Data Sources and Processing
The Archive aggregates data from three independent, academically validated sources to provide comprehensive coverage of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Primary Source: VIINA Dataset
The Violent Incident Information from News Articles (VIINA) dataset is maintained by Georgetown University. It uses natural language processing to extract georeferenced conflict events from news articles published by Ukrainian, Russian, and international media outlets. The dataset is updated automatically every 6 hours and covers 33,141 populated places across Ukraine.
VIINA data is peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Comparative Economics. It tracks 18 event types including artillery shelling, airstrikes, UAV attacks, ground combat, territorial control changes, and civilian/military casualty reports.
Supplementary: Military Equipment Losses
Daily equipment and personnel loss data is compiled from the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Staff operational reports. This data has been cross-validated by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and tracks 15 categories of military equipment.
Supplementary: Missile and Drone Attacks
Massive missile and drone attack records are sourced from Ukrainian Air Force Command official reports documenting each attack wave, including missile types, quantities launched, interception rates, and launch locations.
Processing Pipeline
Raw data is imported into a structured database, deduplicated, and aggregated at the location level. Location summaries are computed to identify significant conflict zones (50+ recorded events). All statistics, charts, and narratives are generated programmatically from the underlying data to ensure consistency and accuracy.
Territorial Control Assessment
Territorial control status is derived from a composite of assessments by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and DeepStateMap, as aggregated in the VIINA dataset. Each location is classified as Ukraine Controlled, Russian Occupied, or Contested based on the latest available data.