What did 7 June 2023 follow in Ukraine's war?
A look back at the reports that preceded 7 June 2023: flooding around Nova Kakhovka, fighting in Belgorod Oblast and a Wagner video from Bakhmut.
What was the situation on 7 June 2023, and what had the preceding days brought? Three developments, reported on 5 and 6 June, framed the moment.
On 6 June 2023, thousands of civilians were evacuating from Nova Kakhovka and surrounding villages as floodwaters spread. The reports described people leaving their homes in large numbers as the flooding widened.
Fighting across the border
On 5 June 2023, the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed to have captured the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka in Russia's Belgorod region. The governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that about 100 civilians remained trapped in the village and could not be evacuated because shelling was continuing.
The village was part of a wider series of incursions. Since 22 May 2023, armed groups from Ukraine had carried out a cross-border raid into Belgorod Oblast. Two Russian rebel groups based in Ukraine and allied with it, the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, claimed control of several border settlements and clashed with Russian government forces. The Polish Volunteer Corps also took part. Russian authorities said a Ukrainian sabotage group was responsible and imposed counter-terrorism measures in the region. It was the largest cross-border attack since the Russian invasion began on 24 February 2022.
A video from Bakhmut
Also on 5 June 2023, Wagner Group mercenaries published a video of a captured Russian commander. In it he claimed that he had ordered his troops to fire on a Wagner convoy leaving Bakhmut.
A crowded few days
Taken together, the days before 7 June 2023 combined a mass evacuation, civilians stranded under shelling on the Russian side of the border, and a publicised claim of fire on a Wagner convoy. Each reflected a different front of the war, and each affected civilians or fighters in separate ways.
