorable conditions for the Russian army, which retains an important advantage in terms of equipment, ammunition and men. The temporary suspension of the fighting decreed by Putin from May 8 to 11 should be followed by a resumption of offensive operations, for lack of a broader ceasefire agreement to which the Russian president still opposes the opening indicated by kyiv