Victory Chronicles-DAY 1106

Russian forces launched a massive aerial attack on critical infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region overnight on March 4, leaving parts of the city without power, water, and heat. A civilian male was killed in a village near the Black Sea port city. Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov confirmed the attack, stating that first responders were working to restore utilities.

Regional Gov. Oleh Kiper later reported that debris from downed Russian drones damaged single-family homes on the outskirts of Odesa, sparking fires that were being extinguished by emergency responders.

During the air raid, Russian forces also launched a ballistic missile strike on the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district. The projectile struck  a vacant sanatorium, nearly destroying the building. 

No casualties were reported. Shortly after midnight on March 5, Kiper announced that a 77-year-old resident of the village of Lymanka was killed from shrapnel wounds following the drone attack.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) released images of the destruction, confirming large-scale damage to single-familyhomes and critical infrastructure. More than 60 emergency workers were involved in response efforts.

The attack came a day after Russian forces launched drone strikes on Odesa on March 3, damaging residential buildings, a business center, and disrupting heating services. Several people were injured in that assault.

Survey: 70 percent of Americans say Ukraine not to blame for Russo-Ukrainian war. A majority of U.S. citizens do not believe Ukraine bears more responsibility for the war launched against it by Russia, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted on March 3-4.

The study found that 70 percent of respondents rejected the idea that Ukraine was more to blame for the ongoing war already in its fourth year, while 7 percent said it was. The remaining 23 percent were unsure or did not respond.Political party partisan differences were evident in the results. Among Democrats, 81 percent said Ukraine was not more responsible for the war, compared to 62 percent of Republicans. Meanwhile, 11 percent of Republican respondents said Ukraine was largely to blame.

The survey also found Americans divided on a proposal backed by U.S.  President Donald Trump that the U.S. should receive a share of Ukraine’s mineral resources in exchange for military assistance.

Russian forces destroy Nova Poshta parcel service branch near Odesa. Overnight on March 5, Russian forces struck a Nova Poshta branch in the suburbs of Odesa with a kamikaze Shahed drone, damaging the building and destroying over 600 parcels.

The privately-owned Ukrainian postal service confirmed the attack, stating that one of the drones completely destroyed the facility. Despite the extensive damage, no casualties were reported.

According to Nova Poshta, the destroyed parcels had a total declared value that exceeded 1 million Ukrainian hryvnia ($24,000). The company described the destruction as a significant loss but confirmed that its staff was unharmed.

Ukraine’s defense forces destroy Russian ammunition depot in occupied Donetsk region. In the early hours of February 28, Ukraine’s military destroyed a storage facility containing thermobaric munitions used by Russian forces in the temporarily occupied part of the Donetsk region, near the town of Selydove.

Additionally, Ukrainian strikes targeted three other key Russian facilities, including the Ilsky Oil Refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, which is involved in supplying the Russian military. The extent of the damage is currently being assessed.

Key Takeaways:

• US President Donald Trump ordered a pause on US military aid to Ukraine on March 3, suspending the delivery of critical warfighting materiel.
• The United States had been providing Ukraine with artillery ammunition, armored vehicles, towed howitzers, Patriot air defense batteries, and long-range rocket and missile systems such as HIMARS and ATACMS — many of which are sophisticated systems that only the United States can supply.
• The frontline in Ukraine does not risk imminent collapse, but the effects of the US aid pause will become more acute over time.
• The European Commission proposed a plan on March 4 that would enable EU member states to increase defense spending to support Ukraine and strengthen European security. European rearmament is vital for Europe’s short- and long-term security, and Europe should pursue these efforts regardless of the status of US aid to Ukraine.
• Ukraine has significantly expanded its defense industrial production capabilities throughout the war in an effort to eventually meet its military needs independently, but Ukraine’s ability to become self-sufficient in the long-term is contingent on continued support from partner states in the short- and medium-term.
• The Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated on March 4 Ukraine’s commitment to work with the Trump Administration to achieve a sustainable and lasting peace in Ukraine.
• The high casualties in Russia’s war in Ukraine are the direct result of Putin’s determination to conquer all of Ukraine using horrific and costly tactics, and Putin can dramatically reduce this killing any time he chooses.
• The Kremlin continues to express cautious optimism about the pausing of US military aid to Ukraine and advanced several narratives as part of efforts to impose additional demands on the United States.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman, and Pokrovsk and in western Zaporizhia Oblast, and Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Pokrovsk.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) is reportedly developing a plan to partially demobilize a limited number of mobilized personnel no earlier than July 2025, likely to address growing societal backlash over the lack of rotations and demobilization of Russian mobilized troops for over two years.

Sgt. Vasyl Fok, Callsign Fox, killed in action near Orikhovo-Vasylivka. Sgt. Fok, known by the callsign of Fox, was killed in combat on Sept. 11, 2024, while fighting Russian invaders near the village of Orikhovo-Vasylivka in Donetsk Oblast. He was 28 years old. 

Fok was born in the Lviv regional village of Medenychi. He studied at Medenychi Secondary School before graduating from Medenychi Agrarian and Technological Vocational College. In civilian life, he worked abroad and had a passion for sports, particularly soccer. In 2020, he married his wife, Maryana, and they had a son, Denys, whom he adored. In November 2023, Fok was enlisted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served as a grenadier in the King Danylo 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade. 

“He went to defend his homeland, so that we could live in a free Ukraine and so that his son would never have to see war,” his wife, Maryana, said. Sergeant Fok was laid to rest in his hometown. He is survived by his parents, wife, and young son.

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

• In Democratic response to Trump, Slotkin says “Reagan must be rolling in his grave”
• Majority of French support continued aid to Ukraine and deployment of peacekeepers
• Daily Mail: US bans intelligence sharing with Ukraine
• F-16 pilots thanked American people for their support for Ukraine
• CNN: Minerals agreement: Trump officials wants to “get talks back on track”
• US House Speaker says pause in military aid to Ukraine is “temporary”