This timeline of the Russo-Ukrainian war covers the period from 12 November 2022, following the conclusion of Ukraine's Kherson and Kharkiv counteroffensives, to 7 June 2023, the day before the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive began. Russia continued its strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure while the battle of Bakhmut escalated.
November 2022
14 November The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution that held Russia responsible for all damage caused to Ukraine by the invasion and demanded reparations.
15 November
Russia launched about 85 to 100 missiles at a number of Ukrainian cities. The strategic bombing campaign caused severe shortages of electricity and water at multiple cities. According to the Ukrainian Air Force some 77 of 96 Russian missiles were shot down. A Pentagon official claimed the Russian plan was to exhaust the Ukrainian air defences. At one stage some 50 missiles were in combat "within minutes" near the Polish border.
A missile crossed over the Ukrainian-Polish border and struck the village of Przewodów, killing two civilians. Top leaders in Poland held an emergency meeting. Initial assessments by the United States found that the missile was likely to have been an air defence missile fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile.
According to Ukraine's Operational Command South, Ukrainian rocket and artillery units attacked Russian positions on the left bank of the Dnipro River and in the area of the Kinburn Spit.
16 November The Ukrainians claimed to have killed or wounded 50 Russian soldiers in a long-range strike on the village of Denezhnykove, in Luhansk Oblast.Ukraine says some 50 Russians killed or wounded in shelling attack
17 November After the missile strikes, more than 10 million people were without power by 17 November, but a day later Ukrainian officials reported that electricity had already been restored to "nearly 100%" of Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian officials, one of the wrecks of missiles found after a missile attack earlier that day was that of an "X-55/Kh-55" cruise missile. These missiles were apparently incapable of carrying a conventional warhead, but this specific missile had an "imitation block" (model for training) of a nuclear bomb. They believed the missile was meant to help overwhelm Ukraine's missile defenses.
19 November The Ukrainians claimed to have killed 60 Russian soldiers in a long-range strike on the village of Mykhailkva, 40 km south of Kherson. It was the second such strike in four days.Ukraine says around 60 Russians killed in long-range shelling attack
23 November
The European Parliament declared Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism" for the way it had systematically attacked civilians and committed war crimes. This declaration was symbolic, but called for more sanctions.
The Russian military launched 65 to 70 missiles at civilian settlements and energy infrastructure, although 51 of those were said to have been shot down. The attack caused blackouts over much of Ukraine and forced several nuclear power plants to shut down. Much of Moldova also experienced blackouts due to the power grid failure in Ukraine.
25 November According to U.S. and Ukrainian officials, about 1/3 of Western-supplied artillery went out of action in Ukraine due to wear-related mechanical problems. The United States European Command was said to have a repair base in Poland, but there were problems in transporting the weapons there from the front.
28 November The Russian army was actively pushing on both sides of Bakhmut, in Donetsk Oblast. The Russians were trying to encircle the town but were making very slow progress, according to observers.
29 November Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary-General of NATO, made a speech at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers at Bucharest, in which he expressed the alliance's commitment to support Ukraine for as long as is required, because allowing Russia to win would only embolden President Vladimir Putin. He also promised Ukraine that NATO would one day accept them as a member and that Putin cannot deny sovereign nations the right to make their own sovereign decisions that were not a threat to Russia. He also speculated that the main challenges to Putin were democracy and freedom.
30 November Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, suggested the creation of a UN court to investigate war crimes committed by Russia. Russia does not recognize the International Criminal Court, so the European Commission proposed two possible alternative ways to hold Russia accountable: either to create a court that would be set up by international treaties, or to create an international court with a number of judges from several countries. She estimated the war damage to Ukraine is about 600 billion Euros. She proposed a financial plan to help pay for this. She pointed out that the EU had frozen 300 billion Euros worth of Russian central bank reserves and 20 billion Euros worth of money belonging to Russian oligarchs, which she suggested should be invested. The investments could be given to Ukraine when sanctions are lifted. The original statement by Ursula von der Leyen included a claim that 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 20,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed so far in the war. This angered Ukrainian military officials, who said that the death toll was classified information. In response, the European Commission edited the video of von der Leyen's speech to remove this information. Official publications of the text of the speech were also edited to omit the numbers.
December 2022 2 December Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak claimed that 10–13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since 24 February, the figure last given in August was 9,000.
The Ukrainians struck a Russian concentration near Starobilsk, in the rear area of Luhansk Oblast, reportedly killing 14 Russian personnel and wounding 30.
