Victory Chronicles-DAY 1057

Lithuania has stated that it will consider deploying troops to Ukraine if Kyiv requests the move , according to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys. 

The proposal to deploy an international peacekeeping force in Ukraine has gained traction, particularly as European Union countries prepare to take a more prominent role in Ukraine’s defense under the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Budrys said that Lithuania is open to the idea and that it was discussed at a summit in Paris last year. French President Emmanuel Macron has been advocating for the deployment of European troops in Ukraine since early 2024. The topic was also discussed during meetings between Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as a trilateral meeting with Trump. Zelenskyy and Macron recently had a phone call to discuss Ukraine’s air defense priorities and the possible deployment of peacekeepers, and they agreed to meet in the near future to advance their plans.

Russian forces near the Donetsk regional town of Lyman suffer significant losses – up to 90 percent of their equipment –  during attacks, according to Pavlo Yurchuk, commander of the 63rd Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukrainian precision drones and artillery have been cited as the main reasons for this high rate of destruction. Yurchuk highlighted the superiority of Ukrainian forces in terms of the number and accuracy of unmanned systems, which have been successful in targeting and neutralizing enemy equipment. The use of fiber-optic drones has contributed to the precision control and strikes carried out by Ukrainian soldiers. 

Firefighters in the Donetsk region successfully extinguish a fire in a high-rise building in Pokrovsk. The fire, which started after Russian shelling, affected two apartments located on the second and third floors of the building, covering an area of 100 square meters (1,076 square feet). Fortunately, there were no casualties reported. The prompt response and efforts of the rescuers allowed them to put out the fire and prevent it from causing further damage.

Ukrainian border guards strike an inland enemy boat. In the south, border guards using aerial reconnaissance spotted and struck a Russian motorboat. As a result, one occupant fell overboard, and three tried to escape ashore. This was reported by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. 

Russian officials continue to deny the existence of a Ukrainian identity and state that is independent of Russia as part of ongoing Kremlin efforts to justify the destruction of the Ukrainian state. 

Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov referred in a news conference on Jan. 14 that “the country that is now called Ukraine” — a clear effort to discredit Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign and independent state. Russian presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev also emphasized the “fraternal” connection between Russia and Ukraine and rejected any suggestion that Russia and Ukraine have distinct cultural and historical identities.

Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin published an essay in July 2021 arguing that ethnic Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Russians all belong to the same “Russian nation,” and Kremlin officials have reiterated these false narratives throughout the war. The Kremlin’s ongoing information operation attempting to portray Russians and Ukrainians as one unified nation and culturally and historically homogeneous is one of its most significant information operations aimed at undermining Western support for Ukraine. 

Calls for the West to acquiesce to all of Russia’s demands in Ukraine require the West to tacitly acknowledge and agree that a Ukrainian identity and state independent from Russia either does not currently exist or does not deserve to exist in the future.

Jr. Sgt. Oleksandr Veraksha, call sign Shakh, was killed on May 15, 2024, while performing a combat mission near the village of Terny in the Donetsk region. The warrior was 35 years old. 

Veraksha was born in the city of Kherson. He graduated from the Kherson Basic Medical College and received a paramedical degree. He worked in the intensive care unit of the Kherson Regional Infectious Diseases Hospital. He loved music. He played the drums and guitar. During the full-scale Russian invasion, the officer served in the 95th irborne Assault Brigade. He was a combat medic, who saved the lives ofhis comrades.

For his worthy service, the officer was awarded various awards, including the Golden Cross and the Order “For Courage” of the III degree. “My beloved husband was a very kind man, talented, never refused to help others, and the best drummer in town. He saved many lives on the battlefield,” said his  widowed wife. The hero was buried on the Alley of Glory at the Geologists Cemetery in his native Kherson.

Veraksha  is survived by his mother Liudmyla, his wife Oleksandra, and his sister Aliona.

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

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