Russia is doubling down on its claims on Ukraine, in an apparent effort to demonstrate some military achievement in 2025 at home and to influence peace talks with the United States.Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters last Friday in a year-end news conference that Moscow’s forces had seized Siversk in the eastern region of Donetsk and Vovchansk in the northern Kharkiv region.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listPutin also claimed Russian forces held at least half of Lyman and Kostiantynivka in Donetsk, and Hulyaipole in the southern Zaporizhia region – all front-line towns.Ukraine observers begged to differ. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, said satellite and open-source visual evidence contradict Putin.“ISW has observed no evidence to confirm any of these claimed seizures or extensive advances and has only observed evidence indicating a Russian presence [either through infiltration missions or assaults] in 7.3 percent of Hulyaipole and 2.9 percent of Lyman,” it wrote. (Al Jazeera)The ISW also estimated Russian advances had claimed no more than 5 percent of Kostiantynivka.“Even Russian milbloggers’ [military reporters’] claimed advances do not support many of Putin’s claims,” the ISW said, with milbloggers claiming that “Russian forces have seized a maximum” of about 7 percent of Lyman and 11 percent of Kostiantynivka.The Kremlin has also claimed to be in complete possession of Kupiansk in Kharkiv and Pokrovsk in Donetsk. The ISW estimated Russia possesses no more than 7.2 percent of Kharkiv, and Ukraine’s commander-in-chief has said Ukrainian forces had pushed Russia out of 16 square kilometres (6.1 square miles) of Pokrovsk. Advertisement On December 18, Russian commander-in-chief Valery Gerasimov gave an end-of-year report to foreign military officials, claiming …
