What did 8 September 2022 look like from Europe's edge?
A retrospective on the days around 8 September 2022, when battlefield gains in Ukraine coincided with an energy squeeze and street protests in Prague.
What was the mood in the days leading up to 8 September 2022? Two pressures ran side by side: Ukrainian advances on the battlefield and an energy dispute that reached into European politics.
On 7 September, Ukrainian forces were reported to have broken through Russian defences in Kharkiv Oblast. They advanced more than 30 kilometres into Russian-held territory and captured a number of towns, including Balakliia. A few days earlier, on 4 September, Ukrainian forces recaptured the town of Vysokopillia in Kherson Oblast, which had been under Russian occupation since March, and raised the Ukrainian flag over its hospital.
The gas question
The energy dispute ran in parallel. On 2 September, following the G7's announcement, Russia's Gazprom said flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would not resume the next day, citing a reported oil leak in a turbine. It gave no new time frame. On 5 September, Gazprom announced that flows would not resume until sanctions against Russia were lifted.
Protest in Prague
The consequences were visible on the streets. On 3 September, an estimated 70,000 people marched in Prague, demanding that the government do more to control soaring energy prices. They also voiced opposition to the Czech Republic's involvement in the war. Political groups including the Communist Party organised the demonstration.
A day in context
Seen from 8 September 2022, the picture was of two fronts: military movement inside Ukraine, and economic and political strain across Europe tied to gas supplies. Ukrainian forces were reclaiming territory in both the east and the south, while Gazprom tied the restart of Nord Stream 1 flows to the lifting of sanctions. In Prague, the price of energy had become a public grievance on a large scale.
