LUGANSK, September 1. /TASS/. Russian forces took control of approximately 1,000 square kilometers of territory in the special operation zone over the summer, almost twice as much as in the spring, according to military expert Andrey Marochko.

He recalled that Russian troops took control of approximately 90 communities over the summer: 20 in June, 31 in July, and 39 in August – 32 more than in the spring.

"Regarding advances in the occupied territories, it's very difficult to calculate. The Russian Defense Ministry doesn't provide such figures, and monitoring data for the summer varies significantly. But if you compare the spring and summer maps, then, according to my calculations, the Russian Armed Forces liberated almost twice as much territory – about 1,000 square kilometers came under our control over the summer," he said during a live broadcast on his VKontakte page, analyzing the Russian Defense Ministry’ data.

Marochko clarified that the largest number of settlements – 28 – were liberated during the summer by the Battlegroup North.