Senior NATO official: Russian military advance rate has fallen fourfold

The pace of Russia's advance in Ukraine slowed fourfold in June compared with June last year.

A senior NATO official said on the sidelines of the Ankara summit that the Russian military had advanced at an average rate of just 3.79 sq km per day in June, compared with about 16 sq km per day in the same month last year. This marks an almost fourfold slowdown. Even so, Russia still aims to capture more than 5,000 sq km of territory.

Moscow is unlikely to achieve its stated goals or meet its deadlines, the official said.

They added that Putin keeps constantly shifting the goalposts, claiming that every kilometre conquered is a great victory.

It was reported earlier that NATO estimates that Russia has suffered more than 1.4 million military casualties in its war against Ukraine, but believes Moscow has not abandoned its objectives.

Meanwhile, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski suggested that the Kremlin leader is starting to seriously consider how much longer he can wage his war of aggression against Ukraine and whether it makes sense to continue.