Before Russia’s invasion
BELARUS
RUSSIA
Chernihiv
Sumy
POLAND
Kharkiv
Kyiv
Lviv
UKRAINE
Luhansk
Area held by Russia-backed
separatists since 2014
Donetsk
Mariupol
Mykolaiv
Kherson
ROMANIA
Sea of
Azov
Odessa
CRIMEA
Annexed
by Russia
in 2014
Black
Sea
100 MILES
Area held by
Russia-backed
separatists
since 2014
BELARUS
Chernihiv
RUSSIA
POL.
Kharkiv
Kyiv
Lviv
Dnipro
Mykolaiv
Mariupol
ROMANIA
Odessa
CRIMEA
Kherson
Annexed by
Russia in 2014
Black
Sea
200 MILES
BELARUS
RUSSIA
Chernihiv
Sumy
POLAND
Kharkiv
Kyiv
Zhytomyr
Lviv
Poltava
Cherkasy
UKRAINE
Slovyansk
Luhansk
Dnipro
Uman
Kirovohrad
Donetsk
Area held by Russia-backed
separatists since 2014
Mariupol
Melitopol
Mykolaiv
ROMANIA
Berdyansk
Kherson
Sea of
Azov
Odessa
RUSSIA
CRIMEA
Annexed
by Russia
in 2014
Black
Sea
100 MILES
Area held by
Russia-backed
separatists
since 2014
BELARUS
Chernihiv
POL.
Kyiv
Kharkiv
Lviv
Slovyansk
UKRAINE
Dnipro
Mariupol
Mykolaiv
Kherson
ROMANIA
Odessa
CRIMEA
Annexed by
Russia in 2014
Black Sea
200 MILES
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, deploying more than 100,000 troops. It was also the latest step Moscow has taken to seize Ukrainian land. Even before the war, Russia and its separatist allies controlled parts of Ukraine: In 2014, Moscow fully annexed the Crimean Peninsula, and pro-Russian separatists occupied chunks of Donetsk and Luhansk in the country’s east.
After Putin’s illegal annexation
BELARUS
RUSSIA
Chernihiv
Russian-held
areas
Sumy
POLAND
Kharkiv
Kyiv
Lviv
UKRAINE
Luhansk
Dnipro
Donetsk
Zaporizhzhia
Mariupol
Melitopol
Mykolaiv
Kherson
ROMANIA
Area held by
Russia-backed
separatists
since 2014
Sea of
Azov
Odessa
CRIMEA
Annexed by
Russia in 2014
Black
Sea
Control areas as of Sept. 29
100 MILES
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project, Post reporting
Russian-held areas
Area held by
Russia-backed
separatists
since 2014
BELARUS
Chernihiv
RUSSIA
POL.
Kharkiv
Kyiv
Lviv
Dnipro
Mariupol
ROMANIA
Odessa
Kherson
CRIMEA
Annexed by
Russia in 2014
Black
Sea
200 MILES
Control areas as of Sept. 29
Sources: Institute for the Study of War,
AEI’s Critical Threats Project, Post reporting
BELARUS
RUSSIA
Chernihiv
Russian-held
areas
Sumy
POLAND
Kharkiv
Kyiv
Zhytomyr
LUHANSK
Lviv
Poltava
Cherkasy
UKRAINE
Slovyansk
Luhansk
DONETSK
Dnipro
Uman
Kirovohrad
Donetsk
Zaporizhzhia
ZAPORIZHZHIA
Mariupol
Melitopol
Area held by
Russia-backed
separatists
since 2014
Mykolaiv
KHERSON
ROMANIA
Berdyansk
Kherson
Sea of
Azov
Odessa
RUSSIA
CRIMEA
Annexed by
Russia in 2014
Black
Sea
Control areas as of Sept. 29
100 MILES
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project, Post reporting
Russian-held areas
Area held by
Russia-backed
separatists
since 2014
BELARUS
Chernihiv
POL.
Kyiv
Kharkiv
Lviv
Slovyansk
UKRAINE
Dnipro
Mykolaiv
Mariupol
Kherson
ROMANIA
CRIMEA
Odessa
Annexed by
Russia in 2014
200 MILES
Control areas as of Sept. 29
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project
Russia’s formal annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia ostensibly gives it control over 15 percent of Ukrainian territory. It expands Moscow’s authority over wider portions of Donetsk and Luhansk, collectively known as Donbas. It also broadens Russia’s reach to include Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south.
But while Russian forces and their local allies occupy parts of the four regions, they don’t fully control them either militarily or politically. Kyiv is fighting to reclaim the land.
The current state of the war
Voronezh
BELARUS
RUSSIA
Four regions
where staged
referendums
on joining Russia
were held
Chernihiv
Belgorod
Sumy
Valuyki
Kyiv
Kharkiv
LUHANSK
Lyman
Cherkasy
Slovyansk
Luhansk
Dnipro
Donetsk
Kirovohrad
DONETSK
Zaporizhzhia
ZAPORIZHZHIA
Area held
by Russia-
backed
separatists
since 2014
Mariupol
Mykolaiv
Melitopol
KHERSON
MOL.
Kherson
Odessa
RUSSIA
Kerch
CRIMEA
Krasnodar
Annexed by Russia
in 2014
100 MILES
ROM.
Novorossiysk
Sevastopol
Black Sea
Control areas as of Sept. 28
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project
Ukrainian reclaimed territory
through counteroffensives
Russian-held
areas
Voronezh
BELARUS
Four regions
where staged
referendums on
joining Russia
were held
RUSSIA
Chernihiv
Belgorod
Sumy
Kyiv
Kharkiv
Poltava
LUHANSK
Cherkasy
Lyman
Kramatorsk
Dnipro
Uman
DONETSK
Zaporizhzhia
ZAPORIZ.
Area held by
Russia-backed
separatists
since 2014
Mykolayiv
Melitopol
KHERSON
Kherson
Odessa
Crimea
Annexed by Russia
in 2014
Sevastopol
100 MILES
Control areas as of Sept. 28
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project
Ukrainian reclaimed territory
through counteroffensives
Russian-held
areas
Four regions
where staged
referendums on
joining Russia
were held
BEL.
Chernihiv
Belgorod
Sumy
Kyiv
Kharkiv
LUHANSK
Cherkasy
Lyman
Dnipro
DONETSK
Zaporizhzhia
ZAPORIZ.
Mykolayiv
Area held by
Russia-backed
separatists
since 2014
KHERSON
Kherson
Odessa
Crimea
Annexed by Russia
in 2014
100 MILES
Sevastopol
Black Sea
Sources: Institute for the Study of War
Earlier this month, Ukrainian forces staged a stunning counteroffensive in the northern Kharkiv region, routing Russian troops from the city of Izyum. Now, they are focused on the nearby city of Lyman, in Donetsk, where the local pro-Kremlin leader, Denis Pushilin, said Russian and Russian-backed forces were “semi-encircled” by the Ukrainians.
A Ukrainian victory in Lyman, part of a key logistics route for Russia, would mark a humiliating political and military setback for Moscow.