This material was produced as part of the project “Promoting Democratic Integrity and Governance in Ukraine”, implemented by the Civil Network OPORA with the support of the EU. Its content is the sole responsibility of the Civil Network OPORA and does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union.

 

Since 2014, over 20% of Ukrainian communities have experienced Russian occupation. The first occupied territory was Crimea — the seizure of the peninsula began on 20 February 2014. Since then, the number of territories seized by Russia has steadily increased, and their geographical scope has changed: it ranges from communities that were under occupation for a matter of days to those that have been living under such conditions for over a decade. Prolonged control by the Russian Federation poses a colossal challenge for local self-government and the future reintegration of these territories.

The list of territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation is set out in Order No. 376 of the Ministry for Development dated 28 February 2025. It is updated as necessary, but at least twice a month. The latest amendments to this document were made in December 2025.

The list is compiled as follows:

  • regional and Kyiv City military administrations prepare proposals for the inclusion of territories;
  • the Ministry for Development reviews these proposals and sends them to the Ministry of Defence for approval;
  • the Ministry of Defence cross-checks the data against the order issued by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces defining the areas of combat operations. If the data matches, the Ministry of Defence provides written approval;
  • the Ministry for Development issues an order approving the List.

The list itself is a table in a Word document, into which the name of the territory (name of the settlement, community, district, etc.) and the start and end dates of the occupation are entered. This structure makes it possible to see when a settlement was occupied. However, it also makes it difficult to get an overall picture, as data on a single community or district is scattered throughout the document.

OPORA analysed how many communities in Ukraine have been occupied and the duration of the Russian occupation.

Methodology

Our analysis is based on data regarding temporarily occupied territories in accordance with Order No. 376 of the Ministry for Development dated 28 February 2025, as amended as of 16 December 2025.

We grouped the data by geographical location, dates of occupation and liberation, and current status. The list of occupied territories contains 1,585 entries, ranging from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, districts and communities to individual settlements.

To generalise, we use the term “communities with occupied territories”, as settlements within a single community may have been occupied and liberated at different times or may still be under occupation. There are cases where not the entire territory of a community is occupied, but only part of it. For example, three villages in the Ochakiv community in Mykolaiv Oblast are located on the Kinburn Peninsula and are separated from Ochakiv by the Dnipro-Bug Estuary. On 24 February 2022, they were occupied by Russian troops.

All communities with fully or partially occupied territories are classified as “Occupied”.

How many communities are occupied?

In total, since 2014, the territories of 302 communities have been or are currently under occupation (excluding Crimea and the city of Sevastopol). Of this list, 130 communities have been liberated, whilst a further 172 remain fully or partially under occupation. As we can see, over 20% of Ukrainian communities have been subjected to Russian occupation.

 

 

Ten regions of Ukraine have been affected by the occupation. These are the territories of 49 communities in the Kherson region, of which 17 have been fully liberated. Two communities in the Donetsk region have been fully liberated, whilst the territories of a further 49 remain under occupation.

 

The Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk regions are the only ones without any fully liberated communities. 48 communities in Zaporizhzhia and 37 communities in Luhansk regions remain occupied or partially occupied.

The territories of 39 communities in Chernihiv region, 23 — in Kharkiv region, 21 — in Sumy region, and 17 — in Kyiv and Kharkiv regions have been fully liberated.

In Zhytomyr region, Russian troops occupied nine settlements in the Narodychi settlement community. All of them were liberated in April 2022.

It is worth noting that some communities were re-occupied after their liberation. In particular, parts of the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions are currently under re-occupation. In 2022, territories within the Ivankiv settlement community in the Kyiv region were liberated for a second time; these areas had been under occupation for between 6 and 33 days in total.

 

 

 

 

Long-term occupation

The territories of 34 communities in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts have been under occupation for almost 12 years. These include, for example, the Donetsk, Dokuchaievsk and Novoazovsk communities, which were seized in April 2014.

The territories of 124 communities have been under occupation for between 1,100 and 1,450 days (from 3 to almost 4 years). Most of these are located in the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which Russian troops invaded in February 2022. This list also includes the Ochakiv community in Mykolaiv Oblast, with occupied villages on the Kinburn Peninsula.

12 communities were occupied for less than 10 days. These are primarily the Velyka Pysarivka, Kyrykivka and Andriiashivka communities in Sumy Oblast, which were under occupation for just 2 days.

The duration of the occupation of settlements in the Kyiv Oblast ranges from 8 to 37 days. All its territories were liberated by April 2022. For example, the Slavutych community was occupied for 8 days, the Irpin community — for 29 days, and the Hostomel community — for 34 days.

However, even communities that were under occupation for just a few days continue to suffer from the war. For example, the Velyka Pysarivka community, which was occupied for two days, is located in the “grey zone” near the border with Russia. Its situation is described in detail in the report on the results of the Community Security Audit conducted by the Civil Network OPORA.

A full list of temporarily occupied territories can be found in the table.

The occupation of Ukrainian communities’ territories poses challenges for the functioning of local self-government and the subsequent reintegration of these territories. The roadmap for the functioning of democratic institutions emphasises the need to restore democratic processes in Ukraine. The occupation hinders the full functioning of local self-government bodies and creates new challenges for the state.

First published: Eastern edition