The war between Russia and Ukraine, which began in February 2022, is approaching its fifth year with no resolution in sight. This week brought continued strikes on both sides and public statements from the two countries' leaders about how the conflict might proceed.
Russian strikes across Ukraine were reported to have killed civilians overnight into Thursday, according to Ukrainian officials, part of a pattern of long range attacks that has continued throughout the war. Ukraine, for its part, has continued its own long range drone campaign, and its leadership this week issued a public warning to international airlines about the safety of flying in Russian airspace.
Independent groups that track the war's front lines report that the pace of territorial change has slowed somewhat in recent weeks. According to Ukraine's DeepState monitoring group, Russian forces made a net gain of about 14 square miles of Ukrainian territory over the four weeks ending September 8, down from about 33 square miles in the previous four week period. The Institute for the Study of War, a separate research organization, estimated a larger net gain of roughly 75 square miles over the same period, illustrating how different trackers can arrive at somewhat different figures using different methodologies.
The human toll of the war remains difficult to state with precision, since neither government publishes complete figures. A former senior Western official cited by the research group Russia Matters estimated in February 2026 that Russian military casualties, killed and wounded combined, had surpassed one million, while Ukrainian military casualties were estimated in a range of 250,000 to 300,000. Both figures reflect the scale of a conflict that has now lasted more than three and a half years.
Diplomats from several countries continue to hold periodic discussions aimed at finding a path toward negotiations, though no breakthrough has been announced.
Why do territorial estimates differ between trackers?
Groups like DeepState and the Institute for the Study of War use different sources and methods to assess front line control, which can produce somewhat different figures even when describing the same period.