What did 21 November 2022 reveal about Ukraine's winter of attacks?

What was the picture on 21 November 2022, as Ukraine entered a winter defined by attacks on its power supply? The preceding days, as reported at the time, showed a country under sustained missile fire, a neighbouring NATO state shaken by a deadly blast, and a court ruling in The Hague region on an older crime.

Strikes on energy infrastructure

On 15 November 2022, Russian missiles struck several cities across Ukraine, including Kyiv, causing what was described as critical damage to energy facilities. Two days later, on 17 November, Russia carried out another wave of cruise missile strikes. Strikes were reported in Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, where two people were confirmed killed overnight by a missile. Critical infrastructure in Dnipro and Odesa was also targeted.

By 18 November, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strikes had left at least 10 million Ukrainians without electricity. The death toll from the missile strikes of the previous day had risen to seven, with many more people injured.

The explosion in Przewodów

On 15 November a missile strike killed two people in the village of Przewodów in eastern Poland. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was a Russian-made missile and summoned the Russian ambassador to explain. Later that day, US President Joe Biden said the blast had been caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile. US officials had earlier told the Associated Press that preliminary findings suggested Ukrainian forces had fired the missile at an incoming Russian missile.

On 17 November, Germany offered to deploy Air Force jets to protect Polish airspace in response to the explosion that had killed two people.

The background to the episode is clear in hindsight. The incident occurred during Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. Ukraine initially accused Russia of striking Poland. In September 2023, the Polish Prosecutor's Office later confirmed that the explosion was caused by an out-of-control Ukrainian S-300 air defence missile. It was the first incident of a foreign missile hitting NATO territory during the invasion.

A verdict on Flight MH17

Also on 17 November, a court in the Netherlands sentenced two Russians, Igor Strelkov-Girkin and Sergey Dubinsky, and a Ukrainian pro-Russian separatist, Leonid Kharchenko, to life imprisonment for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Donetsk Oblast in 2014. The verdict was delivered in the absence of the defendants.

Nuclear safety

On 20 November, the day before the date of this retrospective, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar had been shelled. Some buildings, systems and equipment were damaged.

What the days showed

Taken together, the reports from 15 to 20 November 2022 set out the pressures facing Ukraine on the eve of 21 November: repeated attacks on energy facilities that left millions without electricity, danger spilling across the Polish border, and shelling at a nuclear plant. The Dutch verdict, meanwhile, marked a legal conclusion to a case that began with a 2014 attack.