2022

Drone strikes cut power to more than 1.5 million people in Odesa oblast, Zelenskyy said, and a barrage of at least 76 missiles on 16 December caused emergency blackouts across Ukraine and killed four people in Kryvyi Rih, including a one-year-old boy, Al Jazeera reported. ^[1][2] Mass strikes continued with the largest Shahed drone attack yet and 69 cruise missiles on 29 December, after which Kyiv's mayor said 40 percent of the capital's households lost power, and New Year's Eve strikes killed one person and injured 21 in Kyiv, Kyiv Independent reported. ^[1][2][3] Zelenskyy said Russian forces had turned Bakhmut into burned ruins, a volunteer said up to 15,000 civilians remained in the town, and WHO recorded an attack there affecting a health facility, health transport and health workers. ^[1][3] Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine had tried to strike the Engels and Dyagilevo air bases deep inside Russia with jet drones, which Ukraine did not formally claim, and Luhansk's governor said Ukrainian forces struck a hotel used by Wagner fighters in occupied Kadiivka. ^[1][2] Zelenskyy visited Bakhmut and then travelled to Washington as US officials described a package including a Patriot air defence battery, which Dmitry Medvedev said would be a legitimate target if deployed with NATO personnel. ^[1] A price cap of 60 dollars a barrel on Russian seaborne crude, agreed by the G7, the EU and Australia, took effect, and Putin later signed a decree banning oil sales to those that applied it. ^[1] An exchange freed 64 Ukrainian soldiers and a US national, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Kyiv should fulfil Russia's demands for demilitarisation and denazification or the Russian army would decide the matter. ^[1]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said almost half of Ukraine's energy system had been disabled by Russian strikes and Zelenskyy said about 10 million people were without power, and the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission later said 77 civilians were killed and 272 injured in attacks on energy infrastructure between 10 October and 25 November. ^[1] A Russian barrage on 23 November killed a newborn boy in a maternity ward in Vilniansk, UN monitors recorded at least 8 civilians killed in Kyiv oblast, and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant went into full blackout, Energoatom said. ^[1] During the largest missile barrage of the war so far, on 15 November, a missile killed two farm workers in Przewodow, Poland, which Polish and US officials said was most likely a Ukrainian air defence missile; Zelenskyy said he was sure it was Russian, and Russia denied involvement. ^[1][2] Russia withdrew its forces from Kherson city and the west bank of the Dnipro, Ukrainian forces entered the city, and Ukrainian officials said investigators found 63 bodies with signs of torture in liberated parts of Kherson oblast. ^[1][2] Fighting for Bakhmut became the most intense on the front, with Russian assaults led largely by the Wagner Group, and WHO recorded attacks on health care including in Lyman and Bilopillia. ^[1][2][3] The Black Sea Grain Initiative was renewed in Istanbul after more than 11.1 million tonnes of foodstuffs had been shipped since July, UN News said. ^[1] The European Parliament voted 494 to 58 to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, and the US said North Korea was covertly supplying Russia with artillery shells. ^[1][2]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

Russia opened a campaign against Ukraine's power grid on 10 October, firing 84 cruise missiles and 24 drones at Kyiv and other cities according to Ukraine's military, with at least 19 killed by later tallies; Putin called the strikes a response to the Crimean Bridge blast. ^[1] Ukraine's emergency service said more than 70 people had been killed and 290 injured in ten days of strikes, Zelenskyy said 30 percent of the country's power stations had been destroyed, and after a barrage on 31 October Kyiv's mayor said 80 percent of consumers in the capital lost water. ^[1][2] Iranian-designed Shahed drones hit Kyiv, killing four people including a couple expecting a child, and WHO recorded attacks affecting health facilities in Bakhmut and Zaporizhia. ^[1][2][3] Putin imposed martial law in the four regions Russia claimed, and Russian-installed officials began moving civilians out of western Kherson oblast, which Ukrainian officials and rights groups warned could amount to forced transfers. ^[1] Russian forces withdrew from Lyman, and an explosion on the Crimean Bridge collapsed road spans, killing three people according to Russian investigators; Putin blamed Ukrainian special services, and Kyiv did not claim it at the time. ^[1][2] Russia's defence ministry said drones attacked Black Sea Fleet ships at Sevastopol, blamed Ukraine with British help, which Britain rejected, and suspended its part in the grain deal. ^[1] The UN General Assembly voted 143 to 5 to condemn Russia's attempted annexation of four regions, an exchange freed 108 Ukrainian women, and Britain, France and the US rejected as transparently false Defence Minister Shoigu's claim that Ukraine was preparing a dirty bomb. ^[1][2]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

