A deep dive on the weapons being used by both sides

Breaking down Western military weapons in Ukraine

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western military aid has helped dictate Ukraine's capability and strategy on the battlefield. From advanced ground-launched missiles to millions of rounds of ammunition, the supplies have been critical for Ukraine but force Western countries to tip-toe around the appearance of direct conflict with Russia. This visual deep-dive breaks down some of the most important military aid to date.

See the progress of the war in this interactive, visual timeline

Follow the progress Russian/Ukrainian War through this interactive map. Watch as events develop, get a daily overview of movements, and switch back and forth between different dates and time periods during the conflict. Results will change in real time and depending on all available information about troop movements and more.

The first year of war in Ukraine, in photos

The Russian/Ukrainian war grows more real in this series of photographs from Associated Press News. Showing the effects of war on soldiers and civilians alike, the photographs turn an unflinching eye on the injuries and fatalities wrought by the conflict, now in its second year after Russia's invasion in 2022.

The day Russia invaded Ukraine—an oral history

Experience the slow build-up to the Russian-Ukraine war, to the moment when it was clear Putin intended to invade, to the actual invasion and occupation in this oral history compiled by Politico. Multiple US and Western officials share their perspectives and thoughts on the war, how it's been conducted, and what can happen next.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

Ukraine's contested Donbas region: a visual explainer

Russia's heavily industrialized eastern Donbas region has been largely controlled by Russian separatists since 2014. Here's everything you need to know on the key strategic region.

Breaking down Europe's reliance on Russian energy (preinvasion)

One side effect of the Russian-Ukraine conflict is how it underscored European dependence on Russian natural gas and oil. This article, published days before the Russian attacks, outlines and illustrated how much gas and oil flows from Russia to Europe and the potential for either side to use sanctions to get what they want.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine killed thousands in the years before Russia's full invasion

From 2014 to 2022, fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region killed roughly 14,000 people and left many cities in ruins, setting the stage for Russia's 2022 invasion.

Prehistoric to present day Ukraine

Recognizing the abundance of information available on the current war between Ukraine and Russia, this video focuses on the history of the region. Encapsulating Ukraine's background, the viewer will gain a better grasp of how the modern state arose from a quilt of different ethnicities, noteworthy conflicts between various groups, and more.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine accelerated fractures in the rules-based international order

This piece examines how the Ukraine conflict intensified underlying divisions in the global order—between Western democracies and the Global South, and between rule-of-law norms and great-power politics.

The Russia-Ukraine war greatly affected the global food supply

Russia's invasion devastated Ukraine's agricultural sector, destroying farms, ports, and grain infrastructure and causing over $40B in losses. Disrupted exports fueled global food insecurity, while Moscow leveraged its grain exports to expand influence across the Global South.

Testing assumptions about the war in Ukraine, one year later

Two years ago, policymakers in Washington made multiple predictions about the course of the war between Russia and Ukraine. One year later this site revisited several common assumptions about the war—for example, that Russia would swiftly defeat Ukraine—and asks several experts if they came true, or not. But things can always change.

The global nuclear arms regime has slowly eroded over the past few decades

Both Russia and the United States have withdrawn from key Cold War-era arms-control pacts. Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine marked a turning point, as it suspended its participation in inspections and data-sharing agreements.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022

Russia launched a massive multifront assault from Belarus, Russia, and Crimea, aiming to seize Kyiv within days. Instead, Ukrainian forces repelled the advance, halting Moscow's plans for a rapid takeover.

Russia armed and backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine while denying involvement

Throughout the Donbas conflict, Russia covertly supplied weapons, training, and troops to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, even as the Kremlin publicly denied direct involvement in the fighting.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has destabilized safety and oversight at Chernobyl

Russian forces cut power and disabled monitoring of the decommissioned nuclear power plant in 2022, endangering operators at Chernobyl. In February 2025, a Russian drone struck the confinement structure—part of broader efforts to pressure Ukraine's energy infrastructure—punching a hole in the containment shell.

