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Kyiv's diplomatic and air-defence demands in July 2023
Summary
Two requests from Ukraine's president on 3 July 2023 set the backdrop to the political picture on 6 July.
What was Kyiv pressing for in the days leading up to 6 July 2023? Two demands made on 3 July stand out, one about security and one about diplomacy.
The first followed a Russian drone attack on Sumy, which killed two people and injured 19. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a major upgrade of anti-aircraft defences. The attack was part of the wider Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure that had run since 2022.
The second was a diplomatic request. Zelenskyy asked Georgian ambassador Gela Dumbadze to return home within 48 hours to negotiate the transfer of Mikheil Saakashvili to a Ukrainian clinic. Saakashvili is the imprisoned former Georgian president and a Ukrainian citizen. The request cited his declining health.
Taken together, the two moves show Ukrainian leaders acting on separate fronts: seeking stronger protection against aerial attack at home, and pressing a neighbouring government over the fate of a Ukrainian citizen held abroad. The 48-hour window set for the ambassador's return meant the Georgian question was due to come to a head within days, around the date this retrospective covers.
