What the early July 2023 strikes revealed

What did the days leading up to 5 July 2023 show about the pressure on Ukraine's towns and cities? The reports from 3 and 4 July point to a pattern of strikes reaching civilians across several regions, from the north-east to the south.

On 3 July, Russia launched drone attacks on Sumy, killing two people and injuring 19 others. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a major upgrade of anti-aircraft defences. The call tied the human cost of the attack directly to the question of air protection.

The following day brought more of the same. According to Ukrainian officials, Russian forces hit Pervomaiskyi in Kharkiv Oblast with missiles, injuring at least 38 civilians and damaging infrastructure. Russian shelling of Kherson killed two people, and shelling in Chernihiv injured three more.

A widening geography

Taken together, the reports cover Sumy, Kharkiv Oblast, Kherson and Chernihiv. The weapons varied, with drones, missiles and shelling all in use, and the reported casualties were civilians in each case. Damage to infrastructure was reported in Pervomaiskyi.

Pressure beyond the battlefield

There was also a financial front. On 3 July, Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention added the British conglomerate Unilever to its list of international sponsors of war. The agency claimed that the company's Russian operations indirectly fund the invasion. This was a Ukrainian claim about corporate links to the war economy, not a finding by any other body.

What to take from it

The reported events show two lines of Ukrainian effort running side by side: pressing for stronger air defences as strikes continued to injure and kill civilians, and pressing foreign companies over their Russian operations. Both reflect how Kyiv framed the conflict at the start of July 2023: as one fought in the skies over its towns and also in international commerce.