MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Russian forces have held the strategic initiative in the zone of the special military operation throughout 2025, advancing almost on all fronts, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said, addressing a year-end Defense Ministry meeting.
According to him, the threat of an incursion into the Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions has been reduced with the creation of a buffer zone in the Ukrainian border regions.
TASS has compiled the Defense Minister’s key statements.
The rate of advance of the East, Center and West battlegroups has increased 1.5-2 times, compared to 2024. These figures reflect "a significant achievement." The Kursk Region has been liberated, and important strongholds of Ukrainian troops in Donbass and Zaporozhye have been destroyed.
Troops of the Battlegroup Dnepr are fighting on routes of approach to the town of Orekhov in the Zaporozhye Region. Russian forces securely hold the Dnieper island area, repelling Ukrainian paratroopers’ attacks on the Tendra and Kinburn spits.
