Victory Chronicles
-DAY 120

MARIUPOL DEFENDERS