Ukraine has retaken 745 sq km in 'precision' operation this year, Zelensky says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces have liberated 745 square kilometers (288 square miles) of Russian-occupied territory this year. This operation, which Zelensky described as a "precision" effort that went "exactly as planned," reclaimed 26 settlements across the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions. These areas are located along a 60 km stretch where the three regions converge. While Zelensky praised the air-assault forces and other units, a battlefield map from the Ukrainian open-source group DeepState indicates that much of the reclaimed area remains a contested "grey zone" or is still under Russian control. Despite Russia's advances slowing, its forces continue to target key cities in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.