Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine

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  Areas and cities occupied by Russia
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2022

The Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine are areas of Ukraine that are currently controlled by Russia in the course of the Russo-Ukrainian War. In Ukrainian law, they are defined as the "Temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine" (Ukrainian: Тимчасово окупована територія України, romanizedTymchasovo okupovana terytoriia Ukrainy).

The occupation started in 2014 following

war in eastern Ukraine.[2] In 2022, Russian forces initiated a full-scale invasion of the nation and successfully occupied more territory throughout the country. However, due to continued fierce Ukrainian resistance, coupled with logistical challenges[3] (e.g. the stalled Russian Kyiv convoy), the Russian Armed Forces announced their withdrawal from Chernihiv, Kyiv, Sumy, and Zhytomyr oblasts in early April.[4]

In early September 2022, Ukrainian forces ended the months-long stalemate on the front lines with a successful counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, inflicting a major defeat on Russian forces by forcing their retreat.[5] Then later in November, Ukrainian forces once again achieved a major success with a southern counteroffensive retaking the city of Kherson on 11 November.

On 30 September 2022, Russia announced

the annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, despite only occupying part of the claimed territory. The UN General Assembly responded by passing a resolution rejecting this annexation as illegal and upholding Ukraine's right to territorial integrity.[6]

Before 2022, Russia occupied 42,000 km2 (16,000 sq mi) of Ukrainian territory (Crimea, and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk), and occupied an additional 119,000 km2 (46,000 sq mi) after its full-scale invasion by March 2022, a total of 161,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi) or almost 27% of Ukraine's territory.[7] By 11 November 2022, the Institute for the Study of War calculated that Ukrainian forces had liberated an area of 74,443 km2 (28,743 sq mi) from Russian occupation,[8] leaving Russia with control of about 18% of Ukraine's territory.[9] During the entire 2023, the Russian forces only captured 518 km2 (200 sq mi) of Ukrainian territory, despite huge losses on the battlefield.[10]

Background

Pro-EU demonstration in Kyiv, 27 November 2013, during the Euromaidan protests

With the

war in Donbas (Russia announced their "annexation" after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
).

In response to Russian military intervention, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted government laws (with further updates and extensions) to qualify the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as temporarily occupied and uncontrolled territories:

  1. Autonomous Republic of Crimea:
    • Law of Ukraine No. 1207-VII (15 April 2014) "Assurance of Citizens' Rights and Freedom, and Legal Regulations on Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine".[18]
  2. Separate Raions of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts:
    • Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1085-р (7 November 2014) "A List of Settlements on Territory Temporarily Uncontrolled by Government Authorities, and a List of Landmarks Located at the Contact Line".[19]
    • Law of Ukraine No. 254-19-VIII (17 March 2015) "On Recognition of Separate Raions, Cities, Towns and Villages in Donetsk and Luhansk Regions as Temporarily Occupied Territories".[20]

Petro Poroshenko, one of the opposition leaders during Euromaidan, won a landslide victory in the election to succeed interim president Turchynov, three months after the ousting of Yanukovych.[21]

Before February 2022