After the Russian withdrawal from Izium, Ukrainian authorities found a burial site with about 440 graves and later reported 436 bodies exhumed, most of them civilians according to police, while the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission had by early September verified 5,718 civilians killed across Ukraine, a minimum. ^[1][2] A missile strike on a civilian convoy on the edge of Zaporizhzhia killed 30 people and wounded 88, according to Ukraine's national police; Russian officials blamed Ukraine. ^[1] Strikes on power infrastructure caused a near-total blackout in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said, and cruise missiles hit a dam in Kryvyi Rih, where the local military administration said 112 homes were flooded. ^[1][2] A Ukrainian counteroffensive retook Balakliia, Kupiansk and Izium in Kharkiv oblast as Russia said it was regrouping its troops, and the largest prisoner exchange of the war freed 215 Ukrainians for 55 prisoners and the politician Viktor Medvedchuk. ^[1][2] Putin ordered a partial mobilisation, with Defence Minister Shoigu saying about 300,000 reservists would be called up, and Al Jazeera put the number of Russians entering Georgia, Kazakhstan and Finland at more than 194,000 in a week. ^[1][2] An IAEA mission reached the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and left staff in place, and underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines near Bornholm, with responsibility still contested. ^[1][2] After votes held under occupation in four regions, which UN Secretary-General Guterres said could not be called a genuine expression of the popular will, Putin signed treaties claiming to annex them, and Zelenskyy announced Ukraine's application for accelerated NATO membership. ^[1][2]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

A Russian missile destroyed a dormitory in Kharkiv, where Meduza, citing Ukrainian officials, reported 17 dead across the city overnight, and a strike on Chaplyne on Independence Day killed 25 according to a presidential aide; Russia's defence ministry said it hit foreign fighters and a military train, which Ukrainian officials denied. ^[1][2] WHO recorded attacks on health care including health facilities in Chuhuiv and Balakliya. ^[1][2] Shelling damaged equipment at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, with Russia and Ukraine blaming each other, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi called the situation very alarming, and on 25 August the plant was cut from Ukraine's grid for the first time. ^[1][2] Explosions destroyed aircraft at the Saky air base in occupied Crimea, which Russia's defence ministry said was a detonation of munitions and not an attack, and an ammunition depot near Dzhankoi exploded in what Russian authorities called sabotage. ^[1][2] Ukraine said it had begun offensive operations in the south, including Kherson oblast, which Russia's defence ministry said had failed, and Putin ordered the armed forces enlarged by 137,000 service members. ^[1][2] The Razoni became the first grain ship to leave Odesa under the Black Sea deal, carrying about 26,000 tonnes of corn, and Gazprom stopped gas flows through Nord Stream 1 at the end of the month for what it called maintenance. ^[1][2] Commentator Darya Dugina was killed by a car bomb near Moscow; Russia's FSB said Ukrainian special services were behind it, which Kyiv denied, and the UN Secretary-General announced a fact-finding mission into the Olenivka prison deaths. ^[1][4]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

