What the days before 12 December 2022 showed about the war
A look back at the strikes, abductions and sentencing reported in the days leading up to 12 December 2022.
What did Ukraine's population face as 12 December 2022 approached? The days before that date brought attacks on civilians, pressure on the energy system and fresh concern over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
On 7 December 2022, Russian forces shelled Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast, killing ten civilians and injuring five others. On 8 December, shelling along the front line in the Donetsk region killed one civilian and damaged buildings in Toretsk.
On 9 December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of destroying the front-line city of Bakhmut after weeks of relentless shelling. The same day, Energoatom said Russian soldiers had abducted two senior staff members from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. It said the workers were beaten before being driven off in an unknown direction.
The pressure on civilian infrastructure continued on 10 December, when Russian drone strikes on two power facilities left more than 1.5 million people without electricity in Odesa Oblast.
The war also had consequences inside Russia. On 9 December, a Moscow court sentenced the prominent opposition figure Ilya Yashin to eight and a half years in prison on charges related to his criticism of the war in Ukraine.
Taken together, the reports from 7 to 10 December describe a war that reached residents of front-line towns, a major city's power supply, the staff of a nuclear plant and critics of the war in Russia. For Ukrainian institutions, protecting civilians, keeping energy services running and safeguarding nuclear workers were immediate concerns as 12 December 2022 began.
