What Moscow's widening war aims signalled in July 2022

What were Russia's stated goals in Ukraine by 26 July 2022? Statements in the preceding days pointed to an expansion of the declared aims.

On 20 July 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country's military goals were no longer limited to the Donbas region. He said they now also included the Kherson region, the Zaporizhzhia region and a number of other territories, as reported at the time.

Two days later, on 22 July 2022, Transnistrian Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatyev reaffirmed that Transnistria was committed to becoming an independent state. He added that it was open to the possibility of uniting with Russia in the future.

The two statements came from different officials in different places. Taken together, they show how Russia and its partners were describing territorial questions in the region in the days before 26 July 2022.