Russia's gradual expansion into eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region managed to seize 4,168 sq km (1,609 square miles) of farmland and villages that were abandoned in 2024 – equivalent to 0.69 percent of the country.
This was an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, based on satellite images and video footage.
“The Russian army captured four central villages – Avdiivka, Selydove, Vuhledar, and Kurakhove – throughout 2024, the largest of which had a population of over 31,000 before,” ISW said.
The Russian army took four months to take Avdiivka, and two months each to Selydove and Kurakhove.
“The capture of the settlements did not allow the Russian army to threaten any defensive positions of Ukraine,” said the ISW, adding that Moscow's army failed to operate quickly, with the machines needed to change “strategic successes to penetrate deep into the rear of Ukraine” .
Meanwhile, Russia will need two more years to complete the conquest of Donetsk alone, ISW observed – something that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his officials to do by October 1.
Russia's commitment to achieving this has been huge, as Ukrainian forces have taken advantage of the freedom fighters to inflict mass casualties, especially in urban areas where they are fighting to build, street by street.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksandr Syrskii said on Monday that 427,000 Russian soldiers were wounded and killed in 2024. A few days later, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine put Russia's losses last year at 430,790 soldiers – the equivalent of 36 Russian guns. division – more than its losses in 2022 and 2023 combined.
These casualties averaged 1,180 per day, but the number of casualties rose significantly towards the end of the year, as Russian forces increased their attacks. in an apparent effort to promote the US election.
The highest monthly casualties, the Defense Ministry said, came in November and December – 45,720 and 48,670 respectively – as Russia stepped up its offensive in Donetsk.
“This year, the Russian people paid a very high price for the war against Ukraine, as our army and all our defense and security forces of Ukraine destroyed more weapons and equipment of the enemy than in previous years of war,” Syrksyi told his team. power in the address on December 31.
'1,700 killed and injured every day'
Russia managed to increase its daily seizure from 14 sq km (5.4 square miles) in October to 28 sq km in November but fell back to 18 sq km (11 square miles) per day in December. Apparently, his losses did not fall completely.
“In the past week, the insurgents have been losing about 1,700 people killed and wounded every day,” Syrksyi said on Monday.
In December he also released two Russian reports of injuries.
On December 29, Ukrainian officials said Russian troops had lost 2,010 people. He had a possible record of 2,200 daily casualties in 191 conflicts on December 19.
Ukraine also estimated that it produced 3,689 Russian tanks, thousands of armored fighting vehicles, and more than 13,000 pieces of artillery. The Ukrainian navy said it sank five ships and 458 small vessels.
Russia recruited North Korean fighters to ease labor pressure, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a quarter of them had been eliminated.
“According to preliminary information, the number of killed and wounded North Korean military in the Kursk region has already exceeded 3,000 people,” Zelenskyy said in his evening speech on December 23.
He recently said that Russia is killing North Koreans at the risk of falling into the hands of the Ukrainian military.
“Everything is being arranged in such a way that we cannot hold Koreans as prisoners – their people who are killing them, there are such cases,” Zelenskyy said in a speech on the evening of December 27.
Ukrainian military officials, GUR, said more North Koreans were being brought to Kursk to replace losses.
Russia looks to Central Asia for economic recovery
Putin appears to have prioritized military personnel over the economy.
He signed a law on Monday forcing all refugees to leave Russia by the end of April, but joining the military allows them to bypass the legal requirements.
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Intelligence says Russia suffered a 1.5 million unemployment crisis last year, with the number of active workers down by a million. However, Putin's policy will absorb foreign workers out of the economy and prioritize them.
Putin acknowledged the shortage of “hundreds of thousands” at a press conference at the end of the year on December 19, but did not link the shortage to the military. Instead, they decided to bring in more workers from Central Asian countries.
He emphasized the importance of “creating a group of Russian schools there, learning the Russian language, informing people who will come to work here” and spoke about the need to increase the productivity of workers through advanced technology.
Both Ukraine and Russia have transitioned to a military economy, Russia's economy supported by oil revenues and Ukraine's by its Western allies.
They all try to be as independent as possible.
In his New Year's speech, Zelenskyy said that 30 percent of the weapons that Ukraine used last year were produced in the country.
“I felt ashamed as a citizen that since the 90s, the government has not recognized our people like this,” he said. “And I am proud … that Ukraine is building its own, its own missiles. And for the first time, it produces more than a million drones a year.”
Ukraine has used its own air and naval drones to strike inside Russia and across the Black Sea.
Ukraine's military said Tuesday it used a SeaDragon missile launched from a Magura V submarine to shoot down a Russian Mi8 helicopter.
“Today, for the first time, a helicopter was shot down, and it fell into the water. That is, the destruction of the air target on the Black Sea has been recorded, “Kirill Budanov, the head of intelligence of Ukraine, told the telethon.
GUR released pictures of the strike. Earlier, Russian helicopters that were hit during the war managed to reach the airport, he said.
Russia has also invested in drones, despite being hampered by Western sanctions on its adoption of the critical technology.
Its drone plant in Alabuga, 1,000km (620 miles) east of Moscow, produced 5,760 drones in the first nine months of last year, Ukrainian intelligence sources told CNN, doubling its 2023 output.
The Ukrainian army said that in 2024, it faced a greater threat of missiles and drones against critical infrastructure than in 2023, perhaps because Russia also used Shahed drones that do not carry explosives but disrupt and destroy air defenses.
“The enemy is trying to disrupt the airspace as much as possible, overwhelm our air defenses and exhaust our air defenses,” the military said.
Throughout last year, Ukraine said it shot down 11,200 drones, of which 7,800 were Shahds.
Kyiv alone faced 200 aerial attacks last year, the government said, including 1,300 drones, more than 200 surface-to-air missiles and 46 missiles.
Ukraine's prosecutor reported the death of civilians that night on New Year's Eve, when a Russian jet crashed into a residential building in Kyiv. A drone started a fire at the National Bank of Ukraine.
The drones were part of a larger threat involving 111 Shahed kamikaze drones, the Ukrainian military said, 63 of which it said were shot down.
Despite its increased armaments, Ukraine remained dependent on supplies from its allies.
United States President Joe Biden on Monday announced $2.5bn in military aid to Ukraine, half of which is for immediate withdrawal.
Mr Biden said the package represented the remainder of the $60bn he signed into law for 2024, and included “thousands of weapons, thousands of missiles, and hundreds of armored vehicles” as well as air defense equipment.
