UKRAINE MAP. As war continues across Ukraine, the Battle for Kiev has begun with raids on the Ukrainian capital and Russian troops massed just outside the city. The cards…
[Mis à jour le 2 mars 2022 à 10h42] The war in Ukraine is entering its 7th day this Wednesday, March 2, 2022, and the world is hanging its breath as uncertainty surrounds the future of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. The Russians have intensified their offensive on the city but, according to the Pentagon, their progress towards the capital is “at a standstill”, hampered by the resistance encountered and logistical problems. After repelling several attempts by Russian forces in recent days, Kiev suffered heavy strikes on Tuesday. Five people were killed and five injured in a strike against the television tower, announced the Ukrainian State Service for Emergency Situations, reported by AFP. While a gigantic convoy (about sixty kilometers) was observed en route to the capital on Tuesday morning, the advance of Russian troops seemed very small until Wednesday morning.
The war in Ukraine, on the other hand, is intensifying in the rest of the country. Airstrikes have multiplied in Kharkiv, a large city in eastern Ukraine on which the Russian invasion forces are leading the assault, airborne troops in support. In the south-east, the port of Mariupol has been deprived of electricity and seems almost cut off from the world, a junction of troops from Crimea and pro-Russian separatist forces from eastern Ukraine has been announced on the coast of Sea of Azov. Several cities are surrounded and Russia has announced that it has taken control of the port city of Kherson, AFP reported on Wednesday morning.
The Battle of Kiev Mapped
Since the start of the conflict, maps have played a key role in understanding the Russian military operation and in monitoring the situation live. The battle of Kiev, in particular, has been mapped by several media in France and around the world. Visactu, a French agency specializing in the production of press infographics, regularly offers updates on the situation in the Ukrainian capital.
News agency cards
Several agencies provide the press with daily updated maps and charts. This is the case of Agence France Presse in France, but also of specialized services such as Visactu again, or Graphic Newsan independent international agency entirely financed by media publishers.
The map of the Ukrainian site Liveuamap
One of the most valuable documents currently available online is the map drawn up by Liveuamap.coman independent Ukrainian platform that compiles and cross-checks information from media sources and social media and allows you to view, in real time or almost, the clashes and strikes that follow one another in the country.
Another interactive map published on MapHub allows to visualize the attacks of Russia and the acts of defense of Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict. The tool, which lists hundreds of events to date, is overseen by the Center for Information Resilience (CIR), an independent not-for-profit UK business that is also dedicated to identifying, tackling and exposing influence operations. The CIR aims to “raise awareness of the threat that influence operations, including disinformation, pose to democracy and objective truth, and to help counter them”.
Situation maps from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
Daily reports and maps by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) supply the press (including Le Monde) with recent and precise information. The Institute for the Study of War is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization. It “promotes an informed understanding of military affairs through trusted research, reliable analysis, and innovative education.”
Center for Eastern Studies (OSW) map
The Center for Eastern Studies is a Polish public organization that se focuses on “the analysis of key processes and events taking place in the vast international environment of Poland”. Staffed with forty analysts, it intends “to monitor political, social and economic processes, to offer up-to-date and in-depth analyses” to the Polish government and “to participate in the debates of the communities of experts and academics in Poland and abroad”.
Media cards in France and abroad
In France, reference sites such as Le Monde or Le Figaro offer to follow the advance of Russian troops via a series of maps based themselves on reliable data from the sources mentioned above. Le Figaro has drawn up three maps based on information from the Liveuamap site, the Graphicnews agency and other press agencies such as AFP. Abroad, the sites of the New York Times (capture) and the Washington Post, the two leading American media, also offer up-to-date maps.
In the UK, the BBC also has a page to follow the fighting in Ukraine. Some maps also allow you to find out about the situation in the capital. Another British media, the FinancialTimes also declines his cards until the clashes in Kiev.