Victory Chronicles-DAY 1100

Russian advances have stalled near the Donetsk regional town of Pokrovsk, Viktor Trehubov, said a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia group, the primary military unit on the eastern front of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. 

Speaking to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Feb. 27, he said the embattled town remains one of the most contested areas on the front line. The two other hot spots are in the same region: Chasiv Yar and Toretsk, while the Kupiansk axis in the Kharkiv region remains contested as is diminishing territory that Kyiv forces occupy in Russia’s Kursk region.

MIlitary Commander-in-Chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi previously said that 7,000 Russian soldiers were killed near Pokrovsk in January. Ukrainian forces repelled 33 Russian attacks in the Pokrovsk sector over the past day, the General Staff said in its latest update.

According to Trehubov, Russia’s offensive from the south and an attempt to bypass Pokrovsk from the west have failed. He said that Russian troops deployed in the area are becoming exhausted. Pokrovsk is heavily fortified so Moscow’s forces are trying to encircle it instead of making direct assaults on the town. 

Ukraine’s mine removal efforts  requires an estimated $29.8 billion. Ukraine needs an estimated $29.8 billion to clear mines planted by Russia in areas affected by the war, Ukraine’s Economy Ministry reported, citing the latest Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA4). 

The assessment was conducted by Washington-based lender World Bank, the Ukrainian government, the European Union, and the United Nations. In turn, the UN said in October that Ukraine was the most mined country in the world, with 23 percent of its territory at risk of contamination from landmines. Previous estimates of the cost to clear the mines, according to the RDNA4 report, have decreased $4.8 billion compared to earlier assessments due to progress in surveying and clearing former combat zones.

The report’s authors noted that technological advancements, including sensor technology, aerial imaging, and machine learning, could further accelerate and reduce the cost of mine clearing operations. As such efforts are expected to take decades, the report emphasizes the importance of building long-term institutional capacity and strengthening partnerships with international organizations that specialize in land munitions..

Six civilian killed, 10 injured in Russian airstrikes on Donetsk region’s Kostyantynivka town. At least six civilians were killed and 10 injured in multiple Russian airstrikes on residential areas in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, over the past day, local authorities reported.

The attacks caused large fires in private homes and apartment buildings. According to initial assessments, the strikes destroyed 11 private houses and 18 apartment buildings. An administrative building and several infrastructural facilities were also damaged. Additionally, 12 market stalls, 10 garages, and 13 vehicles were affected by the bombardment.

Emergency services continue firefighting and rescue operations despite ongoing threats of repeated strikes.

Russian attack on Kostiantynivka leaves casualties, ignites huge blaze. Russian forces shelled the Donetsk regional town of Kostiantynivka for several hours on Feb. 26, striking residential buildings and trapping civilians under rubble and flames. One of the strikes ignited a massive fire in an apartment complex, prompting an urgent response from emergency services.

Patrol officers, along with Donetsk regional police and rescue teams, conducted door-to-door searches to rescue victims, provide assistance, and evacuate those trapped in blocked apartments.

Following the evacuation, police secured the site to allow emergency responders to extinguish the fire and address the aftermath of the attack. The news was confirmed by the First Deputy Chief of the Patrol Police Department.

Key Takeaways:

• US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are planning to meet at the White House on February 28, likely to sign a US-Ukraine mineral deal. A draft agreement of the deal published ahead of the meeting does not provide US security assistance or security guarantees to Ukraine, however.
• Russian officials directly involved in negotiations with the United States continue to insist that any peace agreement to resolve the war in Ukraine must be based on Russia’s 2021 demands. They also insist on the surrender to Russia of territory that Ukrainian forces currently hold that is home to major cities and well over a million people.
• Russia is demanding that Ukraine surrender several large cities that Russian forces do not currently occupy and have no prospect of seizing, handing over one million Ukrainians to Russia.
• Lavrov’s and other Kremlin officials’ continued rejections of a ceasefire and other terms that US President Donald Trump and European leaders have identified as necessary to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine demonstrate that Russian President Vladimir Putin remains uninterested in meaningful negotiations and assesses that he can achieve his war objectives militarily in the medium- to long-term.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Toretsk and Pokrovsk, and Russian forces recently advanced near Kupyansk, Chasiv Yar, Kurakhove, Velyka Novosilka, and Robotyne.
• Russian officials proposed that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) assume control over all Russian pretrial detention facilities amid reports that the FSB is in charge of a pretrial detention facility linked to the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).

Oleksandr Dzhuraiev, a soldier whose call sign is “Lecha,” was killed on Feb. 27, 2024, near the town of Krasnohorivka in the Donetsk Oblast. Aged 31 years old, he was fatally wounded during a combat mission when Russian forces launched a mortar attack.

Dzhuraiev was born in the Karkiv regional village of Oleksandrivka. He attended the local secondary school named after Ivan Buriak before training as a pastry chef at Kharkiv Vocational College. He spent much of his life working as a pastry chef in Bulgaria, with his last job at Slobozhanska Technology Company. He enjoyed playing computer games and engaged in sports, especially soccer.

In August 2023, during Russia’s full-scale invasion, Dzhuraiev was drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the 80th Air Assault Brigade as an anti-tank missile system operator in a fire support platoon.

“My brother was a kind person. He loved animals, never held grudges, and was always ready to help anyone in need. He dreamed of a better future for all of us and hoped to visit our grandmother in Tashkent one day,” his sister Alina said. “His comrades say he was one of the best.” Dzhuraiev was posthumously awarded the Order for Courage, 3rd class. He was buried in his hometown. He is survived by his parents, sister, and brother.

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

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