BBC News 7 April 2022 - by the Visual Journalism Team
Russia has withdraw troops from the north of Ukraine as it shifts its focus to capturing more territory in the eastern regions of the country.
Here are the latest developments on day 43 of the invasion:
- Russia has now withdrawn its forces from around Kyiv
- Russian forces have left Sumy and are being redeployed to eastern Ukraine
- Thousands flee eastern Donbas region before expected Russian push
- Russian troops attempting to encircle Ukrainian forces near Slovyansk
- Ukrainian forces still resisting Russian attacks in southern city of Mariupol
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, but its forces have now "abandoned the attack on Kyiv" and withdrawn from around the capital, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Analysts at the ISW believe the Russian units which have withdrawn into Belarus from around Kyiv are unlikely to "regain combat effectiveness for some time" and it is unclear if they will be redeployed.
Ukrainians retake key terrain in north
Ukrainian forces have retaken areas around Kyiv and to the north of the city in recent days after Russian forces abandoned their assault on the capital and withdrew across the border into Belarus and western Russia.
Images from several of the liberated towns to the west of Kyiv show huge amounts of damage and destruction to lives and property, with allegations of war crimes having been committed by Russian troops.
The mayor of Sumy, near the north-eastern border, confirmed on Wednesday that Russian troops had left the city.
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.
Ukrainian forces are now pushing north of Chernihiv to re-establish control of the border itself, according to the ISW.
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 in the region are said to have made minor gains in recent days, with the focus primarily on air and artillery attacks around Rubizhne.
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.
BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale, who is in the Donbas, saw a tailback of traffic stretching 80km (50 miles) on Wednesday as thousands of people try to flee the fighting.
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.
Ukrainian forces remain in control of the city centre despite the steady Russian advance, but analysts say it is unclear how much longer the Ukrainians can hold on.
The UK Ministry of Defence says Russian forces are preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the city, where more than 100,000 people are thought to remain trapped.
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.
But Russia continues to launch air strikes against Odesa, with oil facilities in the city targeted in an attack earlier this week.
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.
