Four years of war in Ukraine

Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary of RussiaÕs
full-scale invasion, as the prospect of reaching
a durable ceasefire remains out of reach

2022

Feb 24: Russia invades
Ukraine in what President
Vladimir Putin calls a
Òspecial military operationÓ

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

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, including
top-tier battle tanks

May: Russia, led largely
by mercenary Wagner
Group, captures Bakhmut
after nine-month siege

Jun: Ukraine launches
major counteroffensive,
which ultimately stalls
against Russian lines

Wagner
boss Yevgeny
Prigozhin
stages short-
lived mutiny
against Russian
government

Late 2023: Intense,
daily drone and missile
strikes on cities and energy
infrastructure become the
norm for both sides

2024

Feb: Avdiivka falls after
relentless Russian attacks

May: Russia opens up
new front in Kharkiv region,
forcing Ukrainian troops
to temporarily withdraw

Aug: Kyiv launches
surprise incursion into
RussiaÕs Kursk region

Late 2024: Russia
continues to gain small
amounts of territory in east
despite heavy losses

Reports emerge of North
Korean troops fighting
alongside Russia

2025

Feb: Newly
inaugurated
U.S. President
Donald Trump
says Putin has
agreed on talks
to end war

Jun: Ukraine mounts
sabotage attack on air
bases deep inside Russia

Aug: Trump and Putin
meet in Alaska to discuss
peace deal

Nov: U.S. and Ukraine
create revised peace plan
that limits Russian gains

Dec: Moscow claims
capture of Pokrovsk after
months of intense fighting

2026

Jan: RussiaÕs war in
Ukraine exceeds length
of Soviet involvement in
World War II

Feb: New round of U.S.-
brokered talks takes place
amid continued fighting and
deadly long-range strikes

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

UN has identified 55,600
civilians casualties, including
15,000 killed. Actual figures
are likely to be much higher

Some 3.7 million people
are displaced within Ukraine
and 6.9 million have fled
the country

Military casualties (killed, injured and missing)*

Russia
1.2 million
Includes up to 325,000 killed

Ukraine
500,000-600,000
Includes up to
140,000 killed

*Estimates for Feb 2022 to Dec 2025

Since Jan 2022, Ukraine
has received about $175bn
in aid from the U.S. and
$197bn from the EU

Estimates for UkraineÕs
postwar reconstruction
amount to $524bn over
10 years

Sources: Council on Foreign Relations, House of Commons Library, ISW, OHCHR
Pictures: Getty Images, Newscom
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