DeepStateMap.Live

DeepStateMap.Live is an interactive open-source intelligence online map run by the non-governmental and volunteer-led Deep State UA, which focuses primarily on the military operations of the Russian and Ukrainian armies in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Created the day of the invasion 24 February 2022 by Roman Pohorily and Ruslan Mykula, the map has near-daily updates to reflect changes on the frontline, changes in military formations, and other major events of the war such as the sinking of the Moskva.

DeepStateMap.Live
Screenshot
A digital map of Ukraine with areas occupied by Russia on 22 April 2023 in red, and areas regained by Ukraine in green
A view of the map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 22 April 2023
Type of site
Open Source Intelligence digital mapping
Available in2 languages
List of languages
English, Ukrainian
Founded24 February 2022
Created byRoman Pohorily and Ruslan Mykula (Admins)
Founder(s)Roman Pohorily and Ruslan Mykula
Employees≈ 100 (Deep State UA as a whole)
ParentDeep State UA
URLdeepstatemap.live
CommercialNo
RegistrationAbsent
LaunchedFebruary 24, 2022 (2022-02-24)
Current statusActive

The map and other military analysis collected or made by Deep State UA has been cited by multiple Ukrainian and international media outlets. As of October 2022, the map has been viewed more than 200 million times, and has become the most popular digital map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Ukraine, and one of the most popular globally. Specifically in Ukraine, the map in June 2022 was the 23rd most visited website in the country, receiving approximately three million views each day.

History

Deep State UA

" "DeepState" in the general sense is something unusual and non-governmental, where the most important powerful events take place. We wanted to be something unusual in the field of providing information, that's why this idea with the name arose. And to date, it has been quite successfully chosen, which is very gratifying. "

Deep State UA team, October 2022 interview with Radio Free Europe in response to the question "Why was the project called that?"[1]

The organization which hosts the map, Deep State UA, was founded in February 2020[1] by Roman Pohorily and Ruslan Mykula,[2] on the messaging app Telegram, making their first post on 1 March 2020.[P 1] At this time, the organization focused on posting content relating to global news and politics,[1] including events such as the COVID-19 pandemic,[P 2] Syrian civil war, George Floyd protests, Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, and 2021 Taliban offensive.[3] It was during the 2021 Taliban offensive that the organization first experimented in map making; creating a digital map with a frontline that would update as the conflict unfolded, ending with the fall of Kabul.[3] Map admin Ruslan Mykula would later recall asking in an interview with Suspilne, "why not show the same thing in Ukraine?"[3]

In the prelude to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the organization gradually shifted their focus towards what would eventually be entirely Ukrainian-specific news and analysis; reporting on hostilities and tracking the transfer of Russian military equipment and personnel to the Russia-Ukraine border.[1][4] A few hours before the beginning of the invasion, Deep State UA's Telegram channel exceeded ten thousand subscribers for the first time.[P 3]

At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there was another large uptick in the Telegram channel's popularity[P 3] for their coverage and analysis of the conflict live as it unfolded.[1] The organization and its community helped to clarify and debunk misinformation that sprung up in the fog of war especially near the beginning of the invasion;[5] such as the false sinking of the Russian frigate Admiral Makarov,[6] and the destruction of all of Ukraine's Bayraktar TB2s.[7]

DeepStateMap.Live
A destroyed green Russian vehicle
A destroyed Russian vehicle after the recapture of Izium, which led the map to reach its peak viewership of 120,000 visitors in 30 minutes

The online map became active the day Russia started their invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022,[3][4] and was first developed using Google Maps as the backdrop[3][8] because of the simplicity in drawing lines and sharing with others that came with the service.[1] By the end of March however,[1] Google blocked Deep State UA's use of their map for "violations of their rules of service", effectively shutting the website down.[8] While the exact violation committed is not fully clear, it is believed that Google issued the block as they did not want to host a website which could be a legal liability on one of their sites;[3] especially after complaints from viewers to Google arose that the map was not being updated with the most current (often unconfirmed and often false) information,[1] and several prior digital attacks by hackers in Russia.[4] After several attempts over the following week to restore Google Maps on the website proved to be unsuccessful;[1] Deep State UA, along with a programmer who had recently joined, launched their own map on 27 March, which they called "DeepStateMAP", which is what is currently in use.[3][P 4][P 5] While the map would become open to the public again on 26 April in an early state,[P 6] the change in maps unfortunately resulted in the loss of all information from before 3 April.[3]

