What the last days of 2022 showed

What did the security picture look like on 30 December 2022, as the year closed? The reports from the preceding days point to pressure on several fronts at once: strikes on cities, fighting in Luhansk Oblast, incidents inside Russia and a move on energy exports.

Strikes on Ukrainian cities

On 29 December 2022, Russia carried out a series of drone and cruise missile strikes on Ukraine. Strikes were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv and Zhytomyr, and at least three people were injured. Days earlier, on 24 December, Russian forces had shelled the city of Kherson, killing at least ten civilians and injuring 58 others.

Movement on the front

In Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian forces claimed on 27 December that they were closing in on the city of Kreminna. Governor Serhiy Haidai said Russian fighters in some parts of the city had been forced to retreat to neighbouring Rubizhne. This was part of the fighting along the Svatove-Kreminna line.

Incidents inside Russia

On 26 December, three Russian military members were killed by debris after Russia shot down a drone approaching the Engels air base in Saratov Oblast. The incident showed the war reaching Russian territory.

Oil and sanctions

The security picture also had an economic side. On 27 December, Russian president Vladimir Putin issued a decree prohibiting 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. The decree was set to apply from 1 February to 1 July.

Reading the moment

Taken together, the reports from 24 to 29 December describe a war in which long-range strikes on Ukrainian cities continued, ground fighting persisted in Luhansk Oblast, and sanctions policy drew a formal response from Moscow. The reported claims on Kreminna came from the Ukrainian side, and the toll of the Kherson shelling stood at the figures given at the time.