2014 Russia begins its occupation of Crimea, and Russian-backed separatists take control of the Donbas.

2025 After three years of fighting, Russia occupies 18.5% of Ukraine, 

as of Feb. 17, 2025.

Chernobyl

Lutsk

Kyiv

Lviv

Kharkiv

Luhansk

UKRAINE

Bakhmut

Donetsk

DONBAS

Zaporizhzhia

Currently assessed Russian control

Feb. 20, 2025

Mariupol

Melitopol

Kherson

Odesa

Previously held by Russian forces,

but returned to Ukrainian control

Controlled by

Russian-backed

separatists

since 2014

Areas seized by Russia

in 2014

CRIMEA

Annexed

by Russia

in 2014

Sevastopol

In 2014, Russian forces illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine, shortly after the events of the Maidan Revolution sparked political turmoil in Kyiv. Later that year, Russian-sponsored separatists took control of parts of the Donbas region, gains that have remained in Russian hands to the present day.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to seize all of Ukraine in a matter of days, according to the Institute for the Study of War. What happened instead was three years of intense fighting, thanks to Ukraine counteroffensives armed by tranches of aid coming from its Western allies.

The threat to Ukraine’s biggest source of aid

The United States has been the biggest single contributor of funding for Ukraine since the war began in 2022, giving about $95 billion in military, humanitarian and financial help — aid that may be in peril under the Trump administration.

Here’s an overview of where the money for Ukraine’s war efforts has come from:

Trump, who promised to end the war in Ukraine swiftly, was critical about US funds being sent to Ukraine throughout his 2024 campaign. Recently, he’s suggested taking a transactional approach to aid, saying the US should receive access to rare earth minerals in return, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected.

“I told them that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion of rare earth, and they’ve essentially agreed to do that, so at least we don’t feel stupid. Otherwise we’re stupid. I said to them, we have to get something. We can’t continue to pay this money,” Trump told Fox News earlier this month.

Ukraine has already been affected by the recent suspension of USAID activity. The funding freeze has led Ukrainian NGOs and charities to make cuts including laying off staff and temporarily shutting down suicide helplines and HIV detection projects. In the last three years, Ukraine has been the biggest recipient of USAID funds.

Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced

Millions of Ukrainians have fled their homes, either to other parts of Ukraine or other countries, in the years since Russia began seizing land and following the invasion.

Just over 6.3 million Ukrainian refugees are living in Europe, including about 1.2 million in Germany, nearly 1 million in Poland and 390,000 in the Czech Republic, according to data through the end of 2024 from the UN’s refugee agency.

There were 1.2 million Ukrainian refugees living in the Russian Federation, per the UN’s latest estimate as of June 2024.