What did 23 June 2022 mean for Ukraine?

What did 23 June 2022 mean for Ukraine? It was a day of diplomatic advance and military strain at once. The European Union formally awarded official candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, while in the east the fight over the last Ukrainian-held cities of Luhansk Oblast grew harsher.

A formal step towards Brussels

The award of candidate status to both countries marked the start of a formal accession path for each. For Kyiv, it came while the country was still under invasion, and the decision sat alongside daily reports of shelling and territorial losses.

Pressure on Lysychansk

On the same date, the Governor of Luhansk Oblast, Serhiy Haidai, said Russia was "just destroying" everything in Lysychansk. Pro-Russian separatists said they were close to capturing both that city and Sieverodonetsk.

The days before had pointed the same way. On 21 June 2022, Haidai said Russian forces had captured the towns of Pidlisne and Myrna Dolyna, south of Lysychansk. He also confirmed reports that separatist forces had taken Toshkivka a day earlier.

Strikes elsewhere

The violence was not confined to Luhansk Oblast. On 21 June 2022, the Governor of Kharkiv Oblast, Oleh Synyehubov, reported that Russian shelling had killed 15 civilians in and near Kharkiv. On 22 June 2022, seven Russian missiles struck Mykolaiv, killing at least one person and damaging residential and commercial buildings, according to Mykolaiv governor Vitaliy Kim.

Ukraine also struck back. On 22 June 2022, the Ukrainian military said it had inflicted significant losses on Russian forces with airstrikes on Snake Island in the Black Sea, destroying a Pantsir missile system, a radar station and numerous vehicles. The same day, Ukrainian Air Force drone strikes hit an oil refinery in Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov Oblast, in Russia, causing a large explosion and fire. Operations at the refinery were suspended.

Accountability and the law

The first trial for rape during the war was set to begin on 23 June 2022, in absentia. The defendant was a 32-year-old Russian soldier accused of murdering a civilian and repeatedly raping his wife during the offensive in Kyiv.

On 22 June 2022, Reporters Without Borders released a report claiming that a Ukrainian photojournalist had been summarily executed by Russian soldiers while lying injured during the early stages of the conflict.

Moscow's wider confrontations

Russia's dispute with its neighbours also continued. On 21 June 2022, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev warned Lithuania that its citizens would "feel pain" over the ban on transit of Russian goods to Kaliningrad through Lithuania. He said Russia's response in the near future could have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania.

Estonia reported that a Russian Border Service Mi-8 helicopter had violated its airspace over the weekend, and the Russian ambassador was summoned. Also on 21 June 2022, Russia blocked access to The Daily Telegraph's website on the orders of the Prosecutor-General, accusing the newspaper of disseminating false information about the war.

The shape of the day

Taken together, 23 June 2022 combined a political decision in Europe's favour with continued losses and civilian casualties at home. Candidate status was a formal step; the battle for Lysychansk and Sieverodonetsk, and the shelling of cities such as Kharkiv and Mykolaiv, continued alongside it.