After the change though, the map would greatly benefit from its new unique look from Google Maps and better functionality, making it more popular in Ukraine.[1] The increase in server costs and drop in security that came with moving away from Google and running an independent map would eventually lead to a major DDOS attack on 10 August 2022 against the map by hackers from Russia and various nations ideologically aligned with them; including China, Iran, Brazil, and North Korea.[1][3] The map fortunately "suffered almost no [damage]," according to the Deep State UA team, and has since run without any major issues.[1] The map's popularity would increase and reach its peak viewership of 120,000 visitors in 30 minutes during the recapture of Izium and Lyman by Ukrainian forces, with 7.9 million visitors being recorded by the end of the day,[3] up from the approximately three million views the map normally receives each day according to its authors.[3]

Present day

The Deep State UA team is headed by the founders Roman Pohorily and Ruslan Mykula, and is made up of approximately 100 volunteers who work arbitrarily from home and communicate through Telegram, as the organization has no offices.[3] Alongside their map and Telegram channel, Deep State UA also broadcasts on YouTube and Twitter, but has received less success because of the less time they have been on the platforms.[1][3] As of October 2022, the map has been viewed more than 200 million times, and has become the most popular digital map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Ukraine,[3][4] and one of the most popular globally.[3] Specifically in Ukraine, the map in June 2022 was the 23rd most visited website in the country.[4]

Fundraising

Since 8 March 2022,[P 7] Deep State UA has also raised funds, entirely gathered by its viewers,[5] to help support the war in Ukraine.[P 7] On 22 April 2023, Deep State UA announced on Telegram that they had received over 3 million hryvnias (US$81,277.02) in donations since beginning their collection, which they announced would be put towards providing various aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[P 8]

Map characteristics
A digital map of Ukraine with areas occupied by Russia on 25 April 2022 in red, and areas regained by Ukraine in blue and green
An older version of the map on 25 April 2022 in Ukrainian, depicting the old color scheme

As of April 2023, the map is available to readers in English and Ukrainian,[3] and uses red to mark the areas currently controlled by Russian forces, blue to mark the areas regained by Ukrainian forces less than two weeks ago, green to mark the areas regained by Ukrainian forces more than two weeks ago, dark red to mark the areas that have been controlled by Russian forces since before the war began, gray to mark the areas with unknown status, and light pink to mark areas outside of Ukraine which currently are under an occupation by Russia which could be considered controversial; such as for Transnistria, Karelia, and the Kuril islands.[9][P 9] When hovering over green regained areas; information from official sources, such as the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, about the area's recapture is also sometimes displayed.[8] Areas depicted as being regained by Ukrainian forces are only displayed if Russian forces stayed in the area for an extended period of time, and were not just passing through.[3] Earlier versions of the map displayed dark red areas as black areas, but has since been re-colored.[8][9]

The map also includes icons representing the location of known Russian units and fleets, alongside distinguishing arrows displaying their direction of attack.[4][9] Icons for Russian headquarters and airfields in and outside of Ukraine are also displayed.[4][9] Buttons located on the left side of the screen display visualized information on the range of various forms of artillery, the range of nuclear weapons, the locations of mystery fires in Russia and Ukraine within the last 48 hours,[P 10] and pathogen mode which displays a blurred image of the current Russian troop concentrations in and around Ukraine, and was developed alongside the automated military data processing system Griselda.[10]

Versions

Deep State UA, after a little more than one year of running the map solely as a website, launched its first app version on Google Play on 2 March 2023.[11] In less than ten days, the app reached 100,000 downloads, and appeared at top spot for free applications on Google Play for a brief period of time on 5 March 2023.[12] Attempts to display the app on Apple Store currently are ongoing.[P 11]

