Russia stalls in Sumy, slows in Donetsk – DeepState
Russian forces resume their offensive toward Kupiansk in Kharkiv region, while the offensive in Sumy region stops and the one in Donetsk region slows significantly, according to DeepState OSINT project maps.
In total, Russia seizes 31.35 sq km of Ukrainian territory from April 20 to 26. This slightly trails the week before last, when Russia increased the occupied area by 35.58 sq km.
Russia achieves its greatest success in the Huliaipole direction, where it seizes 12.15 sq km near the village of Myrne at the start of the week, partly by consolidating positions in the penetration zone, which decreased by 5.84 sq km. However, no Russian advances occur there after mid-week.
Meanwhile, Russia resumes its offensive mid-week and seizes 9.83 sq km in the Kupiansk direction, after failing to advance there at all the week before last. The penetration zone there increases by 5.1 sq km.
On the Donetsk fronts, Russia seizes 9.37 sq km over the past week, 1.5 times less than the week before last (14.64 sq km). At the beginning of the week, Russia advances significantly in the Siversk direction toward Slovyansk but stalls mid-week; however, it records a small advance toward Kostiantynivka at the end of the week. Numerous minor Russian advances in the Pokrovsk direction also occur throughout the week.
The penetration zone in all directions of the region increases by 7.51 sq km. All other directions remain unchanged.
Thus, according to DeepState data, the total area of occupied Ukrainian territory increases by 31.35 sq km during the week, while the penetration zone grows by another 12.2 sq km. Russia advances by an average of 4.5 sq km per day, and the penetration zone grows by an average of 1.7 sq km per day. The week before last, Russia advanced by an average of 5.1 sq km per day.
In the final months of 2025, the average growth of the Russian-occupied area fluctuated between 8 and 14 sq km per day. This rate began to decline in late January. In mid-February, Ukrainian Forces began gradually pushing Russia back in the Oleksandrivka direction in Dnipropetrovsk and adjacent areas of Zaporizhia and Donetsk regions for two weeks. In the last week of February, the total occupied area decreased for the first time since 2022. The growth of the Russian-occupied area resumed in March, but at a slower pace.
