Map shows how much territory Russia has gained and lost in Ukraine war | News World

It’s been 4 years since Vladimir Putin launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine, sparking a war between the 2 nations and leaving tens of millions of civilians and soldiers dead.

Marking the four-year anniversary today, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr  Zelensky said his country has withstood the onslaught by Russia’s greater and higher equipped army.

‘Looking back originally of the invasion and reflecting on today, we have now every right to say: we have now defended our independence, we have now not lost our statehood; Putin has not achieved his goals,’ Zelensky said on social media.

‘He has not broken Ukrainians; he has not won this war.’

In line with Washington-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, the past yr of fighting captured just 0.79% of Ukraine’s territory.

However the broader picture is stark. Since 2014, Russia has progressively occupied increasingly more Ukrainian territory, without much intervention from Western powers.

First got here the illegal annexation of Crimea in March 2014, then the autumn of parts of the eastern region of Donbas to Russian-backed separatists the identical yr.

Now, 4 years to the day into the invasion, we recap of what has happened in few years.

What did Ukraine appear like in 2014?

Up until 2014, Ukraine’s borders had remained unbreeched because it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

That modified overnight when Russia seized Crimea in March that yr on the pretense of protecting the rights of Russian residents and speakers within the region on the time.

As much as 10,400 square miles – strategically bordering the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov – were illegally annexed and around 2.4 million people absorbed into Russia.

It was not long after that Russian-backed separatists took control of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, igniting a war that carved away more Ukrainian territory, leaving tens of millions of Ukrainians displaced.

By the point Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022, 7% of Ukrainian territory had been lost.

When did the Ukraine war start?

Shielded by the darkness of the night, the primary Russian tanks rolled into eastern Ukraine on February 24, 2022, marking the beginning of the full-scale war.

Dozens of missiles rained on cities throughout Ukraine before dawn, meeting strong resistance straightaway, proving that – unlike Putin had famously vowed – Ukraine won’t fall by the top of the week.

Soldiers later didn’t take over the capital Kyiv, but committed a few of the worst war atrocities in Ukraine just 20 miles on the outskirts in Bucha.

There – in mass graves – tons of, if not hundreds, of Ukrainian civilians were executed.

Within the south, Russia devastated Mariupol, relentlessly bombing the town and besieging the Azovstal steel plant before taking full control in May.

In 2023, Russia redirected its deal with entirely crippling Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and leaving tens of millions of individuals without electricity through the harsh eastern winter.

Wagner mercenaries were deployed to the frontlines in Ukraine for further territorial gain.

In eastern Ukraine, the battle to avoid wasting the ruined city of Bakhmut changed into a months-long bloodbath until it was largely captured in May.

Russia made regular advances in 2024 as Ukraine grappled with dwindling military aid as Western leaders debated what weapons ought to be allowed to be used within the war.

Since last yr, Russia has made some incremental gains in Ukraine, in the town of Vovchansk and the village of Oliinykove, just north of Kharkiv.

Nonetheless, large swathes of the nation are still under Ukraine’s control.

How much of Ukraine does Russia currently control?

a map of Ukraine before February 2014, it’s a stark reminder about how much can change in a decade during an invasion.

Currently, Russia controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, with a 3rd of that annexed before the start of the full-scale invasion.

Ukraine itself holds several thousand square miles of Russian land, within the border region of Kursk, which it invaded in 2024 to potentially trade during future negotiations for peace.

Away from territory gains, 3.6 million people have been displaced inside Ukraine, and one other 6.5 million have fled abroad.

Out of those 6.5 million refugees, 90% are women and kids, with 59% of internally displaced individuals being women.

At the very least 74% of those in Ukraine report separation from an in depth member of the family resulting from conflict. 

This morning, greater than a dozen senior European officials arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in a show of support. But in addition they come without two latest deals they’d hoped to present to Kyiv — a brand new package of sanctions on Russia and a 90 billion euro loan to fund Ukraine’s defense for the following two years.

Hungary, seen as most pro-Russian country within the European Union, blocked them each. It’s an indication of how difficult it has been sometimes to keep up solidarity because the war drags on.

The UK’s Armed Forces Minister Al Carns says the war has been ‘probably the most defining conflict’ in a long time resulting from the way in which it has revolutionized warfare and upended Europe’s security.

‘I might never have guessed in my lifetime I might see North Korean troops fighting on the border of Europe,’ Carns told reporters on Monday. ‘Which I believe is a major warning signal to all of us.’

Carns said the conflict had brought a ‘revolution in military affairs,’ especially through the rapid development of drone technology. Drones now account for the overwhelming majority of battlefield casualties within the war.

Western officials say that within the last three months, Russia has lost more casualties than the variety of troops it recruits, a possible tipping point.

‘The associated fee on Russia has been almost unimaginable,’ Carns said, calling a Western estimate of 1.25 million Russian personnel killed and wounded since 2022 likely an underestimate.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the Ukrainians are ‘standing up for the liberty of us all. Their courage and strength shine within the fight against Putin’s darkness. They usually give hope to those of us who desire a Europe at peace.’

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, said: ‘We don’t yet know when the war will end, but the way it ends will affect Sweden’s security for a minimum of a generation to return. And that’s why our continued support is so crucial.’

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski vowed from Kyiv that his country would remain ‘steadfast in its support for the Ukrainian people and in its pursuit of a just and lasting peace.’

‘A victory parade was alleged to happen here after a couple of days,’ Sikorski said in an address from Kyiv referring to Russia’s initial plans of a fast takeover of Ukraine. ‘As an alternative, 4 years later, Kyiv remains to be defending itself.’

Meanwhile NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Ukraine’s allies will proceed to militarily support the war-ravaged nation to finish the war and ensure a long-lasting peace.

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