claim: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on July 23 that Ukraine has taken back 50% of the territory it lost since February 2022.
evidence: Now, since I was last here almost exactly one year ago, Ukrainian forces have taken back more than 50 percent of the territory seized by Russian forces since February of 2022. In the ongoing counteroffensive, progress has accelerated in the past few weeks. This new assistance will help sustain it and build further momentum. [...] SECRETARY BLINKEN: Will, thank you. First as I said, it’s important to put where we are and where Ukraine is in respect. As I mentioned a moment ago, I was last here almost exactly a year ago. And in that time – in the year since I was last here, Ukraine has taken back more than 50 percent of the territory that Russia seized from it since February 2022. In the current counteroffensive, we are seeing real progress over the last few weeks. As it happens, President Zelenskyy just returned from the front lines so I was able to hear directly from him his assessment of the counteroffensive. And I think it very much matches our own, which is, as I said, real progress in recent weeks.