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Kreminna advance and Putin's oil decree, 27 December 2022
Summary
A look back at a day when Ukrainian forces claimed gains in Luhansk Oblast and Moscow answered the oil price cap with an export ban.
What did 27 December 2022 show about the pressures on both sides of the war? Ukrainian forces said they were closing in on Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast, while Moscow moved to counter the Western price cap on its oil.
On the Svatove-Kreminna line, Ukrainian forces claimed they were approaching Kreminna. Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk Oblast, said Russian fighters in some parts of the city had been forced to retreat to neighbouring Rubizhne.
In Moscow, Russian president Vladimir Putin issued a decree banning exports of Russian oil and petroleum products to countries and organisations that adhere to the US$60-per-barrel price cap. Australia, the European Union and the G7 member states had agreed the cap earlier in December. Under the decree, the ban was due to apply from 1 February to 1 July.
Engels air base
The previous day, 26 December 2022, three Russian military members were killed by debris after Russia shot down a drone approaching the Engels air base in Saratov Oblast, Russia.
Taken together, the reports from 26 and 27 December 2022 covered a front-line claim in Luhansk Oblast, an incident at an air base inside Russia, and a Russian decree answering the sanctions regime on oil exports.
