Mon Dec 16 17:05:13 UTC 2024: ## Putin Claims Russian Troops Gaining Ground in Ukraine
**Moscow, December 16, 2024** – Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Monday that Russian forces have the upper hand across the entire front line in Ukraine and are accelerating their advance. In a televised meeting with military generals, Putin asserted that the Russian army maintains a strong strategic initiative and has captured 189 Ukrainian settlements in 2024, calling the year a landmark achievement in the “special military operation.”
Defense Minister Andrei Belousov echoed Putin’s claims, stating that Russian troops have seized nearly 4,500 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory this year, currently gaining approximately 30 square kilometers daily. He further claimed that Ukraine controls less than 1% of the Lugansk region and only 25-30% of Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions – all four of which Russia illegally annexed in 2022 despite lacking full control. The latest reported gain is a small village in the Donetsk region. These claims have not been independently verified.
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