Last updated: 31 January 2025
This aerial photograph shows a destroyed church and other destruction in the village of Bohorodychne, Donetsk region, on January 27, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images)
ACLED’s Ukraine Conflict Monitor provides near real-time information on the ongoing war, including an interactive map of the latest data from the start of Russia’s invasion, a curated data file, and weekly situation updates. It is designed to help researchers, policymakers, media, and the wider public track key conflict developments in Ukraine. It is released every Wednesday, with data covering events from Saturday to Friday of the preceding week and providing updates to past events as new or better information becomes available.
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Ukraine War Situation Update:
18 – 24 January 2025
1148 political violence events
4% increase compared to last week
47 incidents of violence targeting civilians
27% decrease compared to last week
At least 25 fatalities from civilian targeting
39% increase compared to last week
Key trends
- In the Donetsk region, Russian forces occupied three settlements south of Pokrovsk, advancing to positions as close as 4 km from the administrative border with the Dnipropetrovsk region and within the city of Toretsk.
- Russian forces also advanced in the direction of Kupiansk, taking control of a settlement in the Kharkiv region and another in the Luhansk region.
- ACLED records 18 Russian long-range missile and drone strikes, including in the city of Kyiv and the western regions of Lviv and Khmelnytskyi. Ukrainian forces intercepted strikes in at least 40 other instances, including over the western regions of Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, and Khmelnytskyi, and the region of Kyiv.
- Russian shelling, missiles, and drones killed at least 24 civilians in the Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhia, and Kyiv regions, as well as in the city of Kyiv. Ukrainian shelling and drone strikes killed fourcivilians and injured 25 others in the Russian-held parts of the Donetsk region.
Key events
- 18 Jan. | Kyiv – A Russian ballistic missile kills four civilians and wounds three others in the Kyiv city
- 23 Jan. | Donetsk – Russian forces execute at least six Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Donetsk region
- 23 Jan. | Zaporizhia – Russian ballistic missiles kill one civilian and injure 54 others in Zaporizhia city
Spotlight: Ukrainian forces face Russian encirclement in Velyka Novosilka
As Russian forces continue advancing on the outskirts of Pokrovsk and within urban Toretsk and Chasiv Yar, Ukrainian forces are facing a key moment in their defense of the Donetsk region in the town of Velyka Novosilka. After Russian forces captured the fortress town of Vuhledar in September 2024, Velyka Novosilka and Pokrovsk are the main Ukrainian outposts for securing the administrative boundary between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Recent Russian rapid advances in at least six settlements east and south of Velyka Novosilka since late November 2024 moved clashes into the city and placed Ukrainian troops within the immediate range of artillery and first-person view drones. Their situation was further complicated as the only remaining line of communication went through the Mokry Yaly river. The eventual Ukrainians’ withdrawal after 23 January to the northwest of the river allowed for a natural barrier to waves of Russian infantry attacks, even as reports of withdrawals suggest that the defensive move was a costly maneuver.1The Economist, ‘Amid talk of a ceasefire, Ukraine’s front line is crumbling,’ 27 January 2025
Considering the severe lack of personnel and fears of further deployments of Russian troops in the western Donetsk region, the battle of Velyka Novosilka will probably show Kyiv’s resolve and constraints in attempts to keep the frontline steady and away from the Dnipropetrovsk region.2Diana Bondarenko, ‘Next — Dnipropetrovsk region: how the situation will change at the front, if the enemy is pressed by Velyka Novosilka,’ Focus.ua, 27 January 2025; Oleh Chernysh, ‘The Armed Forces of Ukraine escaped the encirclement in Velyka Novosilka, Russia talks about the seizure. Why it is important,’ BBC, 26 January 2025; Nikita Shenderovski, ‘The limit of three regions: the expert assessed the threats after the loss of the Big Novosilka,’ Unian, 28 January 2025
Explore the ACLED Conflict Exposure tool to assess the numbers of people affected by armed violence, disaggregated by locations, time period, and actors involved.
Ukraine Conflict: Interactive Map
This interactive map includes political violence events in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022.
Date and subset filters
By default, the map displays data for the most recent week. Use the date filters to change the date range in view.
Use the subset filters to analyze trends in more detail.
Changing view
By default, the map is set to event view, which uses scaled circles to show events at a given location. Click on a region in Ukraine to zoom in for a more detailed view. Hovering over a region will give a count of events within its borders.
Changing to region (oblast) view will switch the map to a choropleth, giving an overview of event density per region. This will also disable the zoom function.
Events in Russia
While in event view, use the ‘Events in Russia’ toggle to show or hide conflict-related events in Russia. Conflict-related events are identified as follows:
- All events with the ‘Battles’ or ‘Explosions/remote violence’ event type.
- Events with the ‘Violence against civilians’ event type, where the actor is:
- Ukrainian or Russian military
- Russian border guards
- Pro-Ukrainian Russian militias
Event counts and civilian fatalities
The box in the bottom right hand corner displays event counts in total, disaggregated by event type, and filtered by date or subset according to the options already selected.
It also shows a conservative estimate of civilian fatalities, limited to events where civilians are targeted directly. Military casualties are not represented on the map as they are largely unverifiable.
For more information on how ACLED codes fatalities, read our methodology explainer.
Curated Data
This file contains all political violence events, demonstration events, and strategic developments recorded in Ukraine and the Black Sea from the beginning of ACLED coverage in 2018 to the present.
For an overview, see our interactive dashboard.
Ukraine & the Black Sea ( 24 January 2025 )
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Information & Analysis
For additional information on the conflict in Ukraine, check our analysis of political violence trends from the start of ACLED coverage in 2018.
Previous Weekly Situation Updates
