Parts of Ukraine's

Mykolaiv Oblast Mykolaiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Mykolaivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Mykolaiv. At the most recent estimate, the population ...

came under

military occupation Military occupation, also called belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is temporary hostile control exerted by a ruling power's military apparatus over a sovereign territory that is outside of the legal boundaries of that ruling pow ...

by Russian forces as part of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. By March 2022, after unsuccessfully attempting to take

Voznesensk Voznesensk (, ) is a city in Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Voznesensk Raion within the oblast. It hosts the administration of the . The city has a population of History This city was founded in 1795 o ...

and

capture Capture may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Capture", a song by Simon Townshend * Capture (band), an Australian electronicore band previously known as Capture the Crown * ''Capture'' (TV series), a reality show Television episodes * "Chapter ...

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( ), also known as Nikolaev ( ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and a hromada (municipality) in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the Administrative centre, administrative center of Mykolaiv Raion (Raions of Ukraine, district) and Myk ...

, Russian forces were pushed back to the southeastern part of the oblast. On 21 September 2022, it was reported that the Russian-occupied areas of Mykolaiv Oblast would be incorporated into the Russian administration for the Kherson Oblast. Russia

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

the Kherson Oblast nine days later. On 10 November 2022, Ukrainian forces liberated

Snihurivka Snihurivka ( ) is a small city in Bashtanka Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine. It hosts the administration of . Population: It was occupied by Russia from 19 March 2022 until 10 November 2022. History Snihurivka was a settlement in Kherson ...

, the only Russian-held city in the oblast, amid a complete Russian withdrawal from areas on the right bank of the

Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

. The next day, local Ukrainian officials claimed that the entire Mykolaiv Oblast had been liberated except for the Kinburn Peninsula.

Occupation

Russian occupation regime

Shortly after invading Ukraine, Russian forces occupied the town of Snihurivka, which is approximately 60 km (37.3 miles) from the regional capital of

. Russian forces also occupied surrounding towns near the border with

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast (, ; ), also known as Khersonshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in southern Ukraine. It is located just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson, on the northern or right bank ...

, as well as several villages ( Pokrovka, Pokrovske and Vasylivka) in the Biloberezhia Sviatoslava National Park. In late April, Russian forces prepared a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

to integrate occupied areas into the

Republic of Crimea Crimea, or the Crimean Peninsula, historically also known as the ''Tauric Chersonese'' (Tauric Peninsula, Tauric, Taurica, or Tauris), is a major peninsula in the north of the Black Sea. Crimea may also refer to: Places Crimean Peninsula Republic ...

as well as appoint a governor for the areas.

Russian passport The Russian passport () is a biometric travel document issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Russian citizens for international travel. This external Russian passport is distinct from the internal Russian passport, which is a mandato ...

s and

ruble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s were said to be issued and given out by September 1, and had already been issued and given out in

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

and

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

administrations. On 27 June 2022, the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( ; abbreviated as SBU [] or SSU) is the main Internal security, internal security agency of the Government of Ukraine, Ukrainian government. Its main duties include counter-intelligence activity and combati ...

claimed to have detained a former deputy of the

City Council who was collaborating with Russian forces in

. He was a supporter of the separation of

from

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and the creation of a Russian-backed separatist enclave called the "Mykolaiv People's Republic". He reportedly leaked information about the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

in hopes of obtaining an executive position in the occupying administration. The plan was for the separatist enclave to exist until the end of the

war in Ukraine The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, at which point it would be annexed to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The Russians had allegedly also promised the collaborator an executive position in the "MPR" administration as a reward for his work if they managed to occupy the region. The administration was officially established on 13 August 2022. Mykolaiv MCA former mainland core map

On 2 September, Russian forces captured the settlement of Pervomaiske. The settlement of Partyzanske remained contested. On 21 September, it was announced that the area surrounding Snihurivka as well as the outer portion of the Kinburn Peninsula, which constituted the parts of Mykolaiv Oblast that were under Russian control at the time, would be incorporated into Russia's administration in Kherson Oblast. These areas would eventually be annexed by Russia on 30 September.

Russian annexation

On 8 August 2022, Ekaterina Gubareva, deputy head of the Kherson Civilian-Military Administration announced the annexation of occupied territories of Mykolaiv Oblast. She also claimed that in some occupied towns, Russian mobile communications have begun to work. According to her, such a decision was made in order to provide the population with social payments in the "liberated" territories, as well as to establish mobile communications and television broadcasting. On 13 August 2022, an article published by

Tass The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

, claimed that Yuriy Barbashov, governor of occupied territories claimed that a referendum in Snihurivka would take place to join Russia. The referendum would be aligned as the one in the

. On 11 September, following a major Ukrainian counteroffensive in

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

, it was announced that the proposed annexation referendums would be "indefinitely" postponed. On 30 September, Russia officially

the

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

and

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

Oblasts An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

. The occupied areas of the Mykolaiv Oblast including Snihurivka and Oleksandrivka were streamlined into the

claimed by Russia. The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

subsequently passed a resolution calling on countries not to recognise what it described as an "attempted illegal annexation" and demanded that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw".

Ukrainian counteroffensive

Amid the Russian withdrawal across the

, it was reported that Russian troops were leaving Snihurivka and evacuating the population into Crimea and the occupied Kherson Oblast. During this time, Ukrainian forces recaptured

Ternovi Pody Ternovi Pody ( Ukrainian: Тернові Поди) is a settlement in Mykolaiv Raion of Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is part of Lyubomyriv Village Council. It belongs to Shevchenkove rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Ternovi Pody h ...

and Liubomyrivka, west of occupied Tsentralne, after conducting several raids. On 9 November, the Russian Defense Minister

Sergei Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as secretary of the Security Council since 2024. He served as Minister of Defence of Russia from 2012 to 2024. Shoigu has served a ...

announced the withdrawal of Russian forces from the right bank of the

. The next day, Ukrainian forces re-entered the town of

and raised the Ukrainian flag. A few other small settlements remained under Russian control. By 11 November Ukrainian forces had regained control of almost all of the oblast with only the outer portion of the Kinburn Peninsula remaining under Russian occupation.

Impact

The village of Maksymivka was completely destroyed. A mass grave was found in Snihurivka with 27 dead civilians. At the same time, it was emphasized that no mass burial sites were found in the city, as in the massacre in Bucha,

Kyiv oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

. All the bodies were buried in individual graves. Much of the city was damaged and destroyed. A tomato plant, built in 2018, had been bombed and destroyed using grad multiple rocket launchers.

Control of settlements

Notes

References

{{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Mykolaiv Oblast in the Russian invasion of Ukraine *