Regional fronts from Kharkiv to Lviv, mid-May 2022
A look back at what the regional picture showed on 19 May 2022, drawing on reports from the preceding days.
What did the regional picture of the war look like on 19 May 2022? Reports from the days just before that date point to pressure and movement in widely separated oblasts, from the north-east to the far west.
The north-east: Kharkiv's counter-offensive
On 16 May 2022, Ukraine said its troops had pushed Russian forces back in a counter-offensive and reached the border with Russia. Kharkiv governor Oleh Synyehubov confirmed that Ukrainian forces had restored control of a border crossing with Russia in the region. For a regional administration, the report marked a shift from defence of a city to the recovery of territory.
The north: civilian losses in Chernihiv Oblast
The cost to civilians in the regions continued. On 17 May 2022, a Russian airstrike killed eight people and injured twelve others in Desna, in Chernihiv Oblast.
The west: strikes near the Polish border
On 15 May 2022, Russia launched missile strikes from the Black Sea on what it called military infrastructure in Yavoriv Raion, Lviv Oblast, near Ukraine's western border with Poland. Regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy said the target was completely destroyed. The report showed that regions far from the main ground fighting were still exposed to long-range attack.
The south: Mariupol and the air war
On 16 May 2022, five buses and an armoured personnel carrier evacuated several hundred soldiers from the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, following negotiations with the Russian Armed Forces. The evacuated soldiers were to be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war. The same day, the Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had shot down three Ukrainian Air Force warplanes, including a Su-25 over Mykolaiv and a Su-24 near Snake Island in the Black Sea.
What the pattern showed
Taken together, the reports show that regional leaders, including governors, were the public voices confirming events on the ground. They also show how different the experience was from one region to another: a counter-offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, civilian casualties in Chernihiv Oblast, missile strikes in Lviv Oblast, and a negotiated evacuation in Mariupol.
