Ukraine Crisis in Maps

A visual guide to the continuing conflict.
Violence has continued

throughout eastern Ukraine
despite a cease-fire agreement
on Sept. 5. Rebels who had
been cut off from the urban
centers of Donetsk and
Luhansk now have access to a
continuous region stretching to
the Sea of Azov. Ukraine's
parliament passed a series of
laws on Tuesday, one that
granted temporary autonomy
to two regions, Donetsk and
Luhansk, where the rebels have
been trying to break away from
Ukraine.
The Donetsk and Luhansk
regions are densely populated,
heavily industrial areas in
eastern Ukraine where a
majority of people speak
Russian and a sizable minority
of the population is ethnically
Russian. The regions share
hundreds of miles of border
with Russia, much of which is
currently controlled by rebel
forces. Some analysts have
suggested that President
Vladimir V. Putin of Russia
may want the area as a buffer
between Russia and a hostile
Ukraine, or as a gray zone
where Russia can foment
unrest to influence Ukrainian
policy.
Ukraine Crisis in Maps - NYTimes.com 22/09/2014
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/27/world/europe/ukraine-divisions-crimea.html 1 / 14
In recent days, the Ukrainian
military has lost ground in
eastern Ukraine. Last month
the military had cut both
Donetsk and Luhansk off from
their supply chains, but now
the cities are reconnected to the
larger area of rebel-controlled
territory. Ukrainian officials
said that the lost ground and
the opening of a third front at
Novoazovsk are a result of
direct intervention from
Russia. Russia denies sending
weapons and fighters across
the border.
President Vladimir V. Putin of
Russia hailed on Friday the
success of a recent rebel
offensive and asked that a
humanitarian corridor be
opened to allow encircled
Ukrainian fighters to retreat.
Ukrainian officials said Russian
forces and separatists
continued fighting near
Novoazovsk, a town along the
southern land route from
Russia to Crimea, which
emerged as a new front on
Wednesday. On Thursday,
NATO released satellite images
it said showed Russian artillery
units operating in eastern
Ukraine.
Intense violence continues in
Donetsk, the largest city under
the control of pro-Russian
separatists. Ukranian forces
have cut the city off from the
rest of the rebel-held territory,
and government officials said
they had destroyed three rebel
checkpoints near the city of one
million people. The Donetsk
city council released locations
of more than 130 sites in the
city that have been hit by
rocket fire over the last month.
Two satellite images of the
Russian military base near
Rostov were released on
Tuesday by the Office of the
Director of National
Intelligence. American
intelligence officials said that
the image on the right, taken
approximately a month after
the image on the left, shows
how much buildup there has
been at the base. American
officials said Tuesday that there
has been a stream of military
support to rebels in Ukraine.
As international experts began
the investigation of Malaysia
Airlines Flight 17, heavy
fighting between the Ukrainian
military and pro-Russian
separatists continued. After
Ukrainian soldiers retook
Slovyansk earlier in July,
insurgents dug into the urban
centers of Donetsk and
Luhansk. Reports emerged that
Russia was building up forces
along border areas, and several
Ukrainian military aircraft
were shot down near the
Russian border before Malaysia
Flight 17.
After a 10-day cease-fire,
President Petro O. Poroshenko
ordered government forces to
resume fighting the pro-
Russian separatists in eastern
Ukraine. Conference calls
between leaders of Ukraine,
Russia, France and Germany
had failed to bring tangible
results, like rebels' relinquishing
border crossings at Izvarino,
Dolzhansky and
Chervonopartyzansk. There
were fierce battles throughout
the region on Tuesday,
including in the cities of
Donetsk, Slovyansk and
Kramatorsk.
Violence escalated in the
Donetsk region in the days
before and after the May 25
presidential election. Pro-
Russian rebels ambushed a
military checkpoint in
Blahodatne on May 22, killing
as many as 15 Ukrainian
soldiers. A firefight between a
Ukrainian militia group and
pro-Russian rebels in Karlovka
the following day left at least
seven people dead. And one day
after Petro O. Poroshenko was
elected president, dozens of
pro-Russian separatists were
killed in an offensive by the
Ukrainian military to retake
the airport.
A close look at the day-to-day
action in Ukraine from reports
by international observers
reveals a mixed picture of the
rebellion. While increasing
rebel activity by pro-Russian
militants in Ukraine can leave
the impression that Kiev has
lost its hold on the east, support
for a united Ukraine is strong
in some key cities. Militants in
parts of the east vowed on
Thursday to press ahead with a
referendum on Sunday seeking
autonomy.
Ukrainian military and police
forces on Friday resumed their
effort to retake Slovyansk,
pushing armed separatists from
the citys outskirts with
armored vehicles, helicopters
and ground troops. By early
afternoon, the military
movements appeared to have
ceased, and Ukrainian troops
were posted at their newly
captured positions in the
villages of Bylbasovka and
Andreyevka. About 10
Ukrainian armored personnel
carriers and a few trucks had
captured a bridge just outside
of Slovyansk.
The interim Ukrainian
government increased its
military presence in the east of
the country and set up
checkpoints near Slovyansk, a
city that has been under rebel
control since early April. Still,
pro-Russia gunmen were able
to gain more ground this week:
At least a dozen cities are now
in the hands of separatists. On
Wednesday, rebels took
administrative buildings in
Horlivka, and the countrys
acting president said the
