Victory Chronicles-DAY 1022

In the temporarily occupied city of Donetsk, a “DPR court” has sentenced nine Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol to 24 years to life in prison. The defenders, from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, were captured by Azovstal. The occupiers claim that the defenders of Ukraine allegedly shelled the village of Staryi Krym in March 2022. The fighters will serve their sentences in a strict regime penal colony. 

This comes after the “Supreme Court” of the illegal military formation “DPR” sentenced eight Ukrainian defenders who allegedly shelled Mariupol to 17 years in prison on November 11, 2024.

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, revealed that 109 executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russians were officially confirmed in 2024. Lubinets highlighted that in previous years of the full-scale war, a total of 177 cases were recorded. He also noted that intelligence and law enforcement agencies have repeatedly provided information about frequent violations of prisoners of war rights by Russians. Lubinets expressed his frustration that he couldn’t publicize these violations when they were first documented, but stated that efforts are now being made to bring attention to these blatant breaches of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions. 

In Zaporizhzhia, two women were rescued from the rubble of a destroyed building after they called the Rescue Service to report their location. The women had been under the rubble for more than seven hours before being rescued using special equipment. The incident occurred after Russians attacked Zaporizhzhia, destroying a private clinic and damaging nearby buildings. In addition to the women, a man who was initially declared dead during the search and rescue operation was successfully resuscitated by Zaporizhzhia medics.

The AHILLES battalion of the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, along with the 1st Bureviy Brigade and 77th Airmobile Brigade, successfully repelled an enemy mechanized attack in the Kupiansk sector. The enemy deployed eight armored vehicles in the direction of Kruhlyakivka. However, the AHILLES battalion managed to damage and stop all eight armored vehicles. Through the use of FPV drones, they ultimately destroyed six vehicles, including a tank, three infantry fighting vehicles, and two MT-LBs. 

Russia intends to supply North Korea with fighter jets amid growing military partnership between the two countries. US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) commander Admiral Samuel Paparo revealed on December 10 that Russia and North Korea struck a deal in which Russia agreed to send MiG-29 and Su-27 fighter aircraft to Pyongyang in exchange for North Korea deploying troops to Russia to support Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Paparo highlighted that North Korea’s receipt of these aircraft will enhance its military capabilities and that Pyongyang likely expects additional military equipment and technologies from Russia, including ballistic missile reentry vehicles, submarine technologies, and air defense systems, as part of the agreement. Paparo noted that North Korean soldiers remain in combat zones, likely in reference to Kursk Oblast, but are not yet actively fighting. South Korean network TV Chosun published an exclusive report on October 21 stating that North Korea dispatched an unspecified number of fighter pilots to Vladivostok before the deployment of ground troops to Russia in early October likely in an effort to train its pilots to fly Russian fighter jets. 

North Korean pilots are trained on Russian Su-25 attack aircraft (which are already part of the Korean People’s Army [KPA] Air Force fleet) further indicating that a Russian delivery of fighter jets will benefit and expand North Korea’s military capabilities, especially in the air domain. ISW continues to assess that military coopecration between Russia and North Korea has particularly intensified since the two countries signed their Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in June 2024, and especially since it entered into force on December 4.

On 3 July 2024, 24-year-old fighter Volodymyr “Columbus” Kliashtoforskyi died near the village of Novoyehorivka, Luhansk region. While performing a combat mission, he was fatally wounded as a result of an OZM-72 enemy mine explosion.

Volodymyr was born in the village of Nahiryanka, Ternopil region. After school, he mastered the profession of a turner at the Ternopil Vocational School. He loved working with details. After graduation, he served in the military.

On 24 February 2022, Volodymyr joined the ranks of the defenders. At first, he served in the 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He fought in the Kherson and Donetsk regions. He was awarded the Golden Cross and the Bakhmut Defence Medal. In 2023, he was transferred to the 3rd separate assault brigade, where he took up the position of a sapper in the engineering and demining section of an engineering platoon. He performed combat missions in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

‘He was the most positive person I know. I don’t know anyone else who loved life as much as he did. He was a man who loved to live beautifully! Whenever I asked how he was doing, his answer was always: ‘I’m fine,’ said Khrystyna, the victim’s cousin.

Volodymyr was buried in his native village next to a high mound with a cross over the grave of eight fallen fellow Ukrainian insurgents, as he had wished. The defender is survived by his parents, younger sister, girlfriend, other relatives, friends and comrades-in-arms.

*Volodymyr’s story on the Heroes Memorial – a platform for stories about the fallen defenders of Ukraine.

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