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What happened in Ukraine's war on 26 May 2022?
Summary
A look back at shelling in Kharkiv, a declared corridor to Mariupol and the strikes and sanctions decisions of the preceding days.
What did the war look like on 26 May 2022? Reports from that day and the days just before it described continued Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities, a new announcement about Mariupol's port, and economic measures taking effect beyond the front line.
Shelling in Kharkiv
On 26 May 2022, seven people were killed by Russian shelling in downtown Kharkiv, according to local authorities. The report was part of the wider Battle of Kharkiv, within Russia's eastern Ukraine offensive.
A corridor to Mariupol
On the same day, the Russian defence ministry said that civil vessels were allowed to use a maritime humanitarian corridor to reach the port of Mariupol. Russia had captured the city the previous week.
Strikes in the preceding days
On 25 May 2022, a Russian cruise missile strike destroyed a shopping centre and several homes in Zaporizhzhia. One person was killed and three were injured. Local officials said at least 62 homes were damaged.
The same day, Russian missiles hit the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast and injured several people. The strike fell within the Donbas offensive.
Economic and political fallout
The consequences extended beyond the battlefield. On 24 May 2022, the US Department of the Treasury announced that it would not renew the sanctions exemption that allowed Russia to service its sovereign debt to American investors. Letting the exemption lapse increased the likelihood that Russia would default on that debt in the summer.
Also on 24 May 2022, Hungary declared a state of emergency over the war in Ukraine and over problems in the Hungarian economy that the conflict had caused in part.
Taken together, the reports show a conflict that was being fought on several fronts at once. Civilians in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Pokrovsk bore the immediate cost of shelling and missile strikes, while Russia's announcement on Mariupol's port concerned a city it now held. Meanwhile, sanctions policy and emergency measures in a neighbouring country showed the war's reach into finance and national economies.
