In videos, photos, and maps, how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unfolding on the ground

In photos, videos and maps, this is how the situation on the ground is unfolding, including reports from journalists for The Washington Post on the scene.

For the latest developments from Ukraine, follow our live coverage.

Feb. 25

Russian troops have entered Ukraine from the north, south and east of the country.

Dispatches: Reporters on the ground

As the Russian assault on Ukraine intensified, Post reporters shared what they were experiencing on the ground.

In Kharkiv, The Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan took shelter with her colleagues for a second time as the shelling intensified.

In Kyiv, Post Video journalist Whitney Shefte returned to her hotel’s bunker, along with other journalists and hotel guests, for the fourth or fifth time that day.

And farther west, The Post’s David Stern reported from a traffic jam in the Carpathian Mountains, where many were trying to travel farther from the fighting. “Cars are backed up for, well, miles,” he said.

Civilians answer the call to fight for Ukraine

As Russian forces push toward Kyiv, the seventh most populated city in Europe, people all over the country are being urged by officials — and sometimes compelled by necessity — to fight back in whatever ways they can.

The country’s former president is patrolling the city streets with a civilian defense force, armed with an AK-47. Civilians have been called to find their own weapons and make molotov cocktails — a type of crude, homemade explosive named, mockingly, after a former Soviet foreign minister.

Roughly 18,000 weapons have already been distributed in the Kyiv region, according to the government. At the country’s borders, Ukrainian guards have been stopping vehicles, looking for men between the ages of 18 and 60 who can help in the fight.

Kira Rudik, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, also said she was ready to fight. She had learned to use a Kalashnikov, she said, in a post on Twitter. “It sounds surreal, as just a few days ago it would never come to my mind.”

- Adam Taylor and Ruby Mellen

Satellite images suggest offensive against Kyiv may be ‘imminent’

Satellite images from Maxar Technologies taken Friday showed large deployments of ground forces and nearly 150 helicopters poised in southern Belarus, fewer than 100 miles from Kyiv.

Friday a senior U.S. defense official said the Russian military had lost momentum in its offensive as Ukrainian forces put up resistance, but the official added that could change. The photos reveal extensive troops and materiel in Belarus, a nation loyal to Moscow.

“This is an indicator of a large push to come," said Jeffrey Lewis, a professor and arms control expert at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies. “The helicopters and the ground forces nearby suggest an imminent offensive against Kyiv.”

He added that while they were hard to definitively identify, the helicopters were probably Russian because “Belarus only has a tiny number of attack helicopters” and “the fact that they are out in the field suggests they are far from home.”

In Chojniki, Belarus, more than 90 parked helicopters formed a line extending more than five miles, Maxar said.

Northeast of that town, several hundred military vehicles were positioned. Fifty additional helicopters were photographed near Mazyr, Belarus. The Pentagon said Friday about a third of the Russian forces committed to the assault are now in Ukraine, or more than 50,000.

Thousands swarm Kyiv railway station

As officials warned that the capital could fall, thousands of people waited in a Kyiv railway station, desperate to get on a train to leave the city. Photos from the Kyiv-based news organization Zaborona posted on Twitter showed crowds of people swarming platforms. The organization said Ukrainian Railways was evacuating 4,000 people an hour, prioritizing women and children.

Some Ukrainians return to fight, others are blocked from fleeing

As some Ukrainian men living overseas queued at border crossings to return and try to do their part to fight Russia’s onslaught on Friday, others expressed frustration at being blocked from leaving amid a national call to arms.

Ukraine’s border guard had stopped all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country on Friday, as the defense ministry called on residents of one district of Kyiv to make molotov cocktails.

Alexander Gorbenko, 54, complained there was little he could do to protect his homeland from Russian troops as he parted with his wife and 11-year-old daughter at the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing to Poland, unable to cross with them.

“I just have an air rifle, the cash machines don’t work, and there is no organization,” he said. “I cannot prepare, you cannot just go and buy a weapon, it’s not like the United States.”

— Loveday Morris

Fire in the capital

Explosions lit up Kyiv’s predawn sky Friday. Social media video showed the blasts as fearful onlookers filmed. The Post verified the videos below and synchronized audio and visual cues to show how the explosions looked from various angles.

A civilian building was heavily damaged after a projectile hit a residential neighborhood in the city, according to Ukrainian officials.

Several people were injured, including one in critical condition, according to the mayor’s office. The Washington Post’s Sudarsan Raghavan reported from the scene.

Valentina Petrova, one of the building’s residents, examined the damage left behind.

Passersby observed the destruction in shock.

Feb. 24

Daily overview

Scenes of chaos in Kyiv

Russian forces drew nearer to Kyiv on Thursday as military experts warned the capital could fall in days.

The city’s mayor vowed to fight Russian forces.

Some residents tried to leave on buses, fearing what may come next.

Protests and arrests in Russia

Thousands of people protested President Vladimir Putin’s attacks on Ukraine in cities across Russia on Thursday, a striking show of anger in a nation where spontaneous mass demonstrations are illegal and protesters can face fines and jail.

More than 1,700 people were arrested in at least 47 cities across the nation, according to Russian rights group OVD-Info. The group was declared a foreign agent last year, when Putin launched a sweeping crackdown on activists, rights groups and opposition figures.

The protests came with an outpouring of horror from liberal Russians, social media influencers, athletes, actors, television presenters and others.

— Robyn Dixon

Destruction from the strikes

Video shared to social media on Thursday and verified by The Post shows at least seven aircrafts flying toward plumes of smoke in Hostomel, Ukraine, approximately three miles east of the Antonov International Airport. In the video the sounds of the approaching helicopters build as the people who are filming discuss what they’re seeing.

A mix of nearly two dozen attack and transport helicopters assaulted the Hostomel airfield outside Kyiv, the Ukrainian military said.

A resident in Hostomel shared video from his apartment on Thursday showing a room in tatters — a blown-out window, destruction from debris, dust-covered furniture and a baby stroller with a toy doll in it. He said the damage was from Russia’s military attack.

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