Sourcing

According to map admin Roman Pohorily, various sources are used to put together the displayed map.[3] These sources include photo and video evidence published on social media,[3] followers near the frontline who get in touch,[3][4] and the elements of the Ukrainian military, who mainly are used to confirm or deny "certain secure information".[3] For information gathered solely by people who claim to be in the area, the map often waits until several similar reports are made if no visual evidence[3] or confirmation by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is available.[4] Due to prior propaganda and exaggerated claims, Russian sources are also not taken into account when putting together the map.[3] Of the approximately 100 people who work for Deep State UA, 60 are tasked with verification of sources alone.[3]

Factuality

" For example, [some soldiers] say: "Can you not mark this zone or mark it red?" That's what happened to us with Izium forest. Then other soldiers wrote to us: "We are sitting here in red, redraw." And I say: "Your colleagues on the flank asked for it to be red. We know what the situation is." We are asked - we fulfill. Because safety comes first. "

Ruslan Mykula, October 2022 interview with Suspilne[3]

Being an Open Source Intelligence website,[5][4] the map's authors have noted that the map is updated with a slight delay in information, and can only be updated when new information becomes available.[4][8] It has been cautioned by the map's creators for this reason not to use the map when planning evacuation routes, combat areas, or other sensitive and highly specific activities.[4][8] The authors have also delayed updating the map in situations where updating could potentially compromise Ukrainian positions on the ground, such as in situations where Ukrainian forces take positions in areas Russian forces have not yet realized.[3] Map admin Ruslan Mykula claimed that the Ukrainian military has commended the map for its balance in displaying information, "not to rush ahead to say too much and not to fall far behind".[3]

Media attention and use
Headshot photo of Reznikov in 2019
Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov in 2019, who has previously referred to the map[13]

The map, military analysis, and other information created or collected by Deep State UA have been cited by similar agencies and organizations; including the Ukrainian-based 24 Kanal,[14] Ukrainska Pravda,[15] Apostrophe TV,[16] Defense Express,[7][17] News Factory,[18] Radio NV,[19] Texty.org.ua,[6] and Ukraine 24.[20][21] Deep State UA's work has also been cited by foreign organizations; including Forbes[22] NBC News,[23] and Vot Tak.[24] Most notably, the map has been cited by the Center for Countering Disinformation,[25] adviser of the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksii Arestovych[3] and the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov.[3][13]

News articles about the map itself or interviews with its creators have been conducted by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine,[4] the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces,[2][26] 24 Kanal,[8] Defence Blog,[5] Lrytas.lt,[27] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,[1] Suspilne,[3] Ukrainian Independent Information Agency,[28] Fakty,[9] First Western,[29] and Ukraine 24.[30]

See also

References

Primary
  1. "За словами очільника МВС Туреччини Сулеймана Сойлу кількість сирійців, що направилися нелегально переходити кордон перевищила вже 76 тисяч. Не за горами нова міграційна криза в Європі" [According to the head of the Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs, Suleiman Soylu, the number of Syrians who went to cross the border illegally has already exceeded 76,000. A new migration crisis in Europe is not far off.]. Telegram (in Ukrainian). Deep State UA. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  2. "Олімпіада в Токіо може пройти без глядачів" [The Olympics in Tokyo can be held without spectators]. Telegram (in Ukrainian). Deep State UA. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  3. "Deep State UA | Subscribers number growth". uk.tgstat.com. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  4. "Друзі, ситуація по карті наступна" [Friends, the situation on the map is as follows]. Telegram (in Ukrainian). Deep State UA. 27 March 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  5. "Товариство, наша карта відновлює роботу!" [Society, our map is working again!]. Telegram (in Ukrainian). Deep State UA. 27 March 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  6. "DeepStateMAP | Мапа війни в Україні" [DeepStateMAP | Map of the war in Ukraine] (in Ukrainian). Deep State. 26 April 2022. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  7. "Звіт щодо отриманих коштів та їх використання на потреби ЗСУ та ТрО Надіслати донат" [A report on the funds received and their use for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense Send a donation]. Google Sites (in Ukrainian). Deep State UA. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  8. "Друзі, вчора ми завершили збір на 3 000 000 грн для наших бійців на передовій!" [Friends, yesterday we completed the collection of UAH 3,000,000 for our soldiers on the front line!]. Telegram (in Ukrainian). Deep State UA. 22 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  9. "DeepStateMAP | Map of the war in Ukraine [Map Legend]". Deep State UA. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  10. "DeepStateMAP | Map of the war in Ukraine [Left Sidebar]". Deep State UA. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  11. "Єдиний офіційний застосунок DeepStateMap досягнув позначки у 100 тисяч встановлень в Google Play" [The only official DeepStateMap application has reached the mark of 100,000 installs on Google Play]. Telegram (in Ukrainian). Deep State UA. 11 March 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.

