Russia is gaining territory in Ukraine at one of the fastest rates since the war began, new data show, ahead of an emergency Downing Street summit.
The Kremlin’s army seized 200 square miles of territory in November, up from 100 square miles the previous month, according to DeepState, a trusted Ukraine-based battlefield map.
The speed of advance was approaching the fastest since the initial invasion almost four years ago, the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, said.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s leader, will meet with Sir Keir Starmer on Monday. They will be joined by Emmanuel Macron, of France, and Freidrich Merz, of Germany.
Ahead of the talks, on Sunday night the Élysée insisted Ukraine was not “on the brink of collapse”.
A spokesman said European leaders must commit to backing Ukraine in the long term, in the event that the latest peace talks with Donald Trump failed.
“Ukraine is holding its own and doing even better than that. Ukraine is not on the brink of collapse,” they said.
“If we cannot immediately reach a peace agreement with Russia, it is essential that we give Ukraine all the support it needs so that it does not lose ground due to a lack of support.”
Vladimir Putin has said he will seize the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine either by force or through negotiation.
Russia is also moving forward around the small eastern city of Siversk in Donetsk as part of its broader push towards the “fortress city” of Sloviansk.
On Sunday, Russian Telegram reports suggested Moscow’s forces had seized the residential areas to its north, using small groups of infiltrators to get behind Ukrainian lines, a tactic employed with success in Pokrovsk.
Ukraine’s military reported fierce battles were ongoing. Half of the city was within the contested zone, according to DeepState.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have advanced on several fronts. Pokrovsk, a former rail and logistics hub in eastern Ukraine, looks poised to fall imminently after a long and costly battle, while its nearby town of Myrnohrad is close to being encircled.
After Ukraine deployed some of its best brigades and drone units to hold Pokrovsk, Russian forces have been able to stretch Kyiv’s resources along the 630-mile front, opening up vulnerabilities in the south-east and further north.
As a result, Moscow has made steady gains in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia and is close to capturing the northeastern city of Kupiansk, a vital stronghold that has been under attack for two years.
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