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Annexation signed as Ukraine advanced in Kherson
Summary
On 5 October 2022, Russia's formal annexation law coincided with Ukrainian gains along the Dnieper, a contrast the day's reports laid bare.
What does an annexation mean when the front line is moving against the annexing power? That question hung over 5 October 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law formally annexing the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia into Russia.
The paperwork
The signing completed a process that moved quickly. On 4 October 2022, the Federation Council of Russia unanimously approved the annexation of the four regions, leaving only the president's final signature. The law he signed on 5 October 2022 covered the whole of the four named territories.
The front
The same day, Ukrainian troops recaptured the strategic village of Dudchany on the west bank of the Dnieper, after Russian forces withdrew. The gain followed a rapid advance. On 3 October 2022, Ukrainian forces had pushed more than 20 kilometres along the river towards Dudchany in Kherson Oblast, in what was described as a major breakthrough.
On 4 October 2022, Ukraine's 35th Marine Brigade retook Davydiv Brid in Beryslav Raion, Kherson Oblast, as the ground offensive continued. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said around 3,500 citizens had been freed from Russian occupation in recent days.
Moscow's command
There were also signs of pressure within the Russian military. On 3 October 2022, the Russian Defence Ministry dismissed Colonel General Alexander Zhuravlyov in response to a series of military defeats in Ukraine. Major General Roman Berdnikov replaced him as commander of the Western Military District.
What the day showed
Taken together, the reports from 3 to 5 October 2022 set two developments side by side. In Moscow, the legal steps to annex four Ukrainian regions were completed within two days of the Federation Council vote. In Kherson Oblast, Ukrainian units were retaking villages in the south, and Russian forces were withdrawing from Dudchany. A Russian commander had been removed after a run of defeats.
The law applied to Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as well as the two eastern territories. Yet the reports from Kherson Oblast show Ukrainian forces advancing within one of the regions named in it. The day's record is a formal claim of sovereignty made while the military position was shifting in Ukraine's favour in the south.
