Victory Chronicles-DAY 1062

Ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 19, Russia “particularly” used ballistic missiles and Shahed attack drones to bombard Ukraine, including Kyiv overnight the previous day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. 

Three civilians in Kyiv were killed as well as three injured after projectiles targeting the city were intercepted and debris fell on a centrally located subway station and a nearby McDonald’s eatery, the city’s oldest that opened in 1997. 

A woman aged 41 years, and two men, aged 25 and 43, were the civilians killed, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. 

Across the country, a total of eight civilians reportedly were killed and 38 injured, regional authorities said. 

Thirty-nine drones were launched on Ukrainian regions, Ukraine’s Air Force said, while adding that four difficult-to-intercept ballistic missiles were fired. The Kharkiv and Zaprozhzhia regions were among the others targeted during the attack. 

The damaged Lukyanivka subway station opened later the same day as did the adjacent Kvadrat shopping mall in the southern-central part of Kyiv. 

A water main and 10 vehicles in the capital also suffered damage. 

A suspected Russian collaborator employed as an engineer for the Kyiv Metro (subway system) was arrested the same day of the attacks for allegedly leading a network of agents who provided Russia with coordinates for missile and drone attacks. The unnamed male suspect, whose face was blurred in a picture that was released, allegedly was recruited by Russia’s Federal Security Service in 2015 to spy on Ukraine, Ukraine’s Security Service said after his arrest. He had later recruited a Kharkiv resident who previously worked for Ukraine’s state railways Ukrzaliznytsia and had deserted from military service. 

Sources: Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyiv City Military Administration, Ukrainian Air Force, Security Service of Ukraine, New Voice of Ukraine, Kyiv Independent

Women comprise about 20 percent percent of Ukraine’s military recruits, the Ukrainian Army Recruitment Center said as of Jan. 10. Nearly half, or 46 percent, of recruits in the Chernivtsi region are women, followed by 41 percent in the Khmelnytskyi and 38 percent in the Ternopil regions. 

Tetyana Ostashchenko became the first woman to be named general in Ukraine’s Armed Forces in August 2021 as a brigadier general of medical services. There is also one known Ukrainian female general in the Security Service (SBU). The first woman to pass Ukraine’s five-week rigorous training course to join the Special Operations Forces was in July 2023. 

Sources: Ukrainian Army Recruitment Center, Novynarnia, UNIAN

A Ukrainian nighttime drone operator is seen on Jan. 18 somewhere along the front line. More than 96 percent of the drones Ukraine used in 2024 were domestically produced, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said late in December. Meanwhile, about 30 percent of the weapons Ukraine uses on the battlefield were made in-country, Ukrainian President Volydymyr Zelensky said on New Year’s Day. This year, Ukraine  plans to produce 3,000 cruise missiles and missile drones, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. 

Source: Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Office of the President of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Defense Ministry of Ukraine

Five Russian assaults on positions of Ukraine’s Edelweiss Mountain Assault Brigade reportedly led to the death of 39 Russian servicemen on Jan. 14. 

The eight-minute long video footage shows precise drone strikes on armored equipment as well as a motorcycle squad during the failed assaults. The heartstopping video shows the professionalism of nighttime drone operators as they engage advancing Russian units to their demise. 

EXCERPT: 

Ukrainian forces struck two Russian oil depots in Kaluga and Tula oblasts on the night of Jan. 17 to 18. The Ukrainian General Staff reported on Jan. 18 that Ukrainian Special Operation Forces (SSO) units and other Ukrainian forces struck an oil depot of the Kaluganeftprodukt joint-stock company (JSC) near Lyudinovo, Kaluga Oblast, causing a fire at the facility on the night of January 17 to 18.Geolocated footage and other footage published by Russian military bloggers showed a fire at an oil depot near Didilovo, Tula Oblast.

Ukrainian forces also struck a Russian air defense system and radars in occupied Ukraine on the night of January 17 to 18. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces struck a Russian “Nebo-SVU” long-range radar detection system in occupied Kherson Oblast; a Buk-M3 air defense system in occupied Donetsk Oblast; and a 9C32M radiolocation station of a S-300 air defense system in occupied Donetsk Oblast on January 18. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that they are conducting battle damage assessments (BDA) of the strikes.

Former Belarusian activist turned Ukrainian volunteer legionnaire Maria Zaitseva was killed in battle on Jan. 17, a day after her 24th birthday. She fell near the Donetsk regional town of Bakhmut fighting with the 2nd International Brigade. She had taken part in pro-democratic protests in Minsk after a sham, rigged presidential election during which Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko retained his iron-grip hold over the country. After sustaining a head injury from a stun grenade in August 2020 shown by a picture that went viral, she underwent several surgeries in Czechia. After recovering, she later volunteered to fight for Ukraine when Russia launched a full-blown invasion in February 2022. 

Source: Nasha Niva

• ABC News: How the CIA and Ukrainian intelligence secretly forged a deep partnership
• The Guardian: ‘Animals can feel good and evil’: film puts new perspective on Ukraine war
• RFE/RL: Ukrainian official insists Pokrovsk ‘stable’ amid fierce attacks, evacuation
• Sky News: Ukrainian Marines on war with Russia amid concerns of Donald Trump’s return to the White House
• Defense Express: The UK Defense Intelligence: Recent territorial gains signal renewed focus on critical axis in Donetsk region