Victory Chronicles-DAY 1157

Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians  in a brutal overnight missile strike on Kyiv on April 24, calling it a clear act of terror against non-combatants.

“This was a direct attack on civilian infrastructure,” Klymenko stated, regarding the dozens of buildings, a school and kindergarten that were struck. .

The assault, which Ukraine is documenting as a potential war crime, devastated parts of the capital. Preliminary assessments indicate that at least 25 apartment buildings were damaged, along with an educational facility and a childcare center in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district.

Klymenko said initial evidence suggests the missile that struck a residential building was ballistic. Forensic experts collected missile fragments from the scene, and further conclusions will follow after examination.

Russia’s cultural theft: 360,000 archival documents from Kherson. In a striking act of cultural erasure, Russian occupation forces unlawfully seized nearly 360,000 archival documents from the southern city of Kherson before their retreat, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) revealed on April 24.

The materials, part of the National Archival Fund of Ukraine, hold immense historical value, encompassing state, cultural, and regional records that form a part of Ukraine’s historical memory. Their forced removal, experts say, is an assault on Ukrainian identity. 

“This constitutes a gross violation of international humanitarian law, specifically the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict,” the agency stated.

In response, Ukrainian intelligence and the State Archival Service of Ukraine have listed individuals and insitutions allegedly involved in the looting of the “Stolen Heritage” section of the War & Sanctions database — a public registry that tracks the appropriation of Ukrainian cultural assets.

Officials say the stolen materials have since been integrated into Russian archival infrastructure as part of a systemic campaign of cultural genocide.

Russian drone strike on Pavlohrad kills two adult civilians and child, injures ten. Russia launched a barrage of drone attacks on Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region overnight on April 25, killing three people — including a 15-year-old girl — and injured ten more in the city of Pavlohrad.

According to regional officials, the drones ignited multiple fires across the region. One of the blazes broke out in a multi-story residential building in Pavlohrad.

Ten people were ultimately reported injured, eight of whom required hospitalization. Among them was a 17-year-old boy and a 36-year-old woman in serious condition. The rest were listed in moderate condition. A rescue worker was also wounded in a secondary so-called double tap strike, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) reported.

Ukrainian Intelligence: Russian Su-30SM Fighter Jet Destroyed in Rostov-on-Don Airfield Fire. A Russian Su-30SM multirole fighter jet was destroyed in a fire at the Rostov-on-Don Central airfield, according to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR).

The aircraft, reportedly bearing tail number “35”, caught fire and burned on the airfield grounds. The estimated value of the destroyed jet is approximately $50 million. The cause of the fire has not been independently verified. The incident took place in Rostov-on-Don, a major Russian city near the border with Ukraine. The Su-30SM is a twin-engine, highly maneuverable combat aircraft used by the Russian Aerospace Forces for air superiority and ground attack missions.

Key Takeaways:

• Russia is extracting economic benefits from occupied Ukraine by exploiting Ukrainian infrastructure and logistics networks.
• Despite Russia’s drive to exploit economic resources in occupied Ukraine, some Russian companies are struggling to properly manage coal mines in occupied Ukraine, likely putting residents of occupied areas near these mines at risk.
• Russia is actively recruiting teachers from throughout the Russian Federation to teach in occupied Luhansk Oblast as part of the “Zemskyi Uchitel” (“Rural Teacher”) program.

In Memoriam: Ukrainian soldier Serhii Ivanov, a hero of Ukraine’s defense forces. Serhii Ivanov, 51, a soldier with the 109th Territorial Defense Brigade, was killed in action on March 10, 2024, by a Russian drone strike near the village of Oleksandropil in Donetsk Oblast.

Born in the city of Sloviansk, Ivanov attended local schools and later worked as a ceramic artisan. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he volunteered for military service without hesitation.

He served as a gunner in an anti-aircraft machine gun unit within a fire support company. In September 2023, Ivanov was honored with the “Unbreakable Heroes of the Russo-Ukrainian War” medal awarded by a national civic association. Ivanov was laid to rest in the city of Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. He is survived by his son, mother and sister.

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

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