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Screenshot  A view of the map of theRusso-Ukrainian war on 29 February 2024 | |
Type of site | |
|---|---|
| Available in | 2 languages |
| Founded | 24 February 2022 |
| Country of origin | Ukraine |
| Created by | Roman Pohorilyi and Ruslan Mykula (Admins) |
| Founder(s) | Roman Pohorilyi and Ruslan Mykula |
| Employees | ≈ 100 (for Deep State UA) |
| Parent | Deep State UA |
| URL | deepstatemap |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Absent |
| Launched | February 24, 2022; 3 years ago (2022-02-24) |
| Current status | Active |
DeepStateMap.Live is anopen-source intelligence interactiveonline map of the military operations of theRussian andUkrainian armies during theRusso-Ukrainian war. The map was created on 24 February 2022, the day of the invasion, by the non-governmental and volunteer-led organizationDeep State UA. It is updated regularly to reflect the current situation on the frontline, in military formations, and other major events of the war.
Before the Russo-Ukrainian war, Deep State UA originally focused on posting content related to global news and politics on the messaging appTelegram, where they created their first updating online map of a global conflict during theTaliban offensive in 2021. After the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, DeepStateMap.Live separated itself from similar digital maps of the invasion after moving away from using a genericGoogle Maps background after a dispute withGoogle, allowing Deep State UA to design their own background and interactive map features. The map is currently sourced using data collected by theMinistry of Defense of Ukraine, as well as a blend of visual information and confirmations by other Ukrainian sources deemed reliable.
The map and other military analysis collected or made by Deep State UA has been cited by Ukrainian and international media outlets such as theBBC andUkrainska Pravda. By February 2024, the map has been viewed more than one billion times, and has become the most popular digital map of the Russo-Ukrainian war in Ukraine, and one of the most popular digital maps of Ukraine globally, receiving an average of 900,000 views daily in August 2025.
"DeepState" in the general sense is something unusual and non-governmental, where the most important powerful events take place. We wanted to be something unusual in the field of providing information, that's why this idea with the name arose. And to date, it has been quite successfully chosen, which is very gratifying.
The team which maintains the map today, Deep State UA, was created as a non-governmental organization in February 2020[1] by childhood friends Roman Pohorily, who was working on alaw degree, and Ruslan Mykula, who was working in marketing.[2][3] At this time, the organization focused on posting content on themessaging app softwareTelegram. This content often related to global news and politics,[1] including events such as theCOVID-19 pandemic,[P 1] theSyrian civil war,George Floyd protests, theSecond Nagorno-Karabakh War, and the2021 Taliban offensive.[2] It was during the 2021 Taliban offensive that the organization first experimented inmap making; creating a digital map with a frontline that could be updated as the conflict unfolded.[2] Mapadmin Mykula later recalled asking in an interview with the Ukrainian public broadcastSuspilne, "why not show the same thing in Ukraine?"[2]
In theprelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, especially during the fall of 2021,[3] the organization gradually shifted their focus towards entirely Ukrainian-specific news and analysis; reporting on hostilities and tracking the transfer of Russian military equipment and personnel to theRussia–Ukraine border.[1][4] The Telegram channel, which only had around 200 subscribers before, began to see growth from the change in focus.[3] A few hours before the beginning of the invasion, Deep State UA's Telegram channel exceeded 10,000 subscribers for the first time.[5] The Deep State UA Telegram channel saw another large uptick popularity[5] for their coverage and analysis during the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[1] The organization and its community at this time helped to refute large claims made early in the war by both sides; including the false sinking of theRussian frigate Admiral Makarov,[6] and the destruction of all of Ukraine'sBayraktar TB2s.[7]
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The online map of the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was created the day Russia started their invasion on 24 February 2022.[2][4] It was first developed usingGoogle Maps as the backdrop[2][8] because of the simplicity in drawing lines and sharing with others that came with the service.[1] By the end of March however,[1]Google blocked Deep State UA's use of their map for "violations of their rules of service", effectively shutting the website down.[8] While the exact violation committed was not clearly explained, Google appeared to have issued the block as they did not want to host a website which could be alegal liability,[2] especially after complaints from viewers toGoogle which stemmed from the map not always being updated with the most current information,[1] and several prior digital attacks byhackers in Russia.[4] After attempts over the following week to restore Google Maps on the website proved to be unsuccessful;[1] Deep State UA, along with a programmer who had recently joined, launched their own map on 27 March, which they called "DeepStateMAP", which is what is currently in use.[2][P 2][P 3] While the map became open to the public again on 26 April in an early state,[P 4] the change resulted in the loss of all information from before 3 April.[2]
