Four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the conflict has become the largest land war in Europe since World War II. As of March 13, 2026 — day 1,478 of the full-scale invasion — the war continues with no end in sight, despite extensive diplomatic efforts.
Russia currently occupies approximately 20 percent of Ukraine's internationally recognized territory — roughly 116,310 square kilometers (44,908 square miles), an area roughly equivalent to the U.S. state of Ohio. This includes Crimea (annexed in 2014), most of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, significant portions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, and until recently, slivers of Dnipropetrovsk oblast.
From March 2025 to March 2026, Russia captured approximately 1,993 square miles — about 0.9 percent of Ukraine's total territory. However, the pace of Russian advances has slowed dramatically in early 2026. In February 2026, Russian forces gained only 49 square miles, the smallest monthly gain since July 2024. Most significantly, in the four-week period from February 10 to March 10, 2026, Russian forces actually lost 57 square miles of Ukrainian territory, marking a reversal.
In what military analysts consider the most significant Ukrainian operational success since 2023, Ukraine launched counterattacks in early 2026 in the areas where Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts meet:
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Ukraine captured more territory than it lost in February 2026 — the first time this has happened since 2023.
Pokrovsk: The city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk oblast, a critical logistics hub, saw intense fighting throughout 2025. Russian forces advanced an average of only 70 meters per day toward the city before finally capturing it in early December 2025.
Kursk Incursion: Ukraine's bold cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk oblast, launched in August 2024, initially captured over 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory. However, a sustained Russian counterattack gradually reclaimed most of this territory. By March 2025, Russian forces had retaken the town of Sudzha, and by late 2025 the incursion had largely concluded.
The human cost of the war has been staggering:
Sources: Al Jazeera, Russia Matters (Harvard Kennedy School), Kyiv Independent, ISW, United24 Media, Euronews, EMPR. Last updated March 13, 2026.