Russia recorded 420,000 casualties in 2024, according to the US ISW institute.

 Russia recorded Russia 420,000 casualties in 2024 on Ukrainian territory, which means 102 casualties per square kilometer, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), while maintaining its position of Ukraine's surrender, Digital News Association (DNA) revealed.

Ukraine's surrender of occupied territories and its willingness to accept Neutral State status without NATO membership were Russia's main conditions throughout 2024 for ending the war, according to a DNA analysis.

At times, Moscow has also demanded the West's willingness to remove economic sanctions against Moscow as part of its conditions for ending the war.

DNA reviewed Russian leader Vladimir Putin's “Results of the Year” 2024 speech, a tradition that began in 2001, shortly after he succeeded President Boris Yeltsin, who resigned in December 2000.

The Russian Propaganda Alert newsletter, a DNA media analysis initiative, highlights the main topics addressed by Putin in his year-end speech: Russian solidarity; Russia's positions in the Ukrainian war; possible negotiations between Moscow and Kiev; the fall of Bashar al-Assad and Russia; the fall of the Syrian regime and Israel.

Regarding the conditions for ending the war, set out over 2024, these do not differ much from those of the Kremlin put forward in 2022 in Istanbul, shortly after Russia first crossed Ukrainian territory.

The Public International Law & Policy Group, a non-profit organization that provides legal advice to developing states and nations embroiled in conflict, called the 2022 initiative a “Blueprint for Ukraine's capitulation.”

As for Volodymir Zelensky's legitimacy, the Ukrainian president was democratically elected in 2019 in a landslide victory for a five-year term that was scheduled to end in May 2024.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe determined that the elections were free and fair.

A May 20 BBC report noted, “Ukraine had held presidential elections, but the martial law put in place with Russia's full-scale invasion means that cannot happen,” adding that there was “broad public support” for extending Zelensky's wartime mandate.

The report added that “today, about 65% of Ukrainians still trust President Zelensky to lead them through these times.”

DNA recalled that RT (Russia Today) in English, calling the invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation,” quoted Putin as saying that “Moscow's fighters are regaining territory by square kilometers every day” and that “Russia has become stronger, a truly sovereign country.”

Russia Today characterized these statements by reporting that “the combat readiness of the Russian Army is now the highest in the world.”

The Kremlin's state-sponsored Spanish-language news organization added that Putin said he “is willing to hold peace negotiations with Kiev,” but insisted that “Ukraine refused,” that Putin opposes a cease-fire,” and instead favors ”a long-term peace [agreement] with guarantees for Russia.”

RT en Español reported “that Russia will talk to the leader of the Kiev regime, Volodimir Zelensky, if [it] holds elections and gains legitimacy ... Moscow will only sign peace documents with a legitimate leader of Ukraine.”

DNA compared Putin's statements about Russian progress with a December 31, 2024 report published by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank that provides research and analysis of armed conflicts.

According to the ISW, Russia did make gains, but at a very high cost.

“Russian forces gained 4,168 square kilometers, composed largely of camps and small settlements in Ukraine and the Kursk Oblast, with a toll of more than 420,000 casualties in 2024...indicating that Russian forces have suffered approximately 102 casualties per square kilometer of captured Ukrainian territory...”

Regarding the continuation of peace negotiations, DNA discussed a chronology of Russia's willingness to negotiate with Ukraine over the past year.

During Putin's December 15, 2023 annual press conference, “Direct Line with Vladimir Putin,” the Russian leader said that “there will be peace in Ukraine only when we achieve our goals,” and called for “denazification, demilitarization and its neutral status,” as conditions for the end of the war.

In a February 8, 2024 interview with U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson, Putin said he was open to negotiations, but wanted to keep all the territory Russia had illegally occupied since the February 2022 invasion began. On February 14, 2024, the Kremlin denied that Putin had secretly proposed a ceasefire.  

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