Russia’s land gains in Ukraine dwindle as its diesel reportedly goes unsold

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that Russia’s territorial advances in Ukraine have slowed sharply in 2026, according to figures from the Institute for the Study of War and Ukraine’s military. The article says Russian forces have taken only a small amount of ground this year compared with 2024 and 2025, while casualty figures cited by Kyiv point to heavy losses that may be exceeding Russia’s monthly recruitment capacity. The report also says Moscow has faced recent setbacks in contested areas and has continued to rely on long-range strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure as winter approaches.

The story places these battlefield trends alongside a separate pressure point in Russia’s energy trade. Ukraine has resumed near-daily attacks on Russian refineries, and Al Jazeera says those strikes are aimed at reducing Moscow’s export revenue and complicating a diesel arrangement associated with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. The article says the Kremlin had loaded several tankers with diesel for possible sale, but those shipments reportedly struggled to find buyers because of sanctions risks.

The piece also highlights the human cost of the war. It describes a deadly strike in the Zaporizhzhia region and ongoing blackouts affecting civilians across Ukraine. In addition, it notes a local ceasefire and evacuation effort in Russian-occupied territory, which the report says was helped by a U.S.-brokered arrangement involving Melania Trump. Together, the developments suggest that military, economic and diplomatic pressures are all shaping the conflict’s next phase.