BBC News 6 June 2022 - by the Visual Journalism Team
Heavy fighting continues in east Ukraine, with key locations under intense bombardment from Russian forces.
Here are the latest developments:
Russian advance slows in the east
Russian officials have said their forces are fighting for the "complete liberation" of the Donbas, which broadly refers to Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where Russian-backed separatists held significant territory before the invasion.
Russia has made slow but significant advances in the east, with the governor of Luhansk saying in May that Russians forces controlled more than 90% of the region.
But a decision by both the US and UK to send new longer-range weaponry to Ukraine means it should be easier for the Ukrainians to defend their positions against Russian artillery strikes in the future.
Last week, Russian forces had reportedly gained control of most of Severodonetsk, but Ukrainian counterattacks over the weekend have pushed them back to the eastern outskirts of the city, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Taking the city is one of Russia's key aims as it would mean they control almost all of the Luhansk region.
According to the ISW, the success of the Ukrainian counterattack in Severodonetsk is an indication of Russia's declining combat power in Ukraine.
Russian troops have moved north from Popasna, with the key supply route from Bakhmut to Lysychansk being bombarded by Russian artillery.
Should the route be taken by Russia, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk would be left with one supply road via Siversk.
Recent reports of Russian reinforcements being sent to Bakhmut, suggest that Russian forces have suffered heavy losses in the area, according to the ISW.
Lyman is now under Russian control, but further efforts to converge on the city of Slovyansk from Lyman and Izyum, further west, have stalled as the heavy fighting over Severodonetsk has taken centre stage.
Russian forces have seen big losses
Russian forces have suffered heavy losses since the invasion began.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) says Russia is likely to have suffered devastating losses among its middle and junior ranking officers, because they have been deployed at the front lines of fighting. It says these losses are likely to contribute to a loss of morale and poor discipline among lower ranks.
Significant quantities of Russian weaponry have also been destroyed.
As a result, Russia has tried to combine some heavily depleted units, forming what some analysts have called 'Frankenstein forces' to fight in the east.
Ukraine has successfully pushed Russian forces away from Kharkiv, though Russian units are continuing to shell some parts of the city, according to the ISW.
Ukrainian forces have launched limited localised counterattacks north of Kharkiv in recent days, taking advantage of the Russian focus on Severdonetsk in the east.
In southern Donetsk, Russia is now fully in control of the port city of Mariupol, after a siege lasting more than two months came to an end on 20 May.
Analysts say the fall of the city may enable Russian units to join the fight in other areas such as Zaporizhzhia, where the shelling of Ukrainian forces is ongoing.
War in Ukraine: More coverage
- FRONT LINE: 'Friends die in your arms'
- SOUTHERN FRONT: Russia's new propaganda machine
- WEAPONS: What is being given to Ukraine by the UK?
- READ MORE: Full coverage of the crisis
Russia targets full control of 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.
But strong resistance from Ukrainian forces near Mykolaiv in the west and in Mariupol significantly slowed Russian advances.
To the west, Russia had aimed to take control of Odesa and cut off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, but its forces were blocked by a staunch defence in Mykolaiv and forced back towards Kherson by a Ukrainian counteroffensive in March.
The ISW says control of the region around Kherson could be critical to Ukraine's future, if the Ukrainians can regain control of land to the west of the Dnipro river they will be in a stronger position to resist any future Russian invasion.
According to the UK MoD, Russia has continued to reinforce Snake Island in the Black Sea with air defences in order to protect its naval vessels blockading the Ukrainian coast and hindering the resumption of trade.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, but Ukrainian forces retook large areas around Kyiv in early April after Russia abandoned its push towards the capital.
Areas in the west of the country, including Lviv, have seen missile attacks but no attempt by Russian forces to take and occupy ground.
By David Brown, Bella Hurrell, Dominic Bailey, Mike Hills, Lucy Rodgers, Paul Sargeant, Alison Trowsdale, Tural Ahmedzade, Mark Bryson, Zoe Bartholomew, Sean Willmott, Sana Dionysiou, Joy Roxas, Gerry Fletcher, Jana Tauschinsk, Debie Loizou, Simon Martin 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.
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.
