Novosibirsk sentence and Kharkiv strikes, 20 May 2024

What did the war look like from both sides of the border on 20 May 2024? Two sets of reports, one from a Russian courtroom and one from Kharkiv Oblast, offered a partial answer.

On 20 May 2024, a court in Novosibirsk sentenced a 24-year-old man to 25 years in prison. He was accused of plotting an arson attack on a military recruitment office, allegedly on directions from Ukraine. The case belongs to a wider category of incidents known as the Russian military commissariats attacks.

The wider pattern

That series of incidents, as later described, consisted of Molotov cocktail arson attacks and shootings at Russian military registration and enlistment offices after the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. Other government buildings in several regions of Russia were also targeted. The attacks were spurred by the invasion, the deployment of conscripts to the front line, the start of spring conscription and rumours of possible mobilisation. Those rumours were later found to be true.

Strikes near Kharkiv

The previous day, 19 May 2024, brought further violence in Kharkiv Oblast. As reported at the time, a Russian double-tap missile strike on a recreation area near Kharkiv killed at least six people and injured 27 others. Separately, a Russian strike with a multiple launch rocket system on two villages in Kupiansk Raion killed five people and injured nine.

What the day showed

The Novosibirsk ruling shows how severe the penalty was in a case of alleged arson planning against a recruitment office. The Kharkiv Oblast strikes, meanwhile, left civilians dead and injured in a recreation area and in villages. Taken together, the reports show the war's effects reaching a Russian courtroom and communities in Kharkiv Oblast within the same 24 hours.