PARIS: Russian forces advanced less on Ukrainian territory in February than in the preceding months, according to an AFP analysis of US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) data.
Moscow advanced by 389 square kilometers (150 square miles) in February after advances of 431 square kilometers in January and 476 square kilometers in December 2024, the data showed.
It was well below the peak of 725 square kilometers made in November, after Russian forces embarked on major advances on the front line starting in mid-2024.
The Russian army’s gains over the past year, from March 2024 to February 2025, came to 4,500 square kilometers, or 0.75 percent of Ukrainian territory as it stood before the Russian offensives including in the Crimea peninsula and the eastern Donbass region.
That is nearly 20 times more than over the previous 12 months — Russia had gained just 231 square kilometers between March 2023 and February 2024.
During that period Ukraine took 1,440 square kilometers of Russian territory, but over the past year it retook just 52 square kilometers.
In August 2024, a major Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region saw it gain around 1,300 square kilometers in two weeks, but the Ukrainian zone of operation then was reduced month by month.
It decreased from 1,171 square kilometers in late August to 483 square kilometers by the end of last year, falling to 407 square kilometers by February 28, 2025.
AFP’s count is based on data provided on a daily basis by the ISW, which gives information provided by both sides as well as analyzes of satellite imagery.
Russian advances in Ukraine slow again in February: report
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Russian advances in Ukraine slow again in February: report
- Russian forces advanced less on Ukrainian territory in February than in the preceding months
- Moscow advanced by 389 square kilometers in February
California joins UN health network following US departure from WHO
- California Governor Gavin Newsom decried the United States’ move on Friday, calling it a “reckless decision” that will hurt many people
CALIFORNIA: California said on Friday it will become the first US state to join the World Health Organization’s global outbreak response network following the Trump administration’s decision to pull Washington out of the WHO.
The network, comprised of more than 360 technical institutions, responds to public health events with the deployment of staff and resources to affected countries. It has tackled major public health events, including COVID-19. The state’s decision to join the network comes more than a year after US President Donald Trump gave notice that Washington would depart from the WHO. On Thursday, it officially withdrew from the agency, saying its decision reflected failures in the UN health agency’s management of the pandemic.
California Governor Gavin Newsom decried the United States’ move on Friday, calling it a “reckless decision” that will hurt many people.
“California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring,” Newsom said in a statement. “We will continue to foster partnerships across the globe and remain at the forefront of public health preparedness, including through our membership as the only state in WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network.”
The governor’s office said he met with the WHO’s Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, where they discussed collaborating to detect and respond to emerging public health threats.
The WHO did not immediately respond when reached for comment.
