What did 21 October 2022 reveal about the war?

What did the war look like on 21 October 2022? Reports from the preceding days pointed to a conflict in which Moscow was tightening control over occupied land, while striking Ukraine's energy system and drawing on outside help.

Martial law in annexed territories

On 19 October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced martial law in the recently annexed territories of Ukraine, taking effect at midnight on Thursday. An "intermediate level of preparedness" was also introduced in Crimea and in the federal subjects bordering Ukraine. Later accounts describe two decrees: one on martial law in the territories of the DPR, LPR, and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, and another on measures in Russian regions linked to an earlier decree, No. 756. Those accounts date the introduction to 20 October 2022, a month after the announcement of mobilisation.

Evacuations in Kherson Oblast

Also on 19 October, Russian forces began evacuating thousands of civilians from occupied areas of Kherson Oblast, according to the Russian-installed governor, Volodymyr Saldo. Ukraine urged residents to ignore the Russian orders to leave their towns and villages. The two messages set up a direct contest over the movement of civilians in a region that was then the focus of Ukraine's southern counteroffensive.

Pressure on the power grid

On 20 October, a Russian missile struck a major thermal power station in Burshtyn, in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Governor Svitlana Onyshchuk spoke of "quite serious damage". The strike showed that Russian missiles were reaching a western oblast, far from the front line, and that power generation was a target.

Iranian drones and Crimea

The same day, the United States reported that Iranian troops were in Crimea, helping the Russian military to use Iranian drones. The report added an external dimension to the war: Russia was relying on assistance from another state to operate those weapons on the peninsula.

Isolation and solidarity

Two other developments from 19 October fit the wider picture. Belarus said that it could not pay off its debt because of international sanctions imposed over its role in the war. And the European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize to "the people of Ukraine".

What it adds up to

Taken together, these reports from 19 and 20 October show Russia formalising its hold on annexed areas through martial law, moving civilians out of Kherson Oblast, and hitting energy infrastructure, while drawing on Iranian drone support. Ukraine contested the evacuation orders and received a prominent European honour for its people. Belarus, for its part, was citing sanctions as the reason it could not service its debt.