Victory Chronicles-DAY 1093

Nearly two-thirds of Ukrainians oppose holding elections during conditions of martial law of wartime, according to a new poll released on Feb. 20 by the Kyiv-based SOCIS Sociological Centre.

This month’s survey found that 63 percent  of respondents aged 18 years and older want to postpone all elections until after the Russia-instigated war ends. Only 29 percent  support holding simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections.

Just 3 percent  favor electing only a new parliament, while less than 1 percent support solely holding presidential elections.

The findings come amid Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin questioning the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s tenure because his service term has expired, but under martial law elections cannot be held, according to Ukraine’s constitution. In that vein, Putin – himself an illegitimately-elected president –  says any ceasefire talks would not have solid ground.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration also is pressureing Kyiv to hold elections. 

 discussion. 

Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated Ukraine will not recognize any agreements made without Kyiv’s participation and influential European Union member country leaders have stated the same – that they should be included in peace talks..

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry presentуs this year’s drone procurement strategy during a meeting with the Unmanned Systems (USF) Forces of Ukraine association, officials announced Feb. 20.

The ministry has allocated more than 44 billion hryvnias ($1.1 billion) for first-person view drones, including fiber optic models, according to Hlib Kanievskyi, director of the ministry’s procurement policy department.

Fiber optic model drones are impervious to electronic warfare technology and evade detection more easily. About ninety percent of drones that Kyiv’s military uses are domestically produced. 

“Ensuring technological advantage over the enemy is one of our key objectives for 2025,” Kanievskyi said. “While last year’s main financial resources were directed toward long-range deepstrike purchases, this year we’re focusing on FPV drones.”

The meeting addressed streamlining bureaucratic procedures to accelerate the integration of new drone models into military units. Ukraine’s newest military unit, the USF, was formed in June 2024.

Emergency workers continue dismantle work  on sections of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s containment shelter six days after a Russian drone strike, officials said on Feb. 18.

Climbers from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service are removing damaged portions of the protective structure while extinguishing smoldering materials, according to an update from the government agency. Teams are using thermal imaging drones to monitor for potential new hot spots.

“Radiation levels at the Chornobyl industrial site remain within normal limits,” the emergency service said on social media. “There is no threat to the population. The situation is under control.”

The Feb. 14 Russian drone attack damaged the containment shelter covering the plant’s fourth inactive reactor, which exploded in 1986 in the world’s worst nuclear disaster that the Kremlin-led Soviet Union tried to cover up, leading to a fallout that the 2005 United Nations’ Chornobyl forum said led to 4,000 cancer-related deaths and exposed 600,000 people to deadly radiation with longer-term health effects..

Russia kills two civilians, injures in 13 others in guided bomb attack on southern Kherson region. Overnight, Russian forces dropped 10 guided bombs on population centers in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, local authorities reported on Feb. 19. Two 13-year-old children were among the 13 injured civilians.

According to the Kherson regional police, three bombs hit Tokarivka, two struck Havrylivka, and another two targeted Novooleksandrivka. The remaining three bombs hit residential areas in the city of Kherson.

The attack follows a separate airstrike late on Feb.17 , when a Russian aircraft dropped bombs on an apartment building in Kherson’s Dniprovskyi district. The strike injured 13-year-old twins—a boy and a girl—and left their mother trapped under rubble. Rescue teams continue to search for survivors. Local officials have set up an emergency response center and a shelter for displaced residents from the high-rise residential building.

Key Takeaways:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly trying to optimize the Russian negotiations delegation to be most effective with the specific individuals whom the United States chooses for its negotiation delegation, likely in an effort to extract maximum concessions from the United States.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz reiterated on February 18 that US President Donald Trump’s position that the war in Ukraine must end in a way that is “fair, enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all parties involved” remains unchanged.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated on February 19 that Ukraine needs either NATO membership or a strong military and security guarantees for a sustainable peace.
• US Special Representative for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on February 19 for his first official visit to Ukraine.
• Ukrainian forces continue to conduct drone strikes against Russian energy facilities supplying the Russian military.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Vovchansk and Toretsk, and Russian forces recently advanced near Borova, Siversk, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, and Velyka Novosilka.
• Russian federal subjects are reportedly halting their recruitment of foreigners who do not speak Russian for service in the Russian military.

Ukrainian Soldier Oleksandr “Lybid” Fedorov Killed Near Donetsk regional town of Bakhmut. Oleksandr Fedorov, 47, was killed on Feb. 13, 2024, on the outskirts of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s easternmost Donetsk region during a combat mission. He died after being struck by an enemy drone.

He was born in Torez, Donetsk region, and studied at Vocational School No. 86 in Snizhne, where he trained as an underground electrician. At 17, he began working at the Zorya mine.

In 2000, Fedorov moved to Kyiv with his wife. Eight years later, he fulfilled a lifelong dream: purchasing land in the village of Skrebyshiv near the capital, where he built a house for his family with his own hands. It became his sanctuary—the place he longed to return to from the front.

For a decade in Kyiv, Fedorov worked as an electrician, contributing to several iconic projects, including illuminating the Archangel Michael monument on Independence Square and lighting the refectory and bell tower of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.

In 2011, he co-founded an electrical installation company with his best friend. Fedorov dedicated his life to “creating” light and heat for hundreds of households and businesses. Known for his craftsmanship and golden hands, his favorite hobby was improving his family estate.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Fedorov volunteered on the first day. He served in the 132nd Battalion of the 114th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was deployed to Bakhmut three times and was awarded the medal “For the Defense of Bakhmut”. He returned home twice—but not the third time.

“You were such a wonderful person that the pain of your loss will never disappear for any of us,” wrote his niece and goddaughter, Olena Fedorova. “I dreamed of you growing old, sitting in the yard of your big house in the summer, entertaining your grandchildren with stories. I wanted just one more birthday together, the whole family gathered like before. That was my only dream, and it will never come true without you.”

Fedorov was buried in Skrebyshiv in the Kyiv region. He is survived by his parents, Viktoriia and Oleksandr, his wife Maryna, son Ihor, daughter Karina, older brother Andrii, and other relatives.

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

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