governments police and
security officials were helpless
to control the rebellion.
Pro-Russian militants have
been reported in at least a
dozen cities in eastern Ukraine.
The interim Ukrainian
government threatened to
blockade Slovyansk, which pro-
Russian rebels have held since
the beginning of April. In
Luhansk, armed men have
occupied public buildings for
weeks. In Kramatorsk, a
Ukrainian military transport
helicopter was set on fire
Friday, but the cause of the
blaze was unclear.
In public remarks on
Thursday, President Vladimir
V. Putin asserted Russia's
historical claim to
Novorossiya, or New
Russia, a term that refers to a
broad area of modern Ukraine
that used to be part of the
Russian empire. The territory
stretches from the border of
Moldova in the west to the
Russian border in the east, and
includes the port city of Odessa
to the south and the industrial
center of Dnipropetrovsk in the
north.
An effort by the Ukrainian
Army to regain control of
Slovyansk and other eastern
cities from pro-Russia
insurgents appeared to stall
Wednesday, with one column
of armored vehicles abandoned
of armored vehicles abandoned
to militant separatists and
another ground to a halt by
unarmed protesters blocking its
path.
Russian flags flew over
administrative buildings in
several eastern Ukraine cities,
including Mariupol, Horlivka
and Slovyansk, where
Ukrainian commandos
engaged in gunfights with
opposition militants. The unrest
in Donetsk, eastern Ukraines
most populous region, began
April 6 in the regional capital
when pro-Russian activists
seized government
headquarters and declared the
Peoples Republic of Donetsk.
NATO released satellite images
that showed Russian ground
and air forces gathering within
miles of the Ukrainian border
around the end of March. The
alliance estimated that 35,000
to 40,000 troops had massed in
the area, with the ability to
mobilize within hours.
Pro-Russian demonstrations in
eastern Ukraine continued
after Russias seizure of Crimea
and the subsequent deployment
of Russian troops near the
border with Ukraine. On April
6, hundreds of protesters
calling for a referendum
similar to the one held in
Crimea seized government
buildings in Kharkiv, Luhansk
and Donetsk. Demonstrators
were expelled on April 8 from a
regional administration
building in Kharkiv by
Ukrainian troops.
Ukraine announced on March
19 it was evacuating all
military personnel from
Crimea, a day after Russia
declared it was annexing the
peninsula. Both countries have
also been mobilizing troops
near Ukraines eastern border.
With shows of force at
Ukrainian bases, Russia
continued to consolidate its
military position throughout
Crimea.
Days after the end of the Sochi
Winter Olympics, President
Vladimir V. Putin began a
covert military operation in
Crimea, an autonomous region
of Ukraine that was once part
of Russia and is a vital base for
the Russian Navy. Here are key
moments in the operation.
Sevastopol has been the
headquarters of Russia's Black
Sea Fleet since 1783. After the
Soviet Union collapsed, Russia
leased part of the port from
Ukraine to continue using the
base. The Ukrainian Navy also
uses the bay. An analysis by
IHS Janes of satellite imagery
captured March 3 by Airbus
Defense and Space/CNES
shows the positions of some of
the Russian vessels.
The satellite image showed
three Russian naval ships in an
apparent attempt to prevent
three Ukrainian naval ships
from leaving port. The largest
Ukrainian vessel was formerly
a research ship that had been
converted for use as a
command ship.
Two guided missile warships
were parked on the north side
of the harbor.
One of the fleets two
hovercraft was parked here.
The second one could not be
seen in the satellite imagery.
These two hovercraft are
primarily used as combat
vessels and are equipped with
missiles.
Russia's military abilities dwarf
those of Ukraines, which is
underfunded and poorly
positioned to counter an attack
from the east. According to a
recent report by the
International Institute for
Strategic Studies, Ukraines
armed forces use mainly
Soviet-era equipment, much of
which needs to be upgraded or
replaced. Ukrainian air
defenses are considered weak
and its naval fleet is far inferior
to Russias. Still, many experts
have doubts that Russia would
intervene elsewhere in Ukraine
because it would be difficult for
Russian forces to control more
territory.
Most of modern Ukraine was
absorbed by the Russian
Empire in the 18th and early
19th centuries. Southern
sections were acquired from
the Ottoman Empire, including
Crimea in 1783. Poland
surrendered much of western
Ukraine the next decade. By
1815, as much as 85 percent of
ethnic Ukrainian territory was
within the Russian Empire.
Soviet victory in World War II
delivered the westernmost
portion of Ukraine to the Soviet
Union from Poland.
Ukraine's political split reflects
a deeper cultural divide in the
country. In the 2010
presidential election, the
opposition won in all of
Ukraine's western provinces,
where most people speak
Ukrainian rather than Russian
and many call for deeper
economic and political ties with
Europe.
About 53 percent of Russian
gas exports to Europe pass
through Ukraine. Europe, in
turn, depends on Russia for 40
percent of its imported fuel.
According to Mikhail
Korchemkin, head of East
European Gas Analysis, a
consulting firm in
Pennsylvania, the most
important pipelines that run
through Ukraine are the ones
leading to Slovakia. They will
eventually take gas to
Germany, Austria and Italy.

Ukraine Crisis in Maps

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Ukraine Crisis in Maps

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A visual guide to the continuing conflict.

Violence has continued

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