What the war looked like by 12 December 2022

What did the security picture in Ukraine look like on 12 December 2022? The reports from the preceding days point to pressure on civilians and infrastructure, and to continued fighting along the front line in Donetsk Oblast.

Power supply under attack

On 10 December 2022, Russian drone strikes on two power facilities left more than 1.5 million people without electricity in Odesa Oblast. The strikes were part of a series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure that year.

Shelling in Donetsk Oblast

Civilians were also hit by shelling at the front. On 7 December 2022, Russian forces shelled Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast, killing ten civilians and injuring five. The next day, shelling of the front line in the Donetsk region killed one civilian and damaged buildings in Toretsk.

On 9 December 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of destroying the front-line city of Bakhmut after weeks of relentless shelling.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Also on 9 December 2022, Ukraine's Energoatom said Russian soldiers had abducted two senior staff members from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. According to Energoatom, the two workers were beaten before being driven off in an unknown direction.

Dissent inside Russia

The war's pressure was felt inside Russia too. On 9 December 2022, a Moscow court sentenced the prominent opposition figure Ilya Yashin to eight and a half years in prison on charges related to his criticism of the war.

Taken together

The reports from 7 to 10 December 2022 describe several fronts of the same conflict: attacks on energy supply in the south, shelling that killed civilians in the Donetsk region, a dispute over staff at a nuclear plant, and a prison sentence for a Russian critic of the war. On 12 December 2022, each of these remained part of the situation as it stood.