The pace of Russian military advances in Ukraine has been steadily decreasing since November 2024, partly due to successful Ukrainian counterattacks in eastern Ukraine. On April 5, the UK Ministry of Defense reported that Russian forces had advanced 143 sq km in March 2025, while Ukrainian troops had conducted successful tactical counterattacks in the direction of Pokrovsk.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the pace of Russian advances continues to slow month after month - in February, about 195 sq km were captured. This information has been confirmed by geolocated footage.
On the night of April 5-6, Russian forces carried out the largest series of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in the past month.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that:
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nine Kh-101/Kh-55SM cruise missiles were launched from a Tu-95MS aircraft over the Saratov region,
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eight “Kalibur“ missiles from the Black Sea,
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six “Iskander-M“ ballistic missiles from Bryansk region,
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as well as 109 Shahed drones and decoys from various directions, including Bryansk, Millerovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk and the occupied Cape Chauda in Crimea.
Ukraine reported that it managed to shoot down:
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six Kh-101/Kh-55SM missiles,
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six “Kalibur“ missiles,
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one “Iskander-M“ ballistic missile,
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and 40 Shahed drones,
while 53 decoy drones were “lost“ probably due to electronic warfare.
The air strikes affected civilian and residential infrastructure in Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy and Mykolaiv regions. Five ballistic missiles also hit Kyiv region.
Col. Yuriy Ignat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said that Russia was changing its tactics and modernizing its missiles and drones, which is making it difficult for Ukrainian defenses. He stressed the effectiveness of the US Patriot system against ballistic missiles.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia used bases in the Black Sea, Russia and occupied Crimea for the latest wave of strikes. Ukraine stressed that Russia was deliberately violating the proposed Black Sea moratorium on military action, proposed jointly with the United States. President Zelensky said the Russian ships and launch sites had been identified by international partners.
Russian forces fired 10 Kalibr missiles from an unspecified frigate and submarine – the fourth time in four months that Moscow has used warships to strike Ukraine.
On March 25, following the Black Sea moratorium proposal, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov stressed that any movement of Russian warships outside the eastern Black Sea violates the spirit of the agreement. It is not yet clear where the Kalibr missiles were launched from on April 5.
The United States, Ukraine, and Russia are continuing to negotiate the exact terms of the temporary maritime moratorium. Russia is tying its agreement to demands for sanctions relief – something the West denies.
The Kremlin has been trying to portray Ukraine as a ceasefire violator, particularly with regard to energy infrastructure, but without providing any evidence. This contrasts with confirmed cases of successful Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities. Russian authorities have previously often claimed that all strikes were repelled or that the damage was caused by falling debris – despite the availability of geolocation footage showing damage.
ISW notes that there have been no official Russian reports of new Ukrainian strikes on their energy infrastructure at this time.
Ukraine continues to deny the Kremlin’s claims, which are likely aimed at undermining the country’s credibility and delaying negotiations.