Secondary
  1. Horbatenko, Serhii (23 October 2022). "DeepState: хто та як робить популярну мапу війни в Україні" [DeepState: who and how makes the popular map of the war in Ukraine] (in Ukrainian). Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  2. "Як працює найпопулярніша українська карта бойових дій «DeepState UA»?" [How does the most popular Ukrainian combat map "DeepState UA" work?]. Telegram (in Ukrainian). Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  3. Galka, Nikita (22 October 2022). "Автори Deep State — про карту боїв, проблеми з Google та роботу з військовими" [The authors of Deep State - about the map of battles, problems with Google and working with the military] (in Ukrainian). Suspilne. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  4. Pecherskyi, Anton (22 June 2022). "Побачити війну немов на долоні: інтерактивна мапа боїв deepstatemap.live" [See the war as if in the palm of your hand: the interactive battle map deepstatemap.live] (in Ukrainian). Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  5. Malyasov, Dylan (18 April 2023). "OSINT experts cut the fog of war in Ukraine". Defence Blog. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  6. Deep State UA (7 May 2022). "«Адмірала Макарова», найімовірніше, не підбивали. Без офіційних підтверджень наявні докази сумнівні" ["Admiral Makarov", most likely, was not defeated. Without official confirmation, the available evidence is questionable]. texty.org.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  7. "Куди зникли відео з Bayraktar TB2: чи вдалося рашистам знищити ці "бойові пташки"" [Where did the Bayraktar TB2 videos go: did the Russians manage to destroy these "warbirds"] (in Ukrainian). Defense Express. 5 June 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  8. Goda, Mykhailo (2 April 2022). "В Україні запустили карту війни DeepStateMap, яка оновлюється в режимі реального часу" [In Ukraine, the DeepStateMap war map was launched, which is updated in real time] (in Ukrainian). 24 Kanal. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  9. Zabozhko, Tatiana. "Онлайн-карта бойових дій в Україні: де точаться бої" [Online map of hostilities in Ukraine: where the battles are taking place] (in Ukrainian). Fakty. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  10. "Проєкт з "Deep State UA"" [Project from "Deep State UA"]. griselda.com (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  11. "DeepStateMap". Google Play (in Ukrainian). Deep State UA. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  12. "Android Apps on Google Play". Google Play. 5 March 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  13. Oleksii Reznikov [@oleksiireznikov] (5 October 2022). "#UAarmy's autumn offensive, day by day. While the "russian parliament" is intoxicated from the futile attempts at annexation, our soldiers continue moving forward" (Tweet). Retrieved 16 April 2023 – via Twitter.
  14. ЗСУ підійшли до Осколу, просування на півдні / Співзасновник DeepState ПОГОРІЛИЙ про карту боїв [The Armed Forces approached Oskol, advancing in the south / Co-founder of DeepState POGHORLYY about the battle map] (YouTube) (in Ukrainian). 24 Kanal. 13 September 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  15. Tyshchenko, Kateryna (26 April 2022). "У Придністров'ї війська РФ переведені в повну бойову готовність – зведення Генштабу" [In Transnistria, the Russian Federation's troops have been put on full combat readiness - the establishment of the General Staff] (in Ukrainian). Ukrainska Pravda. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  16. СИТУАЦІЯ НА ФРОНТАХ: всі переправи ворога під вогневим контролем ЗСУ // ПОГОРІЛИЙ [SITUATION ON THE FRONTLINES: all enemy crossings are under fire control of the Armed Forces] (YouTube) (in Ukrainian). Apostrophe TV. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  17. "Пораховано розподіл сил армії РФ по напрямах: де концентрація БТГр рашистів найбільша та найменша і чому це важливо" [The distribution of the forces of the Russian army by direction was calculated: where the concentration of BTGr rashists is the largest and smallest and why it is important] (in Ukrainian). Defense Express. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  18. Penkhyo, Vasyl (11 September 2022). Де почався НАСТУП РОСІЯН? Вони ЗАХОПИЛИ новий населений пункт. ЗСУ вирушили на кордон [Where did the RUSSIAN ATTACK begin? They CAPTURED a new settlement. The Armed Forces went to the border] (YouTube) (in Ukrainian). News Factory. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  19. Лиман звільнений. Кацапи або в землі, або в пакетах – Роман Погорілий [Lyman is released. Katsaps either in the ground or in bags - Roman Pohorily] (YouTube) (in Ukrainian). Radio NV. 2 October 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  20. Pekhnyo, Vasyl (30 May 2022). Повний РОЗГРОМ орків на Півдні. Два нових НАСТУПИ. Росіяни ПРОРВАЛИ оборону в місто - Україна 24 [A complete DEFEAT of the orcs in the South. Two new ATTACKS. The Russians BREAK through the defenses in the city - Ukraine 24] (YouTube) (in Ukrainian). Ukraine 24. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  21. Pekhnyo, Vasyl; Pohoriliy, Roman (11 September 2022). Де почався НАСТУП РОСІЯН? Вони ЗАХОПИЛИ новий населений пункт. ЗСУ вирушили на кордон [Where did the RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE begin? They CAPTURED a new settlement. The Armed Forces went to the border] (YouTube) (in Ukrainian). Ukraine 24. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  22. Reshchuk, Kateryna; Grebenyuk, Serhii (23 June 2022). "«Якщо всюди відступати, скоро будемо битися в Карпатах». Чи можливе оточення Сєверодонецька та Лисичанська. Інтерв'ю Сергія Гайдая" ["If we retreat everywhere, we will soon fight in the Carpathians." Is the encirclement of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk possible? Serhiy Gaidai's interview] (in Ukrainian). Forbes. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  23. Richard Engel [@RichardEngel] (23 March 2022). "Ukraine making big gains around kyiv. I got a brief (with an unclassified map) from two top municipal officials" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 April 2023 – via Twitter.
  24. Chernukhin, Evgeny (11 July 2022). "Пока русские отдыхают, HIMARS меняют правила игры. Главное за неделю войны" [While the Russians are resting, HIMARS are changing the rules of the game. The main thing for the week of the war] (in Russian). Vot Tak. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  25. Deep State UA [@Deepstate_UA] (7 June 2022). "Як то кажуть, головне щоб на загальну користь було" [As they say, the main thing is for the common good] (Tweet) (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 16 April 2023 – via Twitter.
  26. "– Як працює найпопулярніша українська карта бойових дій «DeepState UA»? – Це проект для цивільних чи військових? – Звідки беруться данні та як проєкт фінансується? Розповідають засновники проекту «DeepState» Роман Погорілий та Руслан Микула" [- How does the most popular Ukrainian combat map "DeepState UA" work? - Is this a project for civilians or military? - Where does the data come from and how is the project financed? The founders of the "DeepState" project, Roman Pohorily and Ruslan Mykula, tell the story.]. Facebook (in Ukrainian). Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  27. "Internete pradėjo veikti Ukrainos kuruojamas interaktyvus žemėlapis, kuriame operatyviai atnaujinama informacija apie Ukrainos-Rusijos karo metu užgrobtas bei atkovotas teritorijas" [An interactive map of territories captured by Russia and regained by Ukraine has been created] (in Lithuanian). Lrytas.lt. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  28. Orlova, Violetta (2 April 2022). "В Україні запустили онлайн-карту війни: вона відображає ситуацію в режимі реального часу" [An online map of the war was launched in Ukraine: it reflects the situation in real time] (in Ukrainian). Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  29. Як "DeepState" збирають інформацію та створюють мапи війни | Роман Погорілий [How "DeepState" collects information and creates maps of war | Roman Pohorily] (YouTube) (in Ukrainian). First Western. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  30. Trikisha, Oleksandr (2 April 2022). "В Україні запустили онлайн-карту воєнних дій" [An online map of military operations was launched in Ukraine] (in Ukrainian). Ukraine 24. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
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