After the change, the map greatly benefited from its new unique look from Google Maps and better functionality, making it more popular in Ukraine;[1] so that by June 2022, it had become the 23rd most visited website in the country.[4] The increase in server costs and drop in security that came with moving away from Google and running an independent map eventually lead to a majorDDOS attack on 10 August 2022 against the map by hackers from Russia and various nations ideologically aligned with them, including China, Iran, Brazil, and North Korea.[1][2] The map "suffered almost no [damage]," according to the Deep State UA team, and returned to normal functionality quickly.[1] The map's popularity increased and reach its peak viewership of 120,000 visitors in 30 minutes during therecapture of Izium andLyman by Ukrainian forces, with 7.9 million visitors being recorded by the end of the day,[2] up from the approximately three million views the map normally received each day according to its authors.[2] By October 2022, the map had been viewed more than 200 million times, making it the most popular digital map of the Russo-Ukrainian war in Ukraine,[2][4] and one of the most popular digital maps of Ukraine globally.[2]
Today, the Deep State UA team is headed by the founders Pohorilyi and Mykula, and is made up of approximately 100 paid employees and volunteers who work on their own time from home and communicate through Telegram, as the organization has no offices.[2][3] While the two main outlets of information used by Deep State UA are their map and Telegram,[9] they also report onYouTube andTwitter, but have a smaller following here because of the less amount of time they've been on the platforms.[1][2] Since gaining popularity, the organization itself is funded in part by the Ukrainian government, but mainly from public donations, according to Mykula.[3] Since 8 March 2022, the organization has raised viewer-gathered funds to help support Ukraine andits armed forces.[P 5] It had gathered a total of over 3 millionhryvnias (US$81,277.02) in donations by 22 April 2023.[P 6] On 19 February 2024, another major DDOS attack took place against the map, but was able to be resolved within 18 minutes of starting.[P 7] On 22 February 2024, the Deep State UA announced the map had reached one billion views since its launch,[P 8] and in March 2024 that their Telegram channel had reached over 700,000 subscribers.[9] In August 2025, it was reported the map receives around 900,000 views daily.[10]
As of December 2025[update], the map is available to readers in English andUkrainian,[2] and uses red to mark the areascurrently controlled by Russian forces, blue to mark the areas regained by Ukrainian forces less than two weeks previously or during theKursk incursion, green to mark the areas regained by Ukrainian forces more than two weeks previously, pink to mark the areas that have beencontrolled by Russian forces since before the war began, gray to mark the areas with unknown status, and light red to mark areas outside of Ukraine which currently are under anoccupation by Russia of other countries which could be considered controversial; such as forTransnistria,Karelia,Chechnya,Kaliningrad Oblast,Abkhazia,South Ossetia, parts ofPskov andLeningrad Oblasts which were considered as occupied Estonian and Latvian territories, and theKuril Islands.[11][P 9] When hovering over green regained areas; information from official sources, such as theGeneral Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, about the area's recapture is also sometimes displayed.[8] Areas depicted as being regained by Ukrainian forces are only displayed if Russian forces stayed in the area for an extended period of time, and were not just passing through.[2] Earlier versions of the map displayed dark red areas as black areas, but has since been re-colored.[8][11]
Interactive features of the map include the ability totoggle icons representing the location of known Russian andBelarusian units and naval fleets,[a] alongside distinguishing arrows displaying their direction of attack.[4][11] Icons to display Russian headquarters, airfields, major railroads under their control, and Russian-made trenches and fortifications in and outside Ukraine can also be displayed.[3] Buttons located on the left side of the screen also display various information when pressed, including a statistics chart of Russian losses, a map layer of theweather in and around Ukraine,background radiation across Ukraine, the range of nuclear weapons, the range of various forms of weapons, and the locations ofmystery fires in Russia and Ukraine within the last 48 hours.[3][P 10] The feature to view the range of weapon systems in particular has been used by mayor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast townMezhova, Volodymyr Zrazhevsky, to gauge the threat of Russian strikes.[10] Formerly, there was also a "pathogen mode" which displayed a blurred image of the current Russian troop concentrations in and around Ukraine.[12]
On 2 July 2024, a major update to the map was launched nicknamed "DeepStateMap 2.0", which included a graphics update, added an offline mode, ability to toggle animations to reduce loading times, ability to draw on the map, ability to use keyboard shortcuts on computers, new weapons to view the range of, and the ability to copy coordinates by clicking on the center of the map.[13]
Deep State UA launched their first mobile version of the map onGoogle Play on 2 March 2023.[14][15] While the release was intended to be done alongside an app foriOS, the organization faced difficulties withApple, as they claimed the map had characteristics which could be offensive against Russians.[15] Despite this, the map released on iOS about two months later on 29 April.[P 11]
On 4 November 2024, Deep State UA launched an interactive map to track the voting results in each state during the2024 US presidential election in real time.[16] On 22 April 2025, an interactive map of Crimea was released to showcase the liberation of theTaurida Soviet Socialist Republic by theUkrainian People's Army andImperial German Army in April 1918 from the Bolsheviks during theCrimea Operation.[17]
For example, [some soldiers] say: "Can you not mark this zone or mark it red?" That's what happened to us withIzium forest. Then other soldiers wrote to us: "We are sitting here in red, redraw." And I say: "Your colleagues on the flank asked for it to be red. We know what the situation is." We are asked - we fulfill. Because safety comes first.
