Kherson shelling and a Transnistria decree: what 23 February 2023 followed
A look back at two developments reported in the days before 23 February 2023, one in southern Ukraine and one concerning neighbouring Moldova.
What had the days before 23 February 2023 brought for Ukraine's south and its borderlands? Two reports stood out.
On 21 February 2023, Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson, part of the southern Ukraine campaign in the 2022 Russian invasion. According to local officials, the attack killed at least six people and injured 12 others.
The following day, 22 February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin revoked a 2012 foreign policy decree. That decree had underpinned Moldova's sovereignty in resolving the political status of the breakaway Transnistria region. The move touched on relations between Moldova and Russia, and between Russia and Transnistria.
The two reports came from different places, one a city under fire in Ukraine and the other a legal decision concerning Moldova's breakaway region. Both were part of the regional picture on the eve of 23 February 2023.
