Day: December 31, 2025

Miami and Ohio State are coming down to the wire in the College Football Playoff at the Cotton Bowl. The No. 10 Hurricanes are leading the No. 2 Buckeyes by three points late in the fourth quarter. It’s Miami 17, Ohio State 14 with 2:00 to play. The Hurricanes are looking to put the game […]

MORE: The Russian military command largely prioritized efforts to seize the remainder of Donetsk Oblast and establish a buffer zone in northern Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts in 2025 but failed to accomplish these goals.

– The orientation of Ukrainian defenses and fortified areas hindered Russian advances in select areas in 2025. The success of Ukraine’s defensive lines in constraining Russian advances underscores the importance of Ukraine’s heavily fortified Fortress Belt in defending against Russian advances in Donetsk Oblast.

– The relatively faster Russian advances in 2025 were still constrained to footpace and often took advantage of poor weather conditions that hinder Ukrainian drone operations — conditions that will not last indefinitely.

– Ukrainian forces appear to be undertaking their own battlefield air interdiction campaign that will likely parallel that of Russia.  Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar)MORE: ISW observed evidence to assess that Russian forces seized 4,831 square kilometers in Ukraine and regained roughly 473 square kilometers that Ukrainian forces had taken in Kursk Oblast in 2025. Russian gains in Ukraine amounted to 0.8 percent of Ukraine’s territory. Russian forces had seized 3,604 square kilometers in Ukraine in 2024.

Data from the Ukrainian General Staff shows that Russian forces suffered 416,570 casualties throughout 2025, for an average of 78 casualties per square kilometer seized in Ukraine and Kursk Oblast.

The average daily Russian rate of advance in 2025 was 13.24 square kilometers per day — higher than the daily average of 9.87 square kilometers per day in 2024. The Russian rate of advance has not been consistent throughout 2025, however. The Russian rate of advance was highest in November at 20.99 square kilometers per day, but this high came after one of the slowest months in 2025 — 8.8 square kilometers per day in October — and subsequently slowed to 15 square kilometers per day in December.—  https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/2006557238333182222

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) Jan 1, 2026

Thank you @NCTCKent. Darren LaBonte was my CIA classmate, a friend, and a true patriot. All of these heroes are missed. https://t.co/L1BkWkExHg

— Aaron Lukas (@DepDNILukas) January 1, 2026