

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. the stalled Russian Kyiv convoy), the Russian Armed Forces announced their withdrawal from Chernihiv, Kyiv, Sumy, and Zhytomyr oblasts in early April. However, due to continued fierce Ukrainian resistance, coupled with logistical challenges ( e.g. In 2022, Russian forces initiated a full-scale invasion of the nation and successfully occupied more territory throughout the country. The occupation started in 2014 following Russia's invasion and annexation of the Crimean peninsula, and its assisting the forces of the mostly unrecognized Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in capturing parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts during the war in Donbas. In Ukrainian law, they are defined as the "temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine" ( Ukrainian: Тимчасово окупована територія України, romanized: Tymchasovo okupovana terytoriia Ukrainy). Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine are areas of Ukraine that are currently controlled by Russia in the course of the Russo-Ukrainian War. In Ukraine: Crimea (4) and parts of Luhansk Oblast (5) and Donetsk Oblast (6) since 2014, and parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast (7) and Kherson Oblast (8) since 2022.In Georgia: Abkhazia (2) and South Ossetia (3), since 2008.

