• An animated map shows Russia's territorial progression and losses after two months of war.
  • At one point, Putin's forces controlled a stretch of territory in Ukraine's north, east, and south. 
  • Ukraine's counteroffensive pushed Russia from the north, as it focuses on the eastern Donbas region.

An animated map produced by a pair of military think tanks shows where and when Russia's invasion of the country stalled before President Vladimir Putin's forces pivoted their offensive to the east after failing to capture Kyiv. 

The 44-second time-lapse — released by the Institute for the Study of War and Critical Threats — details the ebb and flow of Russian advances and Ukrainian counteroffensives from February 24 to April 24. 

When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine on February 24, Russian troops initially occupied Crimea, Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, and small pockets of territory along the northern border. 

Ahead of the February 24 invasion, the Kremlin believed that Russian forces could secure a quick and decisive victory, anticipating that Kyiv would fall in a matter of days, according to Western intelligence officials. 

By early March, Russia occupied a long stretch of territory along Ukraine's northern border — including around the capital city Kyiv — and went on to control connected border territory in Ukraine's north, east, and south by the end of the month. 

But Russian forces weren't able to break through to Kyiv, despite bombarding the city and its suburbs. In April, Ukrainian counteroffensives pushed Russian forces away from the country's north after they failed to take Kyiv.

At the time, the Pentagon said Putin had not achieved any strategic objectives. 

"The Ukrainians have won the battle for Kyiv," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday after returning from Kyiv. "We saw mile after mile of Ukrainian countryside — territory that, just a couple of months ago, the Russian government thought that it could seize in a matter of weeks. Today — firmly Ukraine's." 

At the end of the time-lapse, which shows the war's latest developments as of late April, with significant fighting now focused on Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

NATO and the West had warned that Russia was pivoting to launch a renewed offensive in the Donbas after the failures in the north, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that the war officially entered a new phase. 

Read the original article on Business Insider