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What the early February 2023 reports showed
Summary
A look back at the security picture around 3 February 2023, drawn from reports of strikes, contested claims and Western arms pledges in the preceding days.
What did the security picture look like on 3 February 2023? The reports from the days just before that date point to three strands: strikes on towns far from the main fighting, rival claims over ground near Bakhmut, and new Western equipment pledges.
Strikes on civilian areas
On 1 February 2023, a Russian Iskander-K ballistic missile destroyed an apartment complex in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast. Local officials said at least three people were killed and 20 injured. On 29 January, Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson, killing three people and injuring six. A hospital, a school and a bus station were damaged.
The pressure reached the northern border as well. On 28 January, the Russian Air Force struck Seredyna-Buda in Sumy Oblast, destroying a kindergarten and damaging nearby homes. No casualties were reported. Cross-border shelling also damaged the towns of Esman and Shalyhyne.
Competing claims
Allegations of attacks on medical sites came from both sides of the dispute. On 28 January, Russia claimed that a Ukrainian HIMARS missile strike on a hospital in Novoaidar, Luhansk Oblast, had killed 14 people and injured 24, including patients and medical staff. That figure was Russia's claim, as reported at the time.
Near Bakhmut, the Wagner Group said on 29 January that it had captured the village of Blahodatne, to the north of the city. Ukraine rejected the claim and said it had repelled the attack. Two accounts of the same village therefore stood side by side.
Western support
On 31 January 2023, France's Armed Forces Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, announced that France would send 12 additional CAESAR self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine. He added that France could also train Ukrainian Air Force pilots to operate French fighter jets, as part of its latest military support package.
What the pattern showed
Taken together, the reports describe a war in which missile and shell strikes reached cities and border towns across several regions, while claims on the ground around Bakhmut remained disputed. At the same time, partners were adding artillery and weighing pilot training. The reports do not show how these strands would connect, and the days around 3 February 2023 are best read as a snapshot of all three running at once.
