What 31 May 2022 showed about war, weapons and sanctions
A retrospective on a day when fighting intensified in Sievierodonetsk while Washington, London and Brussels announced new measures.
What did the war look like on 31 May 2022? It looked like a battle for one eastern city, set against decisions taken abroad that were meant to change the balance over time.
In Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine said Russian forces had taken control of most of Sievierodonetsk after launching a full-scale assault. Regional governor Serhiy Haidai said 60% of the structures in the city had been destroyed. A day earlier, Ukrainian authorities had said Russian forces had entered the city and left it without water.
The danger was not only from shelling. On 31 May 2022 an airstrike hit a tank filled with nitric acid in Sievierodonetsk. The region's governor asked residents to stay inside bomb shelters because of the risk of exposure to toxic fumes.
Elsewhere in the east, a Russian missile hit an apartment in Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast, killing three people and injuring six. On 30 May, the region's governor Serhiy Haidai had reported that a French journalist was killed by Russian shelling in Luhansk Oblast. The same day, rebel forces said Ukrainian shelling in Donetsk had killed five civilians, including a teenager, and injured 13. A car bomb in Russian-occupied Melitopol, in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, injured at least three people, and Russian authorities blamed pro-Ukrainian residents.
Weapons from Washington
The US President, Joe Biden, announced on 31 May that the United States would send Ukraine its 11th package of military aid. It was to include more advanced rocket systems and munitions, among them High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which he said would help Ukraine hit key targets more precisely. NATO said it did not expect a corresponding response from Russia.
Economic pressure
The sanctions track moved as well. On 30 May, after weeks of deliberation, all EU member states agreed to an embargo on most Russian oil imports, with the exception of oil delivered by pipeline, to be fully implemented by the end of the year. They also agreed to cut Sberbank off from SWIFT.
On 31 May, the United Kingdom and the European Union agreed to ban the insuring of Russian oil tankers, to be phased in beginning in six months. Because most insurers are located in Western Europe, the measure would effectively leave the vast majority of oil tankers uninsurable.
The day therefore held two timelines. In Sievierodonetsk, the cost was immediate: destroyed buildings, no water and fumes from a stricken tank. The aid and sanctions decisions were set to take effect later, with the oil measures timed for the end of the year and the tanker insurance ban for six months ahead.
