Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in four graphics

Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine early February 24, 2022. Since then it has fired rockets at Ukraine, setting off explosions across the country. Russian tanks have rolled into Ukrainian territory, and helicopters are attacking ground targets from the air. This map shows the locations of verified Russian attacks on the first day of the invasion.

Russia’s military power is superior to Ukraine’s in virtually every way — on land, at sea and in the air. Some experts say Ukraine’s only chance of getting Russian troops to retreat is partisan warfare. The goal of this would be to break the morale of Russian troops with small, targeted strikes.

The hory of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine dates to the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. As Ukraine has oriented itself more toward the European Union, tensions have escalated, particularly since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and separats gained control of Donetsk and Luhansk. The following timeline plots out the course of the current conflict, from the breakdown in diplomacy to invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly pointed to the eastward expansion of NATO as a threat to the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. This map shows how the borders of the alliance have shifted toward Russia since the end of the Cold War.