What did 6 October 2022 look like after the annexation law?
A look back at the day Zaporizhzhia's homes came under shelling, a day after Russia formally claimed four Ukrainian regions.
What did Ukraine's front line and its institutions look like on 6 October 2022, the morning after Russia formally claimed four of its regions? The day offered a stark contrast between paper claims and events on the ground.
On 6 October 2022, Russian forces shelled residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia. At least three people were killed and twelve others injured, and the strikes caused widespread fires. Zaporizhzhia was one of the four regions Moscow had just declared annexed.
The paper annexation
The legal steps had come in quick succession. On 4 October 2022, the Federation Council of Russia unanimously approved the annexation of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, leaving the documents for final signature. On 5 October 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed a law formally annexing the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia into Russia.
Movement on the ground
Ukrainian forces were advancing in the south even as the law was signed. On 4 October 2022, Ukraine's 35th Marine Brigade recaptured the village of Davydiv Brid in Beryslav Raion, Kherson Oblast, as its ground offensive continued. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said that around 3,500 citizens had been freed from Russian occupation in recent days. On 5 October 2022, Ukrainian troops recaptured Dudchany, a strategic village on the west bank of the Dnieper, after Russian forces withdrew.
A question of loyalty in the courts
The war was also felt inside Ukraine's institutions. On 5 October 2022, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Ukraine fired his deputy, Bohdan Lvov, for holding dual Russian and Ukrainian citizenship.
The day in context
Taken together, the reports from those days show three tracks running at once: a formal Russian claim to territory, Ukrainian gains in the south, and continued attacks on civilians in a city that Russia had just listed as its own. The shelling in Zaporizhzhia on 6 October 2022 fell on homes, not on front-line positions, and the fires it caused were among its most visible results.