Russian cruise missiles struck central Vinnytsia, killing 23 people including three children according to Ukraine's emergency service, and a strike on an apartment block in Chasiv Yar killed 46 according to Ukrainian officials; Russia's defence ministry said both strikes hit military targets. ^[1][2] The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission had verified 4,889 civilians killed and 6,263 injured across Ukraine by 3 July, and said the actual figures were considerably higher. ^[1][2] President Zelenskyy ordered the mandatory evacuation of civilians from Donetsk oblast, saying hundreds of thousands remained in combat areas, and WHO recorded attacks affecting health facilities in Bakhmut and Mykolaiv. ^[1][2][3] A blast at the Russian-run Olenivka prison killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and the cause is disputed: Russia's defence ministry blamed a Ukrainian HIMARS strike and separatist officials gave 53 dead, while Ukraine denied firing on the site and accused Russia of staging the blast. ^[1] Russia's defence ministry said its forces had taken Lysychansk and the whole of Luhansk region, and Ukraine's military said it had withdrawn to preserve the lives of its soldiers. ^[1] Russia and Ukraine signed separate UN and Turkey brokered deals in Istanbul to reopen Black Sea grain exports, and the next day Russian cruise missiles hit Odesa port, which Russia's defence ministry said targeted a Ukrainian warship. ^[1][2] President Putin said Russia had not yet started anything in earnest in Ukraine and that negotiations would get harder the longer they were delayed.

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

A Russian missile struck a crowded shopping centre in Kremenchuk, killing at least 18 people and wounding about 60 according to the Poltava governor; Russia's defence ministry said it struck a nearby plant storing Western weapons and the fire spread to the mall. ^[1] Russian forces pushed into central Sievierodonetsk while civilians were trapped by constant shelling, and on 24 June Ukraine ordered its forces to withdraw from the city, which the Luhansk governor estimated was 90% damaged. ^[1][2] UNHCR said 4,800,000 refugees from Ukraine had been recorded across Europe, and WHO recorded attacks affecting health workers and health transport in Vynohradovo and a health facility in Kyiv. ^[1][2][3][4] The EU adopted a sixth sanctions package with an embargo on Russian seaborne oil, and EU leaders granted Ukraine and Moldova candidate status. ^[1][2] Moody's said Russia had defaulted on its foreign debt after sanctions blocked coupon payments, which Russia's finance ministry denied, and the United States raised duties to 35% on certain Russian goods. ^[1][2] Russian forces left Snake Island; Russia's defence ministry called it a gesture of goodwill to show it was not obstructing grain exports, while Ukraine said its strikes had forced them off. ^[1]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

Civilians who had sheltered for weeks at Mariupol's Azovstal steelworks began leaving in a convoy coordinated by the UN and the ICRC, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said more than 600 civilians had been evacuated from Azovstal and other parts of Mariupol by 8 May. ^[1] IOM estimated about 8.02 million people were internally displaced as of 3 May, falling to about 7.1 million by 23 May as some returned home, and UNHCR said more than 5.7 million had fled across Ukraine's borders. ^[1][2] A bomb hit a school sheltering villagers in Bilohorivka, where the Luhansk governor said about 60 people were most likely dead, though AP reported rescuers had then found two bodies. ^[1] UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet told a special session of the Human Rights Council that investigators had found 1,000 civilian bodies in Kyiv region alone, and WHO recorded an attack affecting health workers in Mariupol. ^[1][2] Ukraine's General Staff said Russian troops were withdrawing from around Kharkiv after Ukrainian counter-attacks, easing the shelling of the city. ^[1] Russia's defence ministry said the last 531 fighters at Azovstal had surrendered, ending the siege of Mariupol, and Ukraine described the evacuation of its garrison as the completion of its mission. ^[1] A donor conference in Warsaw co-hosted by Poland and Sweden raised a reported $6.5 billion for Ukraine. ^[1]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

