What the attacks of 4 July 2023 showed across Ukraine's regions
Strikes on Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv oblasts, following a drone attack on Sumy, spread the toll across several regions.
How widely did Russian fire reach Ukraine's regions on 4 July 2023? Reports from that day pointed to attacks in at least three oblasts, with civilians bearing the casualties.
In Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces struck Pervomaiskyi with missiles. Ukrainian officials said at least 38 civilians were injured and infrastructure was damaged. In Kherson, Russian shelling killed two people. In Chernihiv, shelling injured three more.
The day before
The attacks followed a drone strike on Sumy on 3 July 2023, which killed two people and injured 19 others. In response, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a major upgrade of anti-aircraft defences.
What the pattern shows
Taken together, the two days of reports show fire landing in the north-east, the north and the south: Sumy, Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv and Kherson. The means differed, from drones to missiles to shelling, and so did the damage. The Pervomaiskyi strike produced the largest number of reported injuries, while the shelling of Kherson was the only one of the 4 July incidents reported to have caused deaths.
For regional authorities, the burden fell on local communities facing casualties and damaged infrastructure. The president's call for stronger air defences came in response to the Sumy attack, a day before the Pervomaiskyi missile strike.
