Victory Chronicles-DAY 1072

Recent analysis by open-source intelligence site Deep State affiliated with Ukraine’s Defense Ministry says that fighting for the fortified town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region is in decline. 

Instead of directly attacking it, Russian forces have tried to encircle it and cut off main lines of communications for supplies and logistics. 

The town, nevertheless, is considered a strategic hub and should invading Moscow forces take it, it is considered a gateway to the other important Donetsk regional towns of Karmatosk and Kostyatynivka. 

Ukrainian forces for more than a year have held defenses there amid mass daily Russian assaults with their estimated daily losses of up to 250 military personnel. 

“The enemy is trying to advance around the clock,” Maksym Bakulin, a spokesman for the Ukrainian National Guard units fighting in Pokrovsk, told Army TV on Jan. 28.

He continued: “Previously, they often sent [troops] on foot, now in most cases they bring them closer, land them [in vehicles] and try to fight under the cover of artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems.”

Kyiv says Russia has lost more than 800,000 military personnel since the all-out invasion in February 2022, a figure which more or less is corroborated by U.S. and British  intelligence estimates. 

Sources: DeepStateUA, InfoNapalm, Kyiv Independent

New NATO member country Sweden announced it will provide Ukraine with its largest aid package to date worth $1.23 billion (13.5 billion kronor). 

It includes equipment purchased from Swedish and foreign defense companies for Ukraine’s military in the amount of about 5.9 billion Swedish kronor. Financial contributions to various funds for the purchase of military equipment and ammunition in the amount of about 2.8 billion Swedish kronor are also allocated.

In addition, Ukraine will also receive material assets worth about 3.3 billion Swedish kronor from Sweden’s military. This includes, in particular, 146 trucks; 16 combat boats; 23 weapon stations for marine use; 1 million units of 12.7-millimeter ammunition; 1,500 anti-tank guided missiles; 200 anti-tank weapons, infantry equipment for soldiers and units; personal protective equipment against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats.

Sources: Reuters, Ukrinform, Defense Express, Swedish Ministry of Defense

Two Ukrainian border guards finally came home after 34 months in brutal Russian captivity and having undergone subsequent rehabilitation following their return. They were reunited with their loved ones on Jan. 30 – both in the Odesa region: Izmail and Vylkove. 

They had protected the Snake Island near the Danube River delta in the early days of Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and were taken prisoner. They were initially captured when tried to rescue Ukrainian prisoners on the island and were also taken captive. 

Source: State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

The invisible battles of Ukrainian military medics

Journalists from the Kyiv Independent shadowed a group of Ukrainian military medics as they journeyed from the heat of battle in war-torn Ukraine to the serene forests of Sweden for a short mental respite to decompress from the stress of war.
For the first time since 2022, these medics had a chance to process the trauma they have experienced – ​​grappling with the loss of brothers-in-arms, surviving Russian captivity, and the weight of guilt over soldiers they couldn’t save. This nearly 1-hour documentary film is about them and is free to view.

Source: Kyiv Independent
Journalists from the Kyiv Independent shadowed a group of Ukrainian military medics as they journeyed from the heat of battle in war-torn Ukraine to the serene forests of Sweden for a short mental respite to decompress from the stress of war.
For the first time since 2022, these medics had a chance to process the trauma they have experienced – ​​grappling with the loss of brothers-in-arms, surviving Russian captivity, and the weight of guilt over soldiers they couldn’t save. This nearly 1-hour documentary film is about them and is free to view.

Source: Kyiv Independent

Key Takeaways:

• Kremlin newswire TASS published an interview with Valdai Discussion Club Research Director Fyodor Lukyanov on Jan. 30 entitled “Don’t count on big agreements,” highlighting the Kremlin’s ongoing efforts to shape domestic and global expectations about future negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.
• Lukyanov stated during the interview that the “main thing” for future peace negotiations regarding Ukraine is “not the territories” but addressing the “root causes” of the war, which Lukyanov defined as NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe in the 1990s and early 2000s.
• Lukyanov’s statements assume that Trump and his administration are weak and more susceptible to being intimidated by the Kremlin’s shows of force than the former Biden Administration.
• People’s Republic of China (PRC)-based companies continue to supply Russia with critical materials needed to sustain Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine.
• The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on Jan. 28 defining its position on peace in Ukraine, closely echoing the principle of “peace through strength” that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously outlined.
• The U.S. military reportedly recently transferred Patriot missiles from Israel to Poland and is expected to deliver these missiles to Ukraine.
• Ukrainian forces recently regained lost positions near Kharkiv and Pokrovsk, and Russian forces recently advanced near Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, and Kurakhove and in the Dnipro direction.

Ukrainian soldier Ruslan Kapalchyk, 47, was put to rest on Jan. 24 in Uzhhorod in the westernmost region of Zakarpattya. He was killed in late December while on a combat mission in the easternmost region of Donetsk. 

War veterans, his loved ones, close friends, and local politicians came to the funeral. 

Sources: Ukrinform, Suspilne, Uzhhorod City Council

• BBC: Russo-Ukrainian war: Countdown has begun to end of Putin, say Kyiv officials
• The New York Times: Many Ukrainian aid groups stop work after Trump’s halt on foreign assistance
• Reuters: Ukraine special forces say N.Korean troops not seen at front in three weeks
• Kyiv Independent: Ukraine’s inflation set to peak by mid-2025, cool to 8% by year-end, central bank says