Victory Chronicles-DAY 1049

The 8th Regiment of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) eliminated 13 North Korean servicemen during a combat mission in Russia’s Kursk region. The operation involved the use of small arms and drones against the enemy combatants. After the battle, the SOF inspected the bodies of the North Korean soldiers and discovered various items that suggested one of them could have been an officer, such as an assault rifle with a collimator sight, an Azart Sino-Russian radio station, a drone detector, and a unique identification card. 

Additionally, it was found that one of the North Korean soldiers was carrying a letter presumably written to his country’s Workers’ Party.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian losses in the ongoing war have exceeded 800,000 soldiers. In the past 24 hours alone, the Russian invaders lost 1,970 servicemen, both killed and wounded. The total losses for Russia since February 2022 now stand at 800,010. The General Staff also provided details regarding the overall combat losses of the Russian invaders through Jan. 7. 

Besides personnel losses, figures were given for tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery systems, multiple-launch rocket systems, air defense systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and vehicles and tankers. The figures show significant losses in these areas, emphasizing the toll the war has taken on the Russian military.

Kherson region: two people killed and 19 others injured in recent attacks, with three police officers among the wounded. The Russian army caused damage to four private houses, a factory, gas pipeline, shuttle bus, three civilian vehicles, and a police car on the west bank of the Dnipro River. Furthermore, a police vehicle near Komyshany was attacked by the Russian military using a first-person view drone that caused injuries to two Kherson police officers and significant damage to the vehicle. 

Ukrainian border guards successfully destroy the Russian Murom surveillance system and other military equipment in the northern operational zone using FPV drones. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported that effective drone strikes and coordinated actions led to the destruction of a Russian military vehicle, dugouts, and the Murom surveillance system. The Russians had been using the Murom system, which could see a person 10 kilometers away and 4 kilometers with a thermal imager, to monitor the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. A video was published by the border guards depicting the destruction.

Ukrainian forces recently made tactical advances amid continued intensified offensive operations in the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast on Jan. 6. Geolocated footage published on Jan. 5-6 indicates that Ukrainian forces recently advanced in southern Berdin, central Russkoye Porechnoye, and central Novosotnitsky (all northeast of Sudzha).

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Russian military bloggers claimed on Jan. 6 that Russian forces repelled a Ukrainian roughly reduced platoon-sized mechanized assault near Berdin and that Russian forces, including elements of the Russian National Guard’s Talib Group, repelled Ukrainian attacks near Novosotnitsky. 

Russian military bloggers claimed that elements of the Russian 30th Motorized Rifle Regiment (72nd Motorized Rifle Division, 44th Army Corps [AC], Leningrad Military District [LMD]), 2nd Special Forces Brigade (Russian General Staff’s Main Directorate [GRU]), 11th Airborne (VDV) Brigade, and Akhmat Spetsnaz units cleared areas near Berdin and Novosotnitsky. One Russian blogger characterized recent Ukrainian attacks in Kursk Oblast as enhanced reconnaissance in force operations that could be a diversionary effort for unspecified future operations. Increased Ukrainian offensive operations in Kursk Oblast may be the beginning stages of a concerted Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast or elsewhere in the theater, though the ISW is unprepared to offer any specific forecast.

Lt. Volodymyr Kushpit, codenamed Phoenix, was killed on May 25, 2024 during a combat mission near the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk region. The officer was 37 years old. 

Kushpit was born and raised in Lviv. He graduated with honors from the Lviv Institute of Banking. He worked as a sales agent for a beer company. His leisure time was spent with his family. He was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine in January 2023. He took an officer’s course and became a company commander in the 81st Airmobile Slobozhanska Brigade.

During his service, Kushpit received the following honorary awards: the Cross of Military Honor badge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Minister of Defense award “For Wounds” (for sacrificing blood in battles for the freedom of Ukraine), and the Ukrainian president’s award “For Defence of Ukraine.”

“My husband was an extraordinary man. He possessed the best qualities of a man: responsible, determined, kind, caring, intelligent and moderate. He was a loving father, and it was always fun and interesting for the children to spend time with their dad. The best man in the world. I felt his love and care even from a distance. When he himself was under fire and took part in assaults, he was more concerned about how we were doing. His comrades-in-arms remember him as a wonderful person and a good, responsible commander. His contribution to the defense of the state is significant. He had many plans. Many dreams…. My husband loved life and wanted to live in a free and independent Ukraine. He wanted his children to have a decent and happy future. No one has the right to forget the feat of the fallen Heroes of Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine. Eternal glory to the heroes!” said Maria Kushpit. 

The officer was buried at the Marsove Pole of Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv. The hero is survived by his parents, wife, daughter, son, sister and large family.

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

• Trump’s Ukraine envoy postpones Kyiv trip until after Jan. 20 inauguration
• Moldova does not mind if Kyiv helps Transnistria with energy to ‘knock down’ Russian propaganda
• Six Russian missiles shot down in one combat mission – record of Ukrainian F-16 pilot
• Czechia reaches 2 percent GDP defense spending target for first time in 20 years
• Ukrainian sea drone-launched FPV drones hit Russian air defenses in world first, Kyiv says