Tracking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in maps

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has entered its fifth day. Russian troops are driving deeper into the country having attacked Ukraine from three directions: its northern border with Belarus, the eastern frontier with Russia, and in the south from Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014.

Monday February 28

Ukrainian troops successfully defended Kyiv after a Russian attack overnight on Sunday that saw columns of Russian troops repeatedly try to storm the city, according to the Ukrainian military commander leading the defence of the capital city. Russian forces killed dozens in heavy rocket attacks across residential neighbourhoods in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military said Russian troops continued to attack airports, air defence systems, critical infrastructure and residential areas around the country, launching missile strikes on buildings in cities of Zhytomyr and Chernihiv.

Russia’s military claimed it had captured the cities of Berdyansk and Enerhodar and the “territory around” a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhiya in the country’s south-east. It also said it had taken control of Ukraine’s airspace.

Russian and Ukrainian military claims cannot be independently verified.

Sunday February 27

Ukrainian troops repelled a Russian incursion into Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city on Sunday.

Russian forces continued to slowly encircle the capital Kyiv, where Mayor Vitali Klitschko has ordered a curfew until Monday morning in order to avoid residents of the capital city being mistaken for Russian ‘saboteurs’.

Russia’s army continued to gain ground in southern regions of Ukraine, using troops rolling in from the Crimean peninsula.

Thousands of people fleeing the fighting are in the western city of Lviv, many desperate to make the 100km journey to the Polish town of Przemysl and escape the war.

Saturday February 26

There was fighting overnight in the southern cities of Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa. Areas near Sumy, Poltava, and Mariupol were hit by airstrikes, Ukrainian sources told Reuters. A witness in Melitopol confirmed a Russian claim that the city was under their control.

The centre of Kyiv was still under Ukrainian control, its leaders said. witnesses reported gunfire near government buildings and the Ukrainian army said it had repelled an attack on a base in the city. Witnesses also heard frequent artillery blasts, and a missile struck an apartment block.

In addition to attempts at advancing into Kyiv from the north-west, Russian helicopter and tank forces are trying to take Zhulyany airport in southern Kyiv, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser in Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, said Saturday morning on local television.

Map showing state of play in Kyiv Special forces from both sides fought for control of Hostomel airport on February 24 Russian troops now in Obolon Heavy fighting in Shuliavka Russian forces reported trying to land by helicopter to capture Sikorsky airport Columns of troops advancing from Belarus on both sides of the Dnipro river. Exact location unclear but not yet in central Kyiv

Arestovych said battles are underway in Kharkiv, the second-largest city, and that Ukrainian forces had for three days blocked a Russian advance on Kyiv from the north-east near Chernihiv. Russian forces were seen in nearby Pryluky, Konrad Muzyka of Rochan Consulting wrote on Saturday morning.

The civilian exodus from Kyiv continued on Friday afternoon. Traffic was heavy on roads leading out of the capital and crowds gathered in the central Kyiv train station as residents scrambled to escape the city. Many people headed west. But that direction also carried risks, with reports on Friday of air sirens in Vinnytsia and air strikes reported in Zhitomir.

Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of western Ukraine’s largest city Lviv, said on Saturday that government troops were “repelling” about 60 Russian soldiers who landed by helicopter in the nearby town of Brody.

Russian and Ukrainian military claims cannot be independently verified.

Friday February 25

Early on Thursday, Ukraine’s army confirmed it had lost control of the northeastern city of Konotop, but had held up the Russian advance on the capital Kyiv north of Chernihiv. Ukrainian forces overnight destroyed bridges north of the city to impede the Russian advance.

Hostomel airport, 10km northwest of the capital, changed hands several times over the course of Thursday and overnight. Ukrainian sources said Russian IL-76 transport aircraft thought to be carrying paratroopers to the airport returned to Gomel in Belarus after the battle prevented them from landing. On Friday afternoon Russia claimed it had captured the airport.

Russian forces were in Kyiv’s northwestern suburbs on Friday. Traffic was heavy on roads leading out of the city as civilians fled. Officials urged residents in the Obolon district of Kyiv, a populous residential area, to stay indoors amid reports that Russian armoured vehicles had entered the neighbourhood.

There were battles around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, which Ukrainian officials said was still under its control. There was also fighting in the eastern Donbass region, where government troops have fought Russian-backed separatists for eight years.

There was fighting in the outskirts of the southern city of Melitopol, as Russian forces advanced north from the Crimean peninsula, according to a Ukrainian army statement.

Russian forces also captured Zmiinyi (Snake) Island in the Black Sea south of Odesa. The Russian defence ministry said 82 Ukrainian soldiers there had surrendered, while Ukrainian officials said all 13 border guards on the island were killed by fire from a Russian warship.

Russian and Ukrainian military claims cannot be independently verified.

Thursday February 24

Russia’s multipronged invasion suggested it was to advance south towards Kyiv from Belarus, encircle Ukraine’s forces in the east, and cleave the country from the Russian border to the Black Sea.

Map showing how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may play out Initial cruise missile strikes on military sites, airfields and troop depots in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro. Alongside artillery shelling along line of control in eastern Ukraine Ground advance (troops and tanks) south from Belarus to encircle Kyiv Advance north from Crimea and east through Donbas in a bid to encircle bulk of Ukrainian forces in the east and cut them off from Kyiv Advance from Crimea along Black Sea coast to Odesa. Central column moves west to Dnipro river, ultimate target Kyiv Ukraine attempts strategic retreat west from current line of control evading Russian pincer movement. At some point, Ukrainian troops will need to hold the line, but unclear when that may be

Putin on Tuesday February 22 recognised the separatist governments in Luhansk and Donetsk, two provinces in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, and ordered Russian troops to enter them. On Thursday February 24 Moscow began a full-scale invasion of the country.