As Russian forces withdrew from the area north-west of Kyiv, the bodies of civilians were found in Bucha, where OHCHR later documented 73 civilian killings in March; Russia's defence ministry said its units had left the town by 30 March and Russian officials called the images staged. ^[1] A missile with a cluster warhead struck Kramatorsk railway station as civilians waited to be evacuated, killing at least 50 people including five children according to Ukrainian officials; Russia denied the attack. ^[1] UNHCR said more than 5 million refugees had fled Ukraine by 19 April, about 90% of them women and children, with some 7.7 million displaced inside the country, and an ICRC-led convoy carried more than 1,000 people who had fled Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia. ^[1][2] WHO recorded attacks on health care in the east, including on health transport in Ruska Lozova and a health facility in Dobropillia. ^[1][2] President Zelensky said Russian troops had begun the battle for Donbas on 18 April, the day missile strikes on Lviv killed seven people according to the regional governor. ^[1][3] The Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva sank; Russia's defence ministry said ammunition detonated in a fire, while Ukraine said it hit the ship with two Neptune missiles, which a US official said the US also assessed. ^[1] The UN General Assembly voted 93 to 24 to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, and Gazprom halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria for not paying in roubles, which both governments called a breach of contract. ^[1][2]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

UNHCR said 1,002,860 people had left Ukraine in the war's first seven days, and by mid-March IOM said movements out of the country had reached three million, nine in ten of them women and children according to UNICEF. ^[1][2][3] In encircled Mariupol an airstrike hit the maternity and children's hospital complex, killing three people according to the city council, and another destroyed the drama theatre where hundreds of civilians were sheltering, which Amnesty International said was almost certainly struck by Russian aircraft; Russia denied striking the theatre. ^[1][2] Missiles struck the regional administration buildings in Kharkiv, where the regional head gave a preliminary toll of 7 killed and 24 injured, and in Mykolaiv, where Ukraine's State Emergency Service count reached 36 killed. ^[1][2] The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission had individually verified 1,276 civilians killed and 1,981 injured across Ukraine by the end of March, and said the actual figures were considerably higher. ^[1][2] Russian forces entered Kherson, the first regional capital they took, seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after fighting set a training building on fire, and struck the Yavoriv training centre near the Polish border, where Lviv's governor said at least 35 people were killed. ^[1][2][3] Russia's General Staff said the main aims of the first stage were accomplished and it would focus on Donbas, and after Istanbul talks in which Ukraine tabled neutrality proposals, Russia said it would cut military activity near Kyiv and Chernihiv; its forces handed Chornobyl back to Ukrainian staff at the end of the month. ^[2][4] The UN General Assembly demanded Russia's withdrawal by 141 votes to 5, the International Court of Justice ordered Russia to suspend its military operations, and the United States banned imports of Russian oil, gas and coal. ^[1][2][3]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

Rockets carrying cluster munitions struck residential areas of Kharkiv on 28 February, killing at least three civilians according to Human Rights Watch, while Amnesty International said three attacks that day killed at least nine; both groups attributed the attacks to Russian forces. ^[1] WHO recorded attacks affecting health facilities in the first days of the war, including in Chernihiv and Melitopol. ^[1][2] Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea, with advances reported from Belarus towards Kyiv, from Russia towards Kharkiv and the east, and from Crimea towards the south, after President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that Russia would seek the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine. ^[1] Russian forces took control of the Chornobyl nuclear site on the first day, and the Russian navy took Snake Island, where Ukraine's navy later said the 13 border guards were alive and held by Russia. ^[1][2] EASA advised airlines not to operate in Ukrainian airspace at any altitude, and Western governments pledged to cut selected Russian banks from SWIFT and restrict Russia's central bank. ^[1][2] Putin ordered Russia's deterrent forces, which include nuclear weapons, onto a special mode of combat duty, citing NATO statements and Western sanctions. ^[1] Russian and Ukrainian delegations held their first talks in Belarus's Gomel region and agreed to meet again. ^[1]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.