What did 14 September 2022 reveal about the war?

What did the war look like on 14 September 2022, a day when Russian missiles hit a dam while Russian forces were giving ground elsewhere?

On that date, Russian forces launched eight cruise missiles at the dam of the Karachunivske reservoir. The strike caused extensive flooding in Kryvyi Rih and raised the water level of the Inhulets River by 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in). It was an attack on infrastructure, and its effects were felt by a city rather than by a front line.

A front in motion

The strike came as Ukraine's position was changing quickly. Ukrainian forces had launched a major counteroffensive on 6 September 2022, after announcing in late August the start of a push in the south around Kherson. The second operation, in Kharkiv Oblast in the east, had begun in early September.

By 12 September, the Ukrainian general staff reported that Russian troops had abandoned the city of Svatove in Luhansk Oblast as Ukrainian forces advanced. The same day, Ukrainian forces said they had seized 20 more settlements in the previous 24 hours, including Dvorichna, and claimed to have captured many Russian prisoners of war.

The scale of the reversal stood out against the preceding months. Russian forces had occupied parts of Kharkiv Oblast since 24 February 2022 and had captured major towns there, including Izium, Kupiansk and Balakliia. They had failed to take the oblast capital, Kharkiv.

Signs of strain and new weapons

The pressure showed beyond the battlefield. On 12 September, more than 30 municipal deputies of Russian cities signed a petition calling for Russian President Vladimir Putin's resignation, amid the substantial Ukrainian advances. The same day, multiple explosions were reported near Taganrog in Rostov Oblast, Russia.

On 13 September, the Ukrainian military said it had shot down an Iranian HESA Shahed 136 combat drone operated by Russia near Kupiansk. An inscription on the drone identified it as an "M214 Geran-2", which did not immediately correspond to known Russian weaponry. The detail pointed to a new kind of weapon appearing in the conflict.

Reading the day

Taken together, the reports from 12 to 14 September show two currents. On the ground in Kharkiv Oblast and Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian forces were retaking territory. Farther south, Russian forces answered with missiles aimed at a reservoir dam, and the consequences fell on Kryvyi Rih.

The flooding on 14 September is a reminder that the pace of advances on the front did not stop attacks on civilian infrastructure. It also sits within a longer story: the Russian occupation of much of Kharkiv Oblast was later reduced, and since November 2022 Russia has held only a small portion of the oblast.