What the early July 2023 attacks showed about regional exposure
A look back at Russian strikes on Kharkiv, Kherson, Chernihiv and Sumy regions in the days before 5 July 2023, and the call for stronger air defences.
What did the first days of July 2023 reveal about the pressure on Ukraine's regions? By 5 July 2023, reports from the preceding days pointed to attacks spread across the country's north, east and south, rather than concentrated in one place.
On 3 July, Russia launched drone attacks on Sumy, killing two people and injuring 19 others. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a major upgrade of anti-aircraft defences. The statement tied a local strike to a national-level demand for equipment.
The following day, 4 July, Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces had attacked Pervomaiskyi in Kharkiv Oblast with missiles, injuring at least 38 civilians and damaging infrastructure. The same day, Russian shelling of Kherson killed two people, and shelling in Chernihiv injured three more.
Why the geography matters
Taken together, the reports cover four regional centres or towns: Sumy, Pervomaiskyi in Kharkiv Oblast, Kherson and Chernihiv. The weapons differed, with drones and missiles in some places and shelling in others. The reported harm was to civilians and, in Pervomaiskyi, to infrastructure.
For regional authorities, the pattern meant that local emergency response and repair work were needed in several places at once. The president's appeal for stronger anti-aircraft defences addressed the drone threat that had struck Sumy, while the shelling in Kherson and Chernihiv showed hazards of a different kind.
The human toll across the three days reported here was four dead and at least 60 injured, as counted from the figures above. Those figures, reported by Ukrainian officials, framed the regional picture as of 5 July 2023.
