In 7 charts: How Russia is advancing into Ukraine

Russia

’s invasion of

Ukraine

began in the early hours of February 24 with attacks by land, sea and air in what was immediately the largest military assault by one European state on another since World War II.

On Saturday, Russian troops pressed toward Ukraine’s capital after a night of explosions and street fighting sent Kyiv residents seeking shelter underground. The country's leader refused an American offer to evacuate, insisting he would stay. “The fight is here,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

It was not immediately clear how far Russian troops had advanced. Ukrainian officials reported some success in fending off assaults, but fighting persisted near the capital. Skirmishes reported on the edge of the city suggested that small Russian units were trying to clear a path for the main forces.

Here are 7 maps that show how Russia is advancing into Ukraine:
Multiple fronts
The Russian army has been able to advance swiftly as it opened multiple fronts against Ukraine and launched multipronged attacks.

Ukraine’s population centersRoughly 44 million people live in Ukraine with nearly 3 million in the capital city of Kyiv. Russia's influence looms large, particularly in the urban, industrial east where Russian is the predominant language in many districts along the Ukrainian border as well as in Crimea in the south.

Breakaway regions
On Monday, Feb. 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognising two breakaway regions of Ukraine as independent entities, the self-proclaimed

Donetsk

People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (

LPR

).

Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions - collectively known as the Donbass - broke away from Ukrainian government control in 2014 and proclaimed themselves independent "people's republics", until now unrecognised.

Since then, Ukraine says about 15,000 people have been killed in fighting.

Germany suspends Nord Stream 2
On Tuesday, February 22, German Chancellor

Olaf Sholz

suspended the approval process for Nord Stream 2, a major pipeline project between Russia and Germany. The move was widely seen as one of the strongest measures Europe could take in response to Moscow's recognition of the two breakaway regions in Ukraine.

Russian deployments near Ukraine
On February 11, Washington said Russia had massed enough troops near Ukraine to launch a major invasion and urged all U.S. citizens to leave the country within 48 hours. Ukrainian officials estimated Russia had deployed more than 100,000 troops near the border.

Nato

deployments in Europe
On February 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would continue to seek to join the Nato transatlantic military alliance despite pressure from Russia, which has demanded Nato roll back from eastern Europe and has said Nato deployments in Ukraine would be a "red line."

Ukraine’s military strength
Ukraine's armed forces of more than 200,000 service members, not including the paramilitary, are less than a quarter the size of Russia's. However, they have been significantly boosted since 2014 by Western military aid, including supplies of US Javelin anti-tank missiles and Turkish drones.