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Sievierodonetsk, sanctions and shelling on 30 May 2022
Summary
A look back at a day when fighting in Luhansk Oblast intensified as EU states agreed an oil embargo on Russia.
What did the battlefield and the sanctions table look like on 30 May 2022? Both moved in the same direction: pressure on Russia grew in Brussels, while its forces pressed forward in eastern Ukraine.
The fight for Sievierodonetsk
Ukrainian authorities said on 30 May 2022 that Russian forces had entered Sieverodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast, leaving the city without water. Two days earlier, on 28 May 2022, Russian troops had been reported entering the city, with heavy street-to-street fighting under way. Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said then that Ukrainian forces might have to retreat to avoid capture.
The region's governor, Serhiy Haidai, also said a French journalist had been killed by Russian shelling in Luhansk Oblast on 30 May 2022.
Casualties elsewhere
In Donetsk, rebel forces said Ukrainian shelling had killed five civilians, including a teenager, and injured 13. In Russian-occupied Melitopol, in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, a car bomb injured at least three people. Russian authorities blamed pro-Ukrainian residents for the incident.
Brussels moves
The most consequential decision of the day came from the European Union. After weeks of deliberations, all member states agreed to an embargo on most oil imports from Russia, with the exception of oil delivered by pipeline. The embargo was to be fully implemented by the end of the year. The agreement also cut Sberbank off from SWIFT.
The sanctions picture had another strand days earlier. On 28 May 2022, China denied airspace to Boeing and Airbus aircraft that had been reregistered in Russia as a result of sanctions triggered by the invasion. The reregistration was in violation of international law.
Weapons arriving
Also on 28 May 2022, Ukraine confirmed it had received Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, to counter the Russian invasion.
What the day shows
The developments ran on separate tracks. In Luhansk Oblast, the loss of water in Sieverodonetsk and the warning of a possible Ukrainian retreat pointed to a city under severe strain. In Brussels, the EU's agreement on oil and Sberbank set a timetable that stretched to the end of the year. Foreign deliveries of missiles and howitzers continued to reach Ukraine in the same days.
