Kherson's occupation tightened as strikes spread across Ukraine's regions

What did the regional picture look like on 27 April 2022? It was one of occupation administration in the south, missile strikes across several oblasts and growing attention to areas along Ukraine's borders.

Kherson: administration under occupation

On 27 April 2022, Oleksandr Kobets was appointed as the de facto mayor of the city of Kherson, which Russian forces had held since 2 March. The appointment followed a development two days earlier, on 25 April, when the city's mayor, Ihor Kolykhaiev, announced that Russian forces had taken control of the Kherson City Council. Taken together, the two reports show control over the city's institutions passing into Russian hands.

The information space was also contested. On the same day, the Ukrainian Air Force struck the Kherson TV Tower with a missile, which temporarily forced Russian television off the air in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast.

Strikes beyond the front line

Other regions were hit in the days leading up to 27 April. On 25 April, regional authorities said airstrikes on Zhmerynka and Koziatyn in Vinnytsia Oblast had killed five people. The same day, one person was killed when Russia bombed the Kremenchuk Oil Refinery in Poltava Oblast. On 26 April, Ukrainian authorities said a Russian missile strike had destroyed a strategic bridge across the Dniester Estuary in Odesa Oblast.

On 27 April, Russia said it had struck 59 Ukrainian weapon facilities overnight. It said these included a depot in Zaporizhzhia Oblast that was being used to store weapons from the United States and Europe.

Incidents on the Russian side of the border

Russia said on 27 April that its air defences had shot down a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over Kursk Oblast. Several explosions and a fire at an ammunition depot were reported in Belgorod Oblast. Ukraine described the explosions in Russia as payback and karma for Moscow's invasion.

Moldova and Transnistria

The regional concern extended beyond Ukraine's own borders. On 26 April, Moldova's Supreme Security Council held an emergency meeting after attacks in the breakaway region of Transnistria. President Maia Sandu said the attacks were aimed at destabilising the situation in the region. She also said the military would improve combat readiness and increase patrols on the border with Transnistria.

What the day showed

The reports from 25 to 27 April 2022 point to several overlapping pressures on regional governance. In occupied Kherson, local institutions and media were directly contested. In Vinnytsia, Poltava, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, strikes hit towns, industry, infrastructure and weapons storage. Along the Russian and Moldovan borders, security authorities were dealing with explosions and attacks. The common thread was that the war's effects were being felt in many oblasts, not only in those with active front lines.