5 December Explosions were reported at two Russian airbases: the one at Engels-2 reportedly damaged two Tu-95s; the other at the Dyagilevo military airbase near Ryazan, destroyed a fuel truck and killed three, injuring five. The Russian Ministry of Defence stated Ukraine attempted to strike Russia's long-range aviation bombers with Soviet-made jet drones, and that the drones were subsequently shot down at low altitude when approaching the air bases. The attack involved the use of Tu-141 drones that were taken out of storage and appeared to have been fitted with improvised explosives. While no significant damage or burn marks were visible on satellite images of Engels-2, at least one Tu-22M3 bomber was visually confirmed to be slightly damaged at Dyagilevo.
Following the attacks, Russia launched a renewed wave of missile strikes against Ukraine, consisting of about 70 cruise missiles. Ukraine claimed 60 missiles were shot down, Russia claimed 17 targets were hit on the ground. As a result, a missile fell into the territory of Moldova, near the city of Briceni.
6 December The Governor of Kursk Oblast in Russia, Roman Starovoyt, claimed that a Ukrainian drone attack destroyed an oil tank near an airbase. No reports of casualties and the fire was under control. There was no comment from Ukraine on these claims.
7 December
Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that the "special military operation" was taking longer than expected but claimed the country's nuclear arsenal was preventing the conflict from escalating. As in June 2022, he made another reference to the expansion of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great.
The Ukrainian General Staff claimed to have launched multiple strikes against Russian logistic lines near the cities of Berdyansk, Tokmak, Melitopol, Enerhodar, Dniprorudne, Polohy, and Vasylivka, Zaporizhia Oblast. They claimed 240 Russians were wounded and 20 pieces of military equipment were destroyed in the strikes.
9 December President Putin revealed that he was considering adopting the concept of the "preemptive strike" from the U.S. According to him, the U.S. openly discussed this policy some years ago, but currently Russia was only just thinking about it. A few hours after Putin's statement, Jens Stoltenberg, general secretary of NATO, warned that there was a real possibility of a major war between Russia and NATO.
Russia re-occupied the previously liberated Dnipro river island of Ostriv Velykyi Potomkin close to Kherson. This was confirmed by presidential advisor Oleksii Arestovych and Lieutenant Colonel Konstiantyn Mashovets, as well as some unofficial Russian sources. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed on 15 December that Russia had begun the process of forcibly deporting the island's civilian residents.
10 December Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities in Odesa, leaving all non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port without power and 1.5 million people without electricity.
Ukraine launched a missile attack on the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol including at a military barracks. According to Melitopol's Russia-installed administrators, four missiles hit the city, killing two people. In addition, explosions were reported in Donetsk and Crimea.
11 December Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian forces have turned the city of Bakhmut into "burned ruins".
The Ukrainians killed up to 60 and injured nearly 100 Russian soldiers near Kadiivka, Luhansk Oblast. They also killed 150 Russian soldiers and destroyed 10 pieces of equipment during strikes in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
12 December President Zelenskyy appealed to the G7 for tanks, artillery and long range weapons. In response, the G7 pledged to meet Ukraine's requirements.
Luhansk's exiled Governor Serhiy Haidai claimed that Ukraine's armed forces killed personnel from the Wagner Group, a private military company in the Luhansk Region.
The UK sanctioned Russian military commanders for missile attacks and Iranian businessmen for the production and supply of military drones. The EU sanctioned 20 individuals and one entity of Iran over human rights abuse. European Union Foreign Ministers claimed that they had evidence to support Iran supplying Shahed-136 drones to Russia despite denials from both countries.
13 December Robert Magowan, a British lieutenant general and former commander of the Royal Marines, revealed that the Royal Marines were involved several times in "secret operations" in Ukraine, in "extremely sensitive context", involving "a high level of political and military risk".
Denis Pushilin, Acting head of Donetsk's People of Republic claimed that half of Donetsk Oblast was under Russian control.
14 December Three explosions were heard in the centre of Kyiv; President Zelenskyy claimed that Ukrainian air defence forces shot down 13 Shahed-136 drones.
Reports emerged that U.S. officials were finalising and preparing to announce a plan to provide Ukraine with the sophisticated Patriot air defence system, agreeing to an urgent request from Ukrainian leaders amid increasing Russian missile attacks against Ukraine's infrastructure. The Biden administration was reluctant to deploy the system for months, as a Patriot battery complex would need at least 90 trained troops to operate and maintain it, along with concerns that it would provoke Russia to escalate.
The Ukrainian Parliament's Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets claimed that a children's torture chamber had been uncovered in Kherson.
Andrii Yermak, Chief of Staff of the Office of President Zelenskyy, stated that they released around 64 military personnel and a US citizen during a prisoner swap deal with Russia.
15 December President Zelenskyy stated that Russia should start to withdraw their troops by Christmas as a step to end the conflict. Russia responded that there would be "No Christmas Ceasefire" until Ukraine accepted its loss of territory.