Shoigu announces how much the Russians have conquered in Ukraine since the beginning of the year: “In total, 400 km2 of territory from the new regions of the Russian Federation”

The Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, claimed on Tuesday the conquest of more than 400 square kilometers of territory in Ukraine since the beginning of this year, informs AFP, which mentions that Russian troops manage to take the initiative in front of Ukrainian soldiers lacking ammunition.

“In total, since the beginning of the year, 403 km2 of territory in the new regions of the Russian Federation have come under our control,” Serghei Şoigu said on Tuesday, during a military meeting, according to a press release from his ministry, reports Agerpres.

He added that Russian soldiers continue to “push Ukrainian units to the west.”

Russia, France Presse recalls, has claimed the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Kherson, Donetsk and Zaporizhia, which it still only partially controls.

In recent months, the Russian army claimed to have captured several villages and especially the town of Avdiivka, in the east, one of the Ukrainian strongholds in recent years.

Russian soldiers have not scored major victories, with vast areas of the front remaining blocked, but they appear to have benefited from the difficulties of Kiev, which is facing a shortage of ammunition, recruitment problems and the weakening of Western aid.

Last week, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) estimated that Russia has conquered a total of 505 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory since last October.

____