Occupiers' advance slows down twice over past week, stops in Kharkiv region – DeepState
Despite continuing their offensive in the Sumy direction, Russian occupiers managed to seize 35.58 square km of Ukrainian territory over the past week, from April 13 to April 20, which is almost half the amount of the week before last, when the enemy increased the occupation area by 63.13 square km, according to maps from the OSINT project DeepState.
Half of the seized territory was in Sumy region, where the enemy captured 17.74 square km in the border area (20.33 square km the week before last), with a decrease in the penetration area by 8.63 square km.
The pace of the enemy's advance in Donetsk region remained almost unchanged. In all relevant directions of the front – Pokrovsk, Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, Siversk – the enemy captured 14.64 square km over the past week (15.82 square km the week before last), with a decrease in the penetration area by 3.65 square km.
In addition, over the past week, the enemy managed to seize 3.2 square km in Hulyaypole, Zaporizhia region, by consolidating in the penetration zone and expanding the "grey zone" by 2.5 square km near the neighboring village of Myrne, where they advanced the week before last.
Meanwhile, in the Kupyansk direction in Kharkiv region, where the enemy captured over 23 square km near the village of Pishchane the week before last, the Defence Forces managed to completely stop the enemy: the front line has remained unchanged over the last week. There were also no changes near the village of Veterinaryne in Kharkiv region, north of the regional center, where the enemy crossed the border the week before last but was unable to advance further.
There were no changes in all other directions over the past week.
Thus, according to DeepState data, the total area of occupation of Ukrainian territory increased by 35.58 square km over the week, while the penetration zone decreased by 16.27 square km.
Every day last week, the occupiers advanced by an average of 5.1 square km, and the penetration zone grew by an average of 2.3 square km daily.
The week before last, the occupiers advanced by an average of 9 square km every day.
As reported, in the final months of 2025, the average growth of the Russian occupation area fluctuated at a level of 8-14 square km per day. In late January, it began to decline, and in mid-February, the Defence Forces began a gradual pushback of the enemy in the Oleksandrivka direction in Dnipropetrovsk and adjacent districts of Zaporizhia and Donetsk regions, which lasted two weeks; in the last week of February, the total area of occupation even decreased for the first time since 2022. In March, the growth of the occupation area by the enemy resumed, but at a slower pace.