Russia seized significantly less territory from Ukraine in September than in August, the British Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update shared on Thursday. The slowdown of the overall Russian advance is “highly likely” due to the redeployment of troops elsewhere in Ukraine, according to the update.
“It is likely that Russian Ground Forces (RGF) seized approximately 250 sq km of Ukrainian territory in September 2025, a notable decrease from the approximately 465 sq km taken in August 2025,” said the update. “This follows moderate month on month decreases in ground taken from June 2025 to August 2025.”
The intelligence update continued that this is “highly likely due to the RGF focus on relocating multiple Russian divisions along the front line, notably Airborne (VDV) divisions, from Sumy oblast to Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.”
It comes as U.S. President Donald Trump mulls how best to increase the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the ongoing war after months of diplomatic engagement failed to yield peace.
One major option under consideration, and requested by Kyiv, is giving Ukraine access to long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, which would enable it to strike key targets deep inside Russia—and put Moscow in range.
Russia is still making advances in certain areas, the British defense ministry said.
“Russian forces have continued to advance in Dnipropetrovsk oblast and are currently contesting the towns of Oleksiivka and Novohryhorivka, having captured the town of Verbove in early to mid-October 2025,” the update said.
“RGF are contesting the majority of Kupiansk, Kharkiv oblast, with reporting indicating that Russian forces have captured most of the high-rise buildings in the northern half of the city, and that Ukrainian forces are carrying out operations to clear them.
“RGF are continuing intensive efforts to envelop Pokrovsk, Donetsk oblast, the key Ukrainian logistics hub which supports operations in the Donbas. Pokrovsk likely remains Russia’s priority axis, with the largest proportion of Russian assaults relative to the rest of the frontline.”
In its own update on Thursday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its units across its North, South, West, and Center groups had improved their positions on the frontlines. Only those in the East group were described as having advanced.
“Units of the ‘East’ troop group continued advancing into the depth of the enemy’s defense,” the ministry said in a post on Telegram, originally in Russian.
“Damage was inflicted on formations of a mechanized brigade, two assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and two territorial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements Alekseevka, Privolye in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Krasnogorskoye, Poltavka, and Chervonoe in the Zaporizhzhia region.”
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
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