Map Wars — Russians and Ukrainians Are Looking at Totally Different War Maps

This is the frontline situation that most Ukrainians are looking at and trying to sell (by Liveuamap.com):

This is the frontline situation that many Russians are looking at and trying to believe (by Readovka):

Clearly, the two do not inhabit the same reality.

Also, both camps are engaging in wishful thinking. The reality is somewhere between the two pictures being offered.

For more reality-based cartography of the war I recommend ISW;

#Russian forces in #Ukraine may have entered a possibly brief operational pause as they prepare to resume operations against #Kyiv, #Kharkiv, #Mykolayiv, and possibly #Odesa in the next 24-48 hours. Read the latest from @TheStudyofWar and @criticalthreats:https://t.co/5neCMG8col pic.twitter.com/xGBXtwtJm2

— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) March 5, 2022

and Jomini of the West;

1/ Ukrainian Theater of War, Day 10: Today saw Russian forces transition to another operational pause. It is likely this period will be used to consolidate gains, redistribute forces, and integrate new resources that have arrived in theater. #UkraineUnderAttaсk #UkraineRussiawar pic.twitter.com/iE0mBLQGGj

— Jomini of the West (@JominiW) March 6, 2022

as well as Dragon First, South Front, and Geroman:

#Ukraine #Russia #LPR #DPR
Situation Map Update#Mariupol #Luhansk
RF LPR DPR Forces gained ground (the last 12h)
-> pic.twitter.com/wU18kZDBHG

— — GEROMAN — 👀 – (@GeromanAT) March 6, 2022

The first two are pro-Ukrainian and the last three are pro-Russian.

Ukraine War Map is also very decent (especially in presentation), but its conservatism now that video footage has become rarer means it is increasingly falling behind the real picture:

#BREAKING Map of the approximate situation in Ukraine as of 23:00 UTC 05/03/22. #UkraineCrisis #UkraineUnderAttack #Kyiv #Kharkiv #Odesa pic.twitter.com/1ktXw6jqDQ

— Ukraine War Map (@War_Mapper) March 5, 2022

Updated South + East Ukraine 1800 UTC today. Notable: 144th MRD, possibly suffering severe losses. Depicted them as the force that was driving on Izyum, but not 100% sure yet. Unit locations/IDs approximate/subject to change. Added assessment boxes to both maps. Now in higher res pic.twitter.com/WyEVkhU9zv

— Henry Schlottman (@HN_Schlottman) March 6, 2022

If you drill deeper ISW and Jomini of the West also have daily updates on the course of the fighting. There is obvious bias there in how the Russian approach to cities is spun, but the information on the military situation itself is good.

4/ Northeast AO assessment is detailed in this chart. Key take away, almost no activity in this area today. Russian forces continued limited strikes of Chernihiv. Russian forces are 25km from the center of Kyiv in the east, they will need more troops to advance further. pic.twitter.com/szcgEi2ycI

— Jomini of the West (@JominiW) March 6, 2022

South Front is another place for such daily updates and their map is actually too conservative in places even though they are Russian.

Between Readovka and South Front always go with South Front. They have tons of experience in this, this isn’t their first rodeo.

Newcomers like Readovka are susceptible to wishful thinking, overexcitement and false claims, and Livemap.ua appears to be heavily self-censoring in order to keep the morale up. (Readovka might be engaging in overoptimism for similar patriotic reasons.)

Map by the very experienced South Front:

Very good work. Despite being Russian they actually underestimate how far the Russians have gotten in the northeast. (Albeit while leaving many pockets in their rear.)