You’ve likely seen the headlines ebb and flow over the last few years. It’s been a long road since February 2022, and with everything else happening in the world, it’s easy to lose track. Honestly, if you’re asking is the war in Ukraine still going on, the answer is a heavy, resounding yes.
It hasn't stopped. Not for a day.
Right now, as we move through January 2026, the conflict has settled into a brutal, grinding reality that looks very different from the lightning-fast maneuvers we saw in the early months. It's a war of "slow, exhausting pressure," as analysts at RBC-Ukraine recently put it. We aren't seeing massive borders shifting overnight. Instead, we’re seeing a fight for every hundred yards.
The current state of the front lines in 2026
If you looked at a map today, you’d see that Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. That includes Crimea and parts of the Donbas they held before 2022, plus the gains from the full-scale invasion.
In the last month alone—roughly from early December 2025 to now—Russian forces managed to claw away another 74 square miles of Ukrainian land. To put that in perspective, that’s about three-and-a-half Manhattans. It sounds like a lot, but it's actually a slower pace than what they were doing in late 2025.
The epicenter is still the Donetsk region.
Cities like Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad are the prizes Russia is currently obsessed with.
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The fighting there is nightmare-fuel stuff. We’re talking about "agglomerations"—basically clusters of towns—where the supply lines are so dangerous that the Ukrainian military has to fly in food and ammo using drones. Imagine a soldier waiting for a quadcopter to drop off his dinner because the road behind him is a kill zone.
What's happening in Sumy and Kursk?
You might remember Ukraine’s bold move into Russian territory (Kursk) last year. They’re still there. As of early January 2026, Ukraine still holds a small foothold—about 4 square miles—inside the Russian border. Meanwhile, Russia has retaliated by pushing into Sumy Oblast in northern Ukraine.
It’s a strange, jagged front line.
Is the war in Ukraine still going on? The winter of 2026
While the soldiers are freezing in trenches, the civilians are fighting a different kind of war. This winter, Vladimir Putin has leaned hard into what experts call "weaponizing winter."
Just a few days ago, on January 13, 2026, Russia launched a massive wave of drones and ballistic missiles. The target? Power plants. They are literally trying to freeze the country into submission.
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In Kyiv, where temperatures are currently hitting $-15^{\circ}\text{C}$ ($5^{\circ}\text{F}$), roughly 70% of the city was left without power this past Tuesday. Living in a high-rise apartment with no heat, no elevator, and no water because the pumps died—that’s the daily reality for millions.
The diplomatic mess: Is peace actually close?
This is where it gets complicated. You've probably heard rumors about a "deal" being worked on. There has been a lot of noise lately about the "Coalition of the Willing"—a group led by France and the UK—trying to hammer out security guarantees.
Here is the current scorecard on "Peace":
- The US Stance: Under the current administration, envoys like Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been meeting with both sides. President Trump has claimed "tremendous progress," but the actual details are still thin air.
- The European Backstop: France and the UK recently signed a "declaration of intent" to send troops to Ukraine—but only after a ceasefire is signed. They want to be the "tripwire" that prevents Russia from attacking again.
- Russia’s "No": Despite the talk, the Kremlin is playing hardball. They recently rejected the idea of any European troops on the ground, calling them "legitimate targets."
- Ukraine’s Bottom Line: President Zelenskyy has signaled a willingness to discuss some terms, including a 19-point proposal, but he is refusing to simply "freeze" the lines without solid guarantees that the tanks won't just start rolling again in six months.
The numbers that don't lie
It is hard to wrap your head around the scale of this. The UN just asked for $$2.3\text{ billion}$ in aid for 2026 just to keep people alive.
The human cost? As of January 12, 2026, the UN verified that at least 14,999 civilians have been killed since the start. That’s just the ones they can prove. The military side is even darker. Estimates suggest Russia has seen over 790,000 casualties (killed or wounded). Ukraine’s numbers are estimated around 400,000.
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That is over a million lives shattered. For perspective, that’s almost the entire population of Austin, Texas, gone or broken.
Why it's not ending tomorrow
Russia isn't running out of steam as fast as some predicted back in 2023. Their 2026 defense budget is near record highs. They are pouring money into domestic drone production and paying massive bonuses to get new recruits to the front.
They are essentially betting they can outlast the West's patience.
On the other side, Ukraine is exhausted but surviving on a "life support" of international loans and a massive $$105\text{ billion}$ EU package that was just agreed upon last month. They’ve also gotten creative, using long-range "FP-5 Flamingo" missiles (some even produced in Denmark now) to hit Russian oil depots as far as 90 kilometers behind the lines.
How you can stay informed and help
The war in Ukraine is still going on, and it’s entering a phase where the "boredom" of a stalemate is actually the most dangerous part for the people living through it.
If you want to keep a pulse on what’s actually happening without the political spin, there are a few things you can do right now:
- Check the Maps: Use the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) interactive maps. They update daily and show exactly who moved into which village.
- Follow the Money: Watch the "Nansen Support Programme" out of Norway. They just allocated 15 billion NOK for 2026. These funding cycles tell you more about the war's duration than any politician's speech.
- Support Localized Aid: Instead of massive generic charities, look for groups like the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF). They funnel money directly to local Ukrainian NGOs who are on the ground in cities like Kharkiv and Odesa right now.
The reality of 2026 is that the war hasn't "faded away"—it's just become a permanent, agonizing background noise for the world. But for those in the path of an Oreshnik missile in Lviv or a power outage in Kyiv, it’s the only thing that matters.