According to map admin Pohorilyi, the sources used to put together the map include geolocated photo and video evidence published on social media,[2] followers near the frontline who get in touch,[2][4] and hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers from different units, who mainly are used to confirm or deny certain secure information.[2][10] On 13 March 2024, this corporation with the Ukrainian military was increased after aMemorandum of cooperation was signed between Deep State UA and theMinistry of Defense of Ukraine to ensure the exchange of current information to improve the map's accuracy.[9] For information gathered solely by people who claim to be in the area, the map often waits until several similar reports are made if no visual evidence[2] or confirmation by theGeneral Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is available.[4] Due to priorpropaganda and exaggerated claims, Russian sources are not taken into account when compiling the map, according to map admin Pohorilyi.[2] Of the approximately 100 people who work for Deep State UA, 60 are tasked with verification of sources.[2]
On the one hand, it's great that we have this opportunity, trust, reputation, and that we were able to prevent all this, to draw attention to it. On the other hand, it is nonsense when projects like ours are needed to talk about these problems and prevent catastrophic consequences in this way.
Being anOpen Source Intelligence website and due to security reasons, the map updates with a slight delay in information of up to 2–3 days.[18] As such, Deep State UA has cautioned against using the map to plan evacuation routes, combat areas, or undertaking in other sensitive and highly specific activities.[4][8] In terms of OSINT reasons, in addition to natural delay, the gray zone on most lines of contact have increased as a result of Ukrainian manpower shortages and both sides increased use ofdrone warfare, making precise frontlines harder to definitely map.[18] In terms of security reasons, delays to the map are made in situations where doing so would compromise Ukrainian positions on the ground, as seen during the first two days of theKursk campaign, and when Ukrainian forces retake positions in frontline areas other Russian forces have not yet realized.[2][10] While some Ukrainian soldiers have been displeased by the map for sometimes being too quick to update in these situations,[19] Mykula claimed the Ukrainian military has commended the map for its balance in displaying information, "not to rush ahead to say too much and not to fall far behind".[2] In relation to this, on 23 December 2024, Deep State UA reported they had received criticism from officials for displaying the encirclement of Ukrainian forces inMakarivka andUspenivka on the map, something officially denied by theKhortytsia operational-strategic group. In response, Deep State UA stated "not all commanders-in-chief like the truth".[20] Further denial of a map update came on 12 August 2025 during theDobropillia offensive, where the Khortytsia operational-strategic group (now Dnipro operational-strategic group) denied the capture of any territory during offensive's initial breakthrough, something displayed on the map.[21] The attention gained by the map's display of the breakthrough was later at least partially credited with the Ukrainian military's decision to deploy elite troops to contain the assault.[10][18]
The map's use ofopen-source intelligence in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as opposed to relying solely on military reports and on-the-ground journalism, has made it so information from the frontline can be relayed to the public as soon as Deep State UA sees fit.[10] These near-instant updates in frontline information have made the map a staple for many Ukrainians, especially civilians and soldiers near the frontline.[10] Likewise, the map has been referred to as "the undisputed leader [and] one of the most trusted sources" of those mapping the war byThe Kyiv Independent,[18] and "the go-to map in Ukraine" by military expert at theForeign Policy Research Institute, Rob Lee.[10]
Information produced by Deep State UA has also been cited by various media, including the Ukrainian TV news channel24 Kanal,[22] the British news broadcasterBBC News,[23] the Ukrainian English-language online newspaperEuromaidan Press,[24][25] the American business magazineForbes,[26] the American think tankForeign Policy Research Institute,[10] the Ukrainian online newspaperUkrainska Pravda,[27] and the Polish Russian-language television networkVot Tak.[28] On November 25, 2025, theprediction platformPolymarket also briefly used the map as an overlay to their own "Polyglobe", which allows users to place bets on various global conflicts with visualization of where they were taking place. The following day, Deep State UA made a formal complaint on X stating their use of the map was unauthorized, and the overlay was removed shortly after.[29][30]
The map has been cited by Ukrainian officials, including associate professor at theKyiv School of Economics,Maksym Obrizan [wd],[31] mayor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast townMezhova, Volodymyr Zrazhevsky,[10] adviser of theOffice of the President of Ukraine,Oleksii Arestovych,[2] theMinister of Defense of Ukraine,Oleksii Reznikov,[2][32] and theCommander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,Oleksandr Syrskyi.[10]
News articles about the map itself or interviews with its creators have been notably conducted by theMinistry of Defence of Ukraine,[4] theUkrainian Territorial Defense Forces,[33]24 Kanal,[8]Kyiv Independent,[18]Lrytas.lt,[34]Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,[1]Suspilne,[2]The New York Times,[10] and theUkrainian Independent Information Agency.[35]
The regions in the treatment group have been identified using the DeepState Map but are consistent with other sources and include […]
