2014
Russia attacked in 2014.
In March 2014 Russia seized Crimea. Weeks later it sent fighters and weapons into the Donbas and set up proxy “republics” in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
United Nations ↗Front line after DeepStateMap.live, Oct 19, 2026 · Borders: Natural Earth
Our story
Powered by Ukraine.
HireDrop is built by a Ukrainian founder. This page is who we are, where we come from, and what is happening to our country, with links to sources you can check yourself.
February 24, 2022
Then came the full-scale invasion.
Russian troops crossed from Russia, Belarus and Crimea at once and within days reached the outskirts of Kyiv. In red: all the land Russia has held at some point since then.
UN Human Rights ↗2022
Ukraine fought back.
By April 2022 Russian forces had retreated from the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. In September a counteroffensive freed most of the Kharkiv region, and in November the city of Kherson. In blue: about 41,000 km² taken back, more than the whole of Maryland.
Ukrainska Pravda ↗Today · Oct 19, 2026
About 19% is still occupied.
The front line runs for more than 980 km, and the attacks have not stopped. On DeepStateMap's map for Oct 19, Russian attack arrows run along the whole front, densest near Kostiantynivka, Huliaipole and Dobropillia. There is no ceasefire.
DeepStateMap ↗The founder
Hi, I'm Igor.
Founder of HireDrop
I'm Igor Linnik, the founder of HireDrop. I built it because applying for jobs had turned into a second job: the same forms, the same questions, the same cover letter rewritten forty times. You choose the roles and the rules; HireDrop does the applying, from your own browser, at a human pace.
I grew up in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, about 30 km (20 miles) from the Russian border. When the full-scale invasion began, I moved to Uzhhorod, at the other end of the country, and volunteered there: we cooked meals and sent food to Kharkiv and the towns around it. My family there has helped people from the front since the first days.
I left Ukraine at Christmas 2022, spent a year in Houston, and now build HireDrop from Hawaii. Ukrainians have spent years learning to keep working, studying and building while their country is at war. That stubbornness is in this product, and I want the people who use it to know where it comes from.
What happened
A war that began in 2014.
Russia's war against Ukraine did not start in 2022. In 2014 Russia seized Crimea and sent forces into the Donbas in the east. On February 24, 2022 it launched a full-scale invasion from the north, east and south, including an attempt to take Kyiv.
In 2022 Ukraine pushed Russian forces back from the Kyiv region, most of the Kharkiv region and the city of Kherson. Since then the front line in the east and south has moved slowly and at a terrible cost, while cities far from it are hit by missiles and drones, often aimed at the power grid.
As of October 2026 there is no ceasefire. US-brokered talks continue, and short truces in April and May 2026 broke down within days.
Aug 24, 1991
Ukraine declares independence
On December 1, more than 90% of voters confirm it in a referendum.
Wikipedia ↗Dec 5, 1994
The Budapest Memorandum
Ukraine gives up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances from Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
UN Treaty Series ↗Feb 2014
The Revolution of Dignity
Three months of protests end with about 108 protesters killed and President Yanukovych removed by parliament.
Wikipedia ↗Mar 2014
Russia seizes Crimea
Russian troops without insignia take the peninsula, and Russia annexes it after a sham referendum. The UN General Assembly affirms Ukraine's borders, 100 votes to 11.
United Nations ↗Apr 2014
War in the Donbas
Russian-led forces seize towns in the east. By 2022 about 14,400 people have been killed, including about 3,400 civilians.
Wikipedia ↗Jul 17, 2014
Flight MH17
A missile shoots down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. In 2025 the UN aviation council holds Russia responsible.
Government of the Netherlands ↗Feb 24, 2022
The full-scale invasion
Russia attacks from the north, east and south, including an attempt to take Kyiv.
UN Human Rights ↗Apr 2, 2022
Kyiv region freed, Bucha revealed
Russian forces retreat from around Kyiv. The UN later documents 441 civilians killed in the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions, 73 of them in Bucha.
Ukrinform ↗Sep–Nov 2022
Kharkiv and Kherson liberated
A counteroffensive frees more than 300 settlements in the Kharkiv region in a week. The city of Kherson is liberated on November 11.
Ukrainska Pravda ↗Sep 30, 2022
A claimed annexation
Russia claims four regions it only partly holds: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. The UN General Assembly condemns it, 143 votes to 5.
United Nations ↗Mar 17, 2023
An arrest warrant for Putin
The International Criminal Court issues warrants for Vladimir Putin and Russia's children's rights commissioner over the deportation of Ukrainian children.
International Criminal Court ↗Jun 6, 2023
The Kakhovka dam is destroyed
Floods sweep towns downstream. The UN Secretary-General calls it a humanitarian, economic and environmental catastrophe.
UN News ↗2025–2026
Talks, but no peace
US-brokered talks in Alaska, Geneva and Abu Dhabi bring prisoner swaps. Short truces at Easter and in May 2026 break down within days.
Ukrainska Pravda ↗Oct 2026
The war goes on
Russia rejects a pause on strikes against the power grid. On October 17 alone, strikes kill at least eight people and cut power to more than a million.
Al Jazeera ↗
By the numbers
~19%
of Ukraine is occupied by Russia, an area about the size of Pennsylvania.
Russia Matters, Harvard Belfer Center (DeepState data), Oct 13, 2026 ↗17,605+
civilians killed, as verified by the UN. The real toll is likely considerably higher.
UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, Sep 30, 2026 ↗20,651
children documented as deported or forcibly displaced by Russia.
Bring Kids Back UA, Government of Ukraine, Oct 2026 ↗Follow what's happening
Read it from people who are there.
The Kyiv IndependentAn independent English-language newsroom based in Kyiv.kyivindependent.com DeepStateMapThe front line, mapped every day by Ukrainian open-source analysts.deepstatemap.live Institute for the Study of WarA non-partisan US think tank with a daily assessment of the war.understandingwar.org UN Human Rights in UkraineThe UN's monthly, verified count of civilians killed and injured.ukraine.ohchr.org UkrinformUkraine's national news agency, in English. State-owned.ukrinform.net war.ukraine.uaOfficial updates from Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.war.ukraine.ua
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3D map: front line, occupied and liberated land redrawn after DeepStateMap.live (Oct 19, 2026); land from Natural Earth. Region map: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via geoBoundaries. Ukraine's borders are shown as internationally recognized, including Crimea.