BBC News 11 April 2022 - by the Visual Journalism Team
Russia is is now focusing on taking territory in the eastern regions of Ukraine, having fully withdrawn troops from north of the country.
Here are the latest developments on day 45 of the invasion:
- Russia has now withdrawn its forces from the northern cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy
- Russia forces continue to deploy to the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk
- People have been urged to evacuate the eastern Donbas region as Russian troops advance
- Russian forces continue to capture ground in the centre of Mariupol in the south
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, but its forces have now fully withdraw from northern Ukraine to Belarus and Russia, according the UK Ministry of Defence.
Russian units which have been withdrawn from around the capital Kyiv are unlikely to "regain combat effectiveness for some time" and it is unclear if they will be redeployed, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Ukraine controls the areas around Kyiv in north
Over the past week, after failing to reach or fully encircle the capital city of Kyiv, Russian forces have withdrawn from northern Ukraine.
Their retreat has allowed a clearer picture to emerge of the huge amount of damage and destruction to lives and property in towns and villages seized during their push towards the capital, with allegations of war crimes having been committed by Russian troops.
Russian forces have left Sumy and are reported to be regrouping in Belgorod to help the push from Izyum towards Slovyansk.
The Russian withdrawal has also allowed Ukrainian forces to retake the area around Chernihiv, a strategically important city to the north-east of Kyiv that sits between the capital and the Russian border.
War in Ukraine: More coverage
- LIVE: Latest updates from Ukraine
- WHAT NEXT? Three ways it could escalate
- WAR CRIMES: Are atrocities part of a strategy?
- ANALYSIS: The mysterious world of pro-Putin Facebook groups
- READ MORE: Full coverage of the crisis
Russia targets full control in the east
With recent setbacks elsewhere in the country, Russian officials have said that the focus of its forces is now the "complete liberation" of the Donbas.
The Donbas broadly refers to Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where Russian-backed separatists held significant territory before Russia's invasion.
Russian troops continue to launch air and artillery attacks on cities in the region.
While the bombardment of Kharkiv in the north of Luhansk continues, analysts at the ISW say Russian troops are hoping to advance down from Izyum towards Slovyansk and encircle Ukrainian forces to the east.
Satellite images show a convoy of hundreds of Russian military vehicles, including artillery, heading south towards Izyum over the weekend.
The governor of Luhansk has called on all civilians to evacuate to safer regions in the centre or west of Ukraine.
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.
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 slowly pushing into the centre of the city, meeting fierce resistance from the Ukrainians. Pockets of resistance remain but Russian troops have now reached the port and divided the Ukrainian forces there into two areas.
Analysts say it is unclear how much longer the Ukrainians can hold on.
To the west, Russia had been attempting to push towards Odesa, with the aim of cutting off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea.
Their advances stalled at Mykolaiv, where a counter-attack by Ukrainian troops pushed Russian forces back towards the city of Kherson.
The ISW believes that after successfully resisting Russian counter-attacks in the region, Ukrainian troops may attempt larger-push in the direction of Kherson city in the coming weeks.
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.
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.
