What the Kremlin's annexation claim meant by 3 October 2022

What was the situation in the days before 3 October 2022? Reports from the preceding week point to a Russian announcement on territory and two developments in European gas supply.

On 30 September 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in a speech that Russia had annexed four regions occupied during the conflict. By 3 October 2022, that declaration was the most recent of the three developments recorded in the reports.

Gas lines in the news

On 29 September 2022, Putin described the Nord Stream gas leaks as an "unprecedented act of international terrorism". The leaks were the subject of what was later called the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.

Two days earlier, on 27 September 2022, leaders from Poland, Norway and Denmark held a ceremony to open the Baltic Pipe. The pipeline is designed to carry natural gas from the Norwegian shelf through Denmark to Poland.

The picture on 3 October 2022

Taken together, the reports show a week in which the Russian president announced the annexation of four occupied regions and commented publicly on the Nord Stream leaks, while three countries marked the start of a new gas route from Norway to Poland via Denmark.