Anonymous' war against Russia

Anonymous has been waging a cyber war on Russia for invading Ukraine. CNBC takes a look at how effective the collective’s six main strategies have been.

'20 Days in Mariupol' is a firsthand look at a siege from the war's front lines

The award-winning documentary "20  Days in  Mariupol" follows a Ukrainian AP team trapped in Mariupol during the first weeks of Russia's 2022 invasion—documenting the bombing of a hospital, mass graves, and civilians under siege. Note: graphic content.

Putin claimed the invasion of Ukraine was to demilitarize and 'denazify' the country

In a 5,000-word historical treatise he wrote himself, President Vladimir Putin claimed the move was meant to restore Russia's historic lands. Many Western historians and global leaders described these narratives as false pretexts for aggression.

NATO condemned Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine

While Ukraine is not a member, NATO responded forcefully to the Russian invasion of the country in 2022. This page from the NATO website offers answers to frequently asked questions about NATO’s response to the invasion, specifically on how NATO is aiding Ukraine.

Stay up to date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war with BBC's 'Ukrainecast'

BBC's "Ukrainecast" offers ongoing coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, featuring on-the-ground reporting, expert analysis, and personal stories from Ukrainians living through the conflict.

Russian Roulette offered raw, on-the-ground reporting from Ukraine's 2014 war

VICE News' Russian Roulette series includes more than 100 on-the-ground episodes, filmed in real time during the 2014 conflict in Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk. Reporter Simon Ostrovsky was kidnapped by pro-Russian forces while documenting the war.

NATO leads cyber war games in Estonia

Estonia is host to one of the world’s largest annual interactive cybersecurity drills. Russia is always considered the main threat, but this year, the war in Ukraine has only added to the stakes.

Oil prices spiked when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022

The price of a barrel of Brent crude experienced volatility in the early 2020s. This chart shows price spikes at the beginning of the pandemic and again when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Nearly 90% of the world's 12,187 nuclear warheads are held by Russia and the United States.

Infographics explaining global terrorism trends

Our World in Data’s terrorism page details global trends in terrorism. Through interactive infographics, the site shows how the number of terrorist acts varies around the world and how it has changed over time. Sections investigate common definitions of terrorism, trends in global terrorism deaths, and the global distribution of terrorism. Additional segments highlight airline hijackings, public opinion, and media coverage of terrorism. Explore this website for an array of infographics on terrorism.

Russia's private military force, explained

Not all participants in the Russian/Ukraine war are enlisted or drafted soldiers. Some, like the Wagner Group, are private mercenaries. But their reach extends past Russia and Ukraine's borders. This eight-minute video explores the activities of this shadowy company and how they aid Vladimir Putin in his military endeavors.

Russia controls about 20% of Ukraine's territory

As of February 2026, Russian forces occupy roughly one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea and large parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, with front lines largely unchanged for months.

Visualizing the chemistry of nuclear weapons

Nuclear weapons have devastating effects, but the science of how they work is atomically small. There are two main types of nuclear reaction: fission and fusion. The fission bomb produces immense energy by splitting an atom, the result of firing a...

North Korea, in nine infographics

In recent decades, North Korea has spent nearly a third of its annual Gross Domestic Product on military spending, although data is not always forthcoming. This spending has funded major nuclear and missile projects as a means to deter attacks from...

Watch two Russian jets damage US drone over Black Sea

The Pentagon has released footage that appears to show a Russian aircraft intercepting a US Air Force drone in international airspace over the Black Sea.

Nuclear weapons in WWII

This 14-minute interactive documentary broaches the subject of the human cost of nuclear warfare. Comparing the number of deaths during World War II with the projected deaths of a nuclear exchange, the video can be paused to delve deeper into individual statistics, historical tidbits, and more data that shows the terrible price humanity would pay.

Exploring World War I technology on the battlefield

Industrialization brought massive changes to warfare during the Great War. Newly-invented killing machines begat novel defense mechanisms, which, in turn spurred the development of even deadlier technologies. Nearly every aspect of what we would consider modern warfare debuted on World War I battlefields. Starting with soldiers on horseback carrying lances and ending in poison gas, machine guns, and aerial battles, this gallery shows the first tools of modern warfare.

