Tuesday, March 29, 2022

UKRAINE WAR IN MAPS - TRACKING THE RUSSIAN INVASION

 BBC News 29 March 2022 - by the Visual Journalism Team



Russia appears close to taking control of a key southern city, but Ukrainian counter-attacks elsewhere in the country are hindering Russian advances.

Here are the latest developments on day 34 of the invasion:

  • Ukrainian forces retake key areas to the north-west of Kyiv
  • Russians advances around ChernihivSumy, or Kharkiv stall
  • But port city of Mariupol looks likely to fall to Russians soon
  • Ukrainians still stopping Russian advances around Kherson
  • Some Russian troops redeploying to eastern Donbas region
Map showing Russian advances and Ukrainian counter-attacks

Russia launched its attack in the early hours of 24 February, but more than four weeks into the war the battlefield across northern Ukraine remains "largely static", according to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Russian forces are attempting to hold ground while they reorganise and reset their forces, according to the MoD, but Ukrainian counter-attacks have pushed them back in a number of areas.

Ukrainians fight back around Kyiv

In Kyiv, Russia has been attempting to encircle the city for weeks now, but Ukrainian forces remain in control of large areas around the capital, especially in the south.

Ukraine has launched a series of counter-attacks on the outskirts of Kyiv in the past week and regained some territory that had been occupied by Russian troops, including the suburb of Irpin about 20km (12 miles) to the west.

This has kept Russian artillery out of range of central Kyiv, but shelling of the outskirts continues to cause casualties and destroy homes and infrastructure - and the city remains vulnerable to missile attacks from the air.

Map showing how Russian forces are positioned around Kyiv

To the east of the capital, Ukrainian forces reclaimed ground from the Russians over the weekend around the suburb of Brovary, about 20km (12 miles) away from the centre of Kyiv.

The Russian advance on Kyiv from the east has been hindered by the failure to take control of Chernihiv, a major city to the north-east that sits between the capital and the Russian border.

Chernihiv's mayor says the city is surrounded by Russian forces, but Ukrainian troops remain in control of the centre at the moment.

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Russian progress slows in the south

Russian forces initially made rapid gains in the south, with their main objective being the creation of a land corridor between Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and areas held by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Map showing the Russian military advance into Ukraine from the south

Standing in the way of that objective has been the port city of Mariupol, which has been encircled by Russian forces since the start of March.

Russian forces have been advancing further into the centre of the city in recent days, where Ukrainian officials have said some 160,000 civilians remained trapped.

It appears the fall of the city is imminent, according to Jack Watling, a defence analyst at the Royal United Services Institute think tank.

Map showing Russian advances on Mariupol

To the west, Russia has been attempting to push towards Odesa, with the aim of cutting off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea.

But their advances stalled at Mykolaiv, where a counter-attack by Ukrainian troops has pushed Russian forces back towards the city of Kherson.

Ukrainian resistance around Kherson is continuing to stop any Russian advances in the area, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Russia targets full control in the east

With recent setbacks elsewhere in the country, the chief of the Russian army said last week that the focus of its forces is the "complete liberation" of the Donbas.

The Donbas is made up of the Donestk and Luhansk regions, where Russian-backed separatists held significant territory before the Russian invasion at the end of February.

Russian forces in the region appear to be concentrating efforts on encircling Ukrainian forces, advancing from Kharkiv to the north and Mariupol from the south, the MoD says.

Western officials say several thousand Russian troops are on their way to the region and forces are also now being redeployed there from other areas of Ukraine, according to the ISW.

Map showing the Russian military advance into Ukraine from the east

By David Brown, Bella Hurrell, Dominic Bailey, Mike Hills, Lucy Rodgers, Paul Sargeant, Mark Bryson, Zoe Bartholomew, Sean Willmott, Sana Dionysiou, Joy Roxas, Gerry Fletcher, Jana Tauschinsk, Debie Loizou and Prina Shah.

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About these maps

To indicate which parts of Ukraine are under control by Russian troops we are using daily assessments published by the Institute for the Study of War with the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project.

From 2 March this daily assessment differentiated between "Assessed Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory" and "Assessed Russian advances in Ukraine", the latter indicating areas where Russians are believed to have launched attacks from but which they do not control.

To show key areas where advances are taking place we are also using daily updates from the UK Ministry of Defence and BBC research.

The situation in Ukraine is fast moving and it is likely there will be times when there have been changes not reflected in the maps.