November 17, 2025 — It has come to ISW’s attention that an unauthorized and unapproved edit to the interactive map of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was made on the night of November 15-16 EST. The unauthorized edit was removed before the day’s normal workflow began on November 16 and did not affect ISW mapping on that or any subsequent day. The edit did not form any part of the assessment of authorized map changes on that or any other day. We apologize to our readers and the users of our maps for this incident.
The ISW team adjusts our interactive map periodically throughout the day based on information received and ongoing assessments of that information. The map does not represent battlefield changes in real-time, and all adjustments made during our workday are subject to review and change over the course of the day. ISW has begun adding a note on the interactive map when the team begins making edits, flagging that map adjustments are underway and that the map should not be regarded as representing our canonical assessment for that day while the note is present on the map. ISW will replace that note on the interactive map with a note stating that changes are finalized, at which point the interactive map should be regarded as our canonical assessment for that day.
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The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organization. ISW advances an informed understanding of military affairs through reliable research, trusted analysis, and innovative education. We are committed to improving the nation’s ability to execute military operations and respond to emerging threats in order to achieve U.S. strategic objectives. Visit us at www.understandingwar.org.
