Three years of war in Ukraine

Ukraine marks the third anniversary of Russia’s
full-scale invasion, as world leaders look for a way to
end the brutal war that has claimed countless lives


BELARUS
Kyiv
UKRAINE
MOLDOVA
Ukrainian incursion
Dnipro River
ZAPORIZHYA
KHERSON
Odesa
Kherson
BLACK SEA
Kursk
Russian control
RUSSIA
LUHANSK
Kharkiv
Bakhmut
Avdiivka
Pokrovsk
DONETSK
Mariupol
CRIMEA
100km
60 miles


2022

Feb 24: Russia invades
Ukraine in what President
Vladimir Putin calls a
“special military operation”

Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky
declares martial law and
general mobilisation

Russia surrounds Kyiv
but pulls back within weeks
as troops are stalled by
ferocious resistance

Mar: Moscow shifts
focus to eastern and
southern Ukraine

Apr: Evidence of
atrocities emerges after
Russian retreat from town
of Bucha, near Kyiv

May: Last Ukrainian
fighters surrender in
Mariupol. Weeks-long
Russian bombardment
kills thousands of civilians

Aug: Russia begins
using Iranian-made suicide
drones against Ukraine

Sep: Ukraine recaptures
much of Kharkiv region in
swift counteroffensive

Putin mobilises 300,000
conscripts, sparking
protests across Russia

Moscow announces
annexation of Donetsk,
Luhansk, Kherson and
Zaporizhya regions

Nov: Ukraine recaptures
Kherson city after Russian
forces withdraw

2023

Jan: Western allies
approve sending advanced
weaponry to Kyiv, such as
Patriot air defence missiles
and top-tier battle tanks

Feb: Putin announces
new offensive following
winter stalemate

May: Russia claims
capture of devastated city
of Bakhmut after nine-
month siege. Both sides
suffer heavy casualties

Jun: Ukraine launches
much-anticipated counter-
offensive but makes slow
progress against Russian
defences

Russian mercenary
chief Yevgeny Prigozhin
stages abortive mutiny
against Kremlin

Oct: Ukrainian strikes
force Russian Black Sea
fleet to flee Crimea

Dec: U.S. Congress
delays approval of Ukraine
assistance package worth
$61 billion

2024

Feb: Ukraine begins
running low on ammunition.
City of Avdiivka falls
after months of relentless
Russian attacks

May: Ukrainian troops
are further stretched when
Russia opens up new front
close to Kharkiv city

Jul: First F-16 fighter
jets sent by Western allies
arrive in Ukraine

Aug: Russia accelerates
its advance in Donetsk
region towards strategic
city of Pokrovsk

Kyiv launches surprise
incursion into Russia’s
Kursk region

Oct: North Korea sends
thousands of troops to fight
alongside Russia

2025

Feb: Newly-inaugurated
Trump administration
begins talks with Kremlin
on ending war – without
Ukraine at the table


UN has identified 12,500
civilians killed and 28,400
wounded. Actual figures are
likely to be much higher

Four million people are
displaced within Ukraine
and 6.8 million have
fled the country


Military casualties (killed, injured and missing)*
Russia 748,000
Ukraine 435,000
*U.S. estimates
as of Jan 2025


Since Jan 2022, Ukraine
has received about $407
billion in aid, including over
$118 billion from the U.S.

Trump’s peace plan
could cost European allies
$3.1 trillion over 10 years,
Bloomberg estimates


Sources: AFP, CFR, House of Commons Library, ISW, Russia Matters 
Pictures: Getty Images 
© GRAPHIC NEWS