Language and regional differences are faults lines in Ukraine's conflict.

Ukraine once had the third-largest nuclear arsenal—and gave them all up by 1996.

Many countries remained neutral after Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, few nations outside the West imposed sanctions on Moscow. Major powers such as China, India, Brazil, and Turkey remained neutral, underscoring global divisions over how to confront Russian aggression.

An interactive overview of the human toll of the Yemen conflict

The conflict in Yemen shows no signs of stopping. Civilians continue to suffer from military hostilities and human rights violations. More than 20,000 civilians have been killed and injured by the fighting since March 2015, according to the Office...

Protests in Ukraine from 2013 to 2014 set the stage for the current conflict.

Note: graphic content.

Lessons from the 1973 energy crisis still echo in today’s geopolitical battles over oil

The video from the Economist highlights how energy supply disruptions can be weaponized—just as in 1973, today’s gas cutoffs (Russia throttling supplies to Europe after their invasion of Ukraine) reveal the ongoing importance of strategic energy resilience.

Modern Ukraine—caught between Europe and Russia

"Ukraine" has been translated by some scholars as meaning "borderlands". Indeed the country lies perfectly between Europe and Russia, while hosting a diverse collection of people of differing languages, cultures, and ethnicities, feeling affinity for those on the other sides of the country's borders. This article explores how this affects the actions and reactions of Ukrainians during the current conflict.

The Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested

In 1961, the Soviet Union detonated AN602—known as the Tsar Bomba—the largest nuclear explosion in history. Newly released Russian footage starkly illustrates the unmatched destructive power of this nuclear weapon.

Watch a guided video tour of the Museum of Malware Art

The site includes installations, sculptures, textiles, musical pieces, and galleries inspired by malicious software and related technologies, including the ILOVEYOU virus, encryption protocols from ransomware attacks, and the Industroyer malware framework used by Russia to cut power to Ukraine.

A collection of contemporary maps from World War II

Newspapers published detailed maps of the conflict in real-time. See different portrayals of the situation, ranging from propaganda maps to speculative maps about the war's outcome. The fascinating depictions reveal how maps can show us the aspirations and intentions of different players in a global conflict.

See how global nuclear arsenals surged—then shrank—by country since 1945

Worldwide nuclear stockpiles peaked at over 60,000 warheads in the mid‑1980s during the US-Soviet arms race. Today, about nine nations collectively maintain roughly 12,000 warheads, with Russia and the US still holding the majority.

Visualizing the consequence of data breaches

To get a sense of the grim state of data security today, take a look at this infographic from TruthFinder that explains why 2018 was the year of the data breach tsunami.

Mapping Russia's historical borders

This interactive map illustrates how the country’s borders have changed over the centuries, dating all the way back to the year 862, when the Varangian king Rurik assumed leadership of Ancient Rus. Scroll down to see how Russia vastly expanded its territory in the 16th and 17th centuries, and skip to 1991 to see which countries gained independence after the fall of the USSR.

The alliance operates under a "flexible response" doctrine—that is, proportionality

NATO countries' main deterrent against aggression is their ability to respond with nuclear weapons. This video from "The Infographics Show" outlines the purpose of this nuclear arsenal, NATO’s strategy to prevent attacks, and its plans in the event of escalation toward nuclear war.

An overview of North Korea’s military capabilities

With one of the world’s largest conventional military forces, North Korea is often perceived as a security threat. This multimedia backgrounder by CFR breaks down North Korea’s military capabilities. North Korea has the world’s...

Finland and Sweden joined NATO after Russia's invasion of Ukraine

In response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden abandoned decades of military neutrality to join NATO, marking a major shift in Europe's security landscape and expanding the alliance to Russia's borders.

Ukraine has received over $300B in Western military and financial aid

Although not a member of NATO, Ukraine has received substantial support from Western nations, primarily the United States and the European Union, totaling more than $300B in military, financial, and humanitarian assistance.