Animated Map of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine (through March 31st, 2025)

A Brief History

On February 24, 2022, days after recognizing Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered a full scale invasion of Ukraine.

Digging Deeper

Russia’s invasion has had five major phases thus far. The first phase covers the period from February 24th, 2022, when Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, to April 7th, 2022 when fighting focused away from the northeast and Kyiv and towards the south and east of Ukraine. The second phase covers the period from April 8^th, 2022, when the area of heavy fighting shifted to the south and east of Ukraine, to August 28^th, 2022, the day before Ukraine announced the start of its Kherson counteroffensive. The third phase covers the period from August 29^th, 2022, when Ukraine’s Kherson counteroffensive started, to November 11^th, 2022 when Ukrainian troops retook Kherson. The fourth phase covers the period from November 12^th, 2022, following the conclusion of Ukraine’s Kherson and Kharkiv counteroffensives, to June 7^th, 2023, the day before the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive began. The fifth phase covers the period from June 8^th, 2023, as the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive began, to November 30^th, 2023. The sixth phase covers the period from December 1^st, 2023 to the present day.

While Ukraine has made some relatively small advances during this ongoing phase, it is unclear what possible affect the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7^th, 2023 will have on the war between Russia and Ukraine as major supporters of Ukraine, such as the United States are now also offering assistance to Israel in a conflict that threatens to escalate beyond Israel and Gaza.

Question for students (and subscribers): What do you think will be the outcome of this invasion? Do you think Russia will succeed in annexing some areas of Ukraine long term? Do you think nuclear weapons will be used before the war has ended? Do you think any NATO countries will become involved militarily? Do you think Putin will lose power before the war concludes? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.

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