Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russian forces captured almost 5,000 square kilometres (1,930 square miles) in Ukraine in 2025 and that Moscow retained complete strategic initiative on the battlefield.
He visited a church in St Petersburg on his birthday where he also met with leading military figures.
Later, Putin held a meeting with Russia's top military commanders, and said Ukrainian forces were retreating in all sectors of the front.
He said Kyiv was trying to strike deep into Russian territory, but it would not help it to change the situation in the more than 3 1/2-year-old war.
Russia's Defence Ministry on Tuesday reported the capture of two more villages along the front, which Ukraine's top commander says now extends over 1,250 km (775 miles).
Ukrainian accounts of the situation on the frontline say Kyiv's forces have made gains in Donetsk region, particularly near the town of Dobropillia.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has also said Ukrainian forces have regained ground in the border Sumy region, where Russia has established a foothold.
Russian Army General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of Russia's armed forces, told the meeting of top commanders, that Russian forces were "advancing in practically all directions". Ukrainian forces, he said, were focused on slowing the Russian advance.
Gerasimov said Moscow's troops were moving on the key cities of Siversk and Kostyantynivka in the main theatre of Donetsk region.
