DeepState

DeepState (branded DeepStateMAP) is a Ukrainian open-source intelligence project publishing a near-real-time interactive map of front-line control. Founders Roman Pohorilyi and Ruslan Mykula, who met during the 2014 Euromaidan protests, began developing the concept in 2020 and launched their first public map on 24 February 2022, the day of Russia's full-scale invasion, initially on Google Maps before moving to a dedicated platform on 27 March 2022. The project verifies front-line changes using geolocated combat footage and social media reports, increasingly supplemented by direct clarifications from Ukrainian military sources rather than open material alone. Ukraine's Ministry of Defence signed a cooperation memorandum with DeepState on 13 March 2024 to improve information exchange, and the platform was substantially rebuilt as 'DeepStateMap 2.0' on 2 July 2024. Despite periodic criticism, including a 2025 assessment that its map lagged real front-line movement by weeks in places, DeepState remains widely trusted inside Ukraine, cited by domestic broadcasters, the BBC, and the Presidential Office.

DeepState and ISW are the two primary independent front-line trackers of the war, and their assessments sometimes diverge sharply. In the week to 3 June 2026, DeepState showed a small Russian net gain, while ISW recorded a 14-square-mile Russian net loss, the widest gap between the trackers since the Kursk withdrawal. The divergence reflects differing source networks and methodology between the Ukrainian-embedded and Washington-based analytical teams, a pattern consistent with DeepState's reliance on direct military channels versus ISW's synthesis of public reporting.