Ukraine: 4 maps show Russia's advance in first week of war; how Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson were encircled

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its second week, here are 4 maps to explain how the Russian army has progressed through Ukrainian territory, and how major cities have been encircled.

On February 24, the day that the war began, Moscow sent troops into Russia from three sides - the north, south, and east. According to maps published by AFP and sourced from the Institute for the Study of War, the major points of invasion were to the north of Ukraine's capital Kyiv, the border near Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv, and near the major port city of Kherson, near Crimea.

Two days later, on February 26 evening, Russian forces had surged forward to reach Kyiv with a large swath of land coming under Russian control. The Russian military also surrounded Kharkiv while also advancing in the region between Kyiv and Kharkiv, to possibly clinch the capital city in a pincer movement. Meanwhile, in the south, Russian forces completely encircled Kherson, and also moved towards Berdyansk to the east.

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By the night of February 28, the fifth day of the war, area under Russian control thinned in the region lying northwest of Kyiv. In the south, Russian troops between Kherson and Berdyansk also surged upwards towards the Kakhovka reservoir.

By March 2, when the war completed a week, area under Russian control seems to have thinned slightly on Kyiv's west and north, while there was a fresh surge at the northern border near Novhorod Siverskyy. Meanwhile, a fresh Russian advance was seen towards the port city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea coast.