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What did the 10 October 2022 strikes change?
Summary
A look back at the wave of Russian missile attacks across Ukraine, and the diplomatic friction over Moldovan airspace.
What happened on 10 October 2022, and how did it follow the days before it? Russian forces launched missile strikes on Kyiv, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Sumy, Dnipro, Lviv, Ternopil and Poltava. At least nineteen people were killed and hundreds more injured.
A run of attacks
The strikes did not come in isolation. On 9 October 2022, a Russian missile attack on a residential building in Zaporizhzhia killed at least 13 people and injured 89. Days earlier, the toll from a Thursday shelling of a residential area in the same city had risen to 17 civilians, including a child, as reported on 8 October.
The geography of 10 October was notable for its breadth. The list of targeted places ran from the capital to cities in the east, the centre and the west of the country, among them Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk.
The Crimean Bridge backdrop
The attacks came after an explosion on the Kerch Strait Bridge on 8 October 2022. A fire and the partial collapse of a road section followed, and three people were killed. A Russian investigative committee said it was a Ukrainian truck bomb. On 9 October, Russian president Vladimir Putin formally accused Ukraine, and specifically the Security Service of Ukraine, of being behind the blast, calling it an act of terrorism.
Moldova's airspace
The strikes also carried a diplomatic consequence beyond Ukraine. Moldova confirmed that Russian Navy warships in the Black Sea had fired cruise missiles through its airspace to hit targets inside Ukraine. Moldovan authorities subsequently summoned the Russian ambassador to explain the violation.
Drones and a visa decision
Another thread concerned Iran. On 8 October 2022, Ukraine's immigration centre denied visa extensions to Iranian students, in retaliation for Russia's use of Iranian drones during the invasion.
Looking back
Taken together, the days from 8 to 10 October 2022 showed a rapid sequence: a bridge explosion, an accusation from the Russian president, and then missile fire across much of Ukraine, with deaths in Zaporizhzhia on consecutive days. The Moldovan episode showed how the strikes reached into neighbouring states' airspace and prompted a formal diplomatic response.
