The fierce Ukrainian resistance exhausted the Russians
Russian forces continue to focus their attacks on the eastern regions of Ukraine, while resistance there slows the advance of Moscow's forces.
Here are the latest developments in the situation:
- The strong Ukrainian defenses in the Donbass region are still holding on for the time being.
- The Ukrainian forces succeeded in repelling the Russian forces away from the second city, Kharkiv.
- Russian forces continue to bombard the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
- Renewed fighting for control of the Black Sea.
The Russians are regrouping in the East
Russian officials have said their forces are fighting to "completely liberate" the Donbas region, which broadly refers to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists held large areas before the invasion.
It seems that the Russian forces have stopped south of Izyum and are currently regrouping, according to the data of the Institute for the Studies of War, as the Ukrainian forces have managed to repel any attempts to advance so far.
Ukrainian defenses have been in place in the region since the fighting began there, and Britain's Ministry of Defense says Russian forces have failed to build up sufficient momentum.
Ukrainian forces have carried out a successful counter-attack around the city of Kharkiv, northwest of Izyum, towards the border with Russia, and the Russians are keen to prevent them from reaching the international border, according to the institute's data. This will likely force Russia to reinforce its positions in the region in order to protect supply lines at the expense of supporting offensive operations elsewhere.
Russian forces initially made rapid gains in the south of the country, with their main goal being to create a land corridor between Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and the Russian-backed separatist-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.
However, strong resistance shown by Ukrainian forces, near Mykolaiv, in the west of the country, and in Mariupol, in the east of the country, significantly slowed the Russian advance.
The port city of Mariupol, which has been surrounded by Russian forces since the beginning of March, is now mostly under the control of Russian forces.
A few hundred Ukrainian soldiers remain holed up in the Azovstal steel complex south of the city, as Russian forces continue to try to establish control over the sprawling industrial complex.
To the west, Russia is seeking to move towards Odessa, in order to cut off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, but its forces have not yet been able to reach the city. The historic port was targeted by a missile attack on Monday night.
Russia continues its efforts to strengthen its forces on the island of "Snake" in the Black Sea. This rocky island of 16 hectares is owned by Ukraine but was occupied by Russian forces last February.
Snake Island
But these Russian efforts have stalled, according to the British Ministry of Defense, with Ukrainian forces striking the island's Russian air defenses and supply ships, which became more exposed after the sinking of the Russian warship Moskva in April.
And Transnistria has also recently experienced a series of explosions, a region separate from Moldova, where Russian forces are already stationed, and local officials backed by Russia have blamed Ukraine.
Despite this, Ukraine has claimed that these operations are called "false flag" operations, which are Russian efforts aimed at destabilizing the region and spreading conflict.
To indicate areas of Ukraine under the control of Russian forces, we use daily estimates published by the Institute for the Study of War in collaboration with the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project.
We also use daily updates from the UK Ministry of Defense and BBC Research, to highlight key areas where developments are taking place.
Because of the acceleration of events on the ground in Ukraine, there will likely be times when no changes appear on the maps.
