Dnipro and Soledar: two claims in a contested week
A look back at the days before 17 January 2023, when a missile strike on a Dnipro apartment block and a dispute over Soledar framed events in Ukraine's regions.
What was the picture across Ukraine's regions on 17 January 2023? It was shaped by two events from the preceding days, one in the Dnipro region and one in Donetsk Oblast, each of which remained unresolved.
Dnipro: a residential block hit
On 14 January 2023, Russia struck a nine-story residential building in Dnipro with a cruise missile. As reported at the time, at least 40 people were killed and 73 injured, with dozens more missing.
The missile, later identified as a Kh-22, hit at about 3:30 p.m. on Naberezhna Peremohy Street in the city's Sobornyi District. It destroyed one entrance of the building and 236 apartments. The toll rose in the days that followed. By 19 January, the official figures stood at 46 killed, 80 injured and 11 missing. Fourteen children were among the injured, 39 residents were rescued, and about 400 people were left homeless.
The strike belonged to a months-long Russian campaign against civilians and civilian infrastructure, which had already hit Dnipro before this attack.
Soledar: a disputed claim
On 13 January 2023, Russia's defence ministry said its forces had taken full control of Soledar in Donetsk Oblast. Ukraine denied that the town and its salt mines had fallen and said the battle was still under way. The fighting there was part of the wider Battle of Donbas in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
What the two events showed
The two reports pointed to different pressures on regional life. In Dnipro, the immediate tasks were rescue, the count of the missing and the housing of hundreds of people who had lost their homes. In Donetsk Oblast, the question was who held the ground, with the two sides giving opposing accounts.
On 17 January 2023 both matters were still open. The Dnipro toll was still being established, and the two governments still disagreed over Soledar.
