How the map of Ukraine has changed in three months of war | International

It has taken Russia nearly three months of war in Ukraine to achieve a full land connection between the Crimean peninsula, which the Kremlin has illegally occupied since 2014, and pro-Russian breakaway areas in Donetsk and Lugansk. The surrender – this week – of the remaining fighters at the Mariupol steelworks allows Moscow to exercise its martial control over the entire Ukrainian coast of the Sea of ​​Azov. The Russian advance has been stalled for weeks in the east and south of the country, but controls much of the Ukrainian provinces of Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkiv. Even with setbacks, the Ukrainian territory currently subjected is much larger than that which was under Russian influence before the invasion.

If the territory occupied by the Russians were to break away, Ukraine would lose all access to the Sea of ​​Azov, a wide strip of the Black Sea coast and the easternmost part of the country. An analysis by EL PAÍS of the maps updated daily by the US organization the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) indicates that Ukraine would lose, including Crimea, about a fifth of its territory, more than 100,000 square kilometers, equivalent to Spanish communities of Andalusia and the Valencian Community together.

The phases of the war: invasion, retreat to the southeast and attrition

The Russian operation in Ukraine began on February 24 with a dazzling initial invasion that, weighed down by casualties and logistical problems, led the Kremlin to withdraw its troops to the east and south of the country. Once the Russian troops focused on their new objective, the attempt to control the Donbas region has been slowed down by the Ukrainian resistance, which contains the advance of Putin’s troops in a heavily militarized area for eight years.

The rush of the Russians through the borders at the end of February brought the Kremlin detachments to the gates of the capital. The West then understood that Putin’s purpose was to take the main cities of the country to force the fall of the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelensky, and put in his place a ruler who had the approval of the Kremlin.

Within a few weeks it became clear that the casualties were taking their toll on the Russian ranks. The offensive on kyiv failed, bogged down in logistical problems. Moscow decided to withdraw its troops from the north after a month of war and to turn its strategy around to focus its efforts on Donbas, in eastern Ukraine. The battalions that had been posted northwest of kyiv returned to Belorussia; those toiling in the north crossed the border back into Russia. Part of these units, decimated and with casualties, were sent to the east.

The so-called “special military operation” by the Kremlin changed its objective as Ukrainian soldiers and civilians returned to previously occupied areas, such as Bucha. After the Russian withdrawal from this town of 35,000 inhabitants near kyiv, local authorities claim to have registered 400 dead civilians likely to be considered war crimes.

Since Russia limited its aspirations to Donbas, Russian advances on the front line have put constant pressure on the Ukrainian defenders, albeit without achieving any major territorial gains. The strategy of surrounding the Ukrainian defensive line in Donbas by making a pincer from Izium, to the north, and Donetsk, to the south, has so far not worked. The conflict now enters its fourth month in a quagmire: Russia celebrates the taking of Mariupol, with less than half a million inhabitants, while it has just been expelled by Ukrainian counterattacks from the country’s second city, Kharkov.

The Ukrainian liberation of Kharkiv

Kremlin troops last week withdrew from areas of the Kharkov region that they had occupied since the start of the fighting. Despite the proximity of the population to the Russian border (about 35 kilometers by road), the defenders’ counterattacks and the lack of supplies have led the Moscow forces to withdraw with hardly any resistance, except on a few occasions. as reported by the ISW. This American organization considers that the troops of kyiv have won the Battle of Kharkiv: the Ukrainian forces first prevented the Russians from completely surrounding and besieging the city, and then expelled the invaders from the area and moved them far enough away so that their artillery did not reach the streets of the city. Just as it had happened before in kyiv.

40% of buildings in Kharkiv have been damaged

Russian control to

March 24th

40% of buildings in Kharkiv have been damaged

Russian control to

March 24th

Kyiv picks up the pace

The capital of Ukraine begins to recover the rhythm and lose fear after having had the attackers close. The streets of the capital did not come under Russian control, but they did suffer bombing. The towns on the outskirts, especially those in the northwest, are now trying to return to everyday life and restore essential services. Two months after the withdrawal of Moscow’s troops to the southeast, Ukrainian specialists are working on demining towns occupied by the invaders. The town of Demidiv, intentionally flooded by Ukrainian troops to stop the advance of Russian tanks, is currently draining the water to recover its streets and fields.

Russian movements

russian control

Area recovered by Ukraine

February 25

March 3rd

March 24th

5th of April

Source: Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project (for advances and controlled areas).

Mariupol, under Russian control

The Ukrainian city that has probably suffered the most from the ravages of the war has been Mariupol, subdued by Russia after three long months of siege. With the departure of hundreds of Ukrainian fighters from the Azovstal steelworks, Russia celebrates that it can consider the city taken. In terms of population, this is the largest town conquered by the Kremlin troops, and to subdue it they have had to destroy it. In this time there have been images of hospitals devastated, the theater of the city bombed or the steel mill, economic engine of the region and useless in its current state. Mariupol represents a pyrrhic victory for the Russians, according to the ISW, against a total balance of thousands of dead, six million refugees fleeing to other countries and dozens of cities reduced to rubble.

Russian movements

russian control

Russian control according to the Kremlin

March 24th

April 12th

May 16

may 17th

Source: Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project (for advances and controlled areas).

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