Russia seized considerably much less territory from Ukraine in September than in August, the British Ministry of Defence mentioned in an intelligence replace shared on Thursday. The slowdown of the general Russian advance is “extremely seemingly” as a result of redeployment of troops elsewhere in Ukraine, in line with the replace.
“It’s seemingly that Russian Floor Forces (RGF) seized roughly 250 sq km of Ukrainian territory in September 2025, a notable lower from the roughly 465 sq km taken in August 2025,” mentioned the replace. “This follows reasonable month on month decreases in floor taken from June 2025 to August 2025.”
The intelligence replace continued that that is “extremely seemingly as a result of RGF give attention to relocating a number of Russian divisions alongside the entrance line, notably Airborne (VDV) divisions, from Sumy oblast to Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.”
It comes as U.S. President Donald Trump mulls how finest to extend the stress on Russian President Vladimir Putin to finish the continued warfare after months of diplomatic engagement did not yield peace.
One main choice into consideration, and requested by Kyiv, is giving Ukraine entry to long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, which might allow it to strike key targets deep inside Russia—and put Moscow in vary.
Russia remains to be making advances in sure areas, the British protection ministry mentioned.
“Russian forces have continued to advance in Dnipropetrovsk oblast and are presently contesting the cities of Oleksiivka and Novohryhorivka, having captured the city of Verbove in early to mid-October 2025,” the replace mentioned.
“RGF are contesting the vast majority of Kupiansk, Kharkiv oblast, with reporting indicating that Russian forces have captured a lot of the high-rise buildings within the northern half of town, and that Ukrainian forces are finishing up operations to clear them.
“RGF are persevering with intensive efforts to envelop Pokrovsk, Donetsk oblast, the important thing Ukrainian logistics hub which helps operations within the Donbas. Pokrovsk seemingly stays Russia’s precedence axis, with the biggest proportion of Russian assaults relative to the remainder of the frontline.”
This can be a breaking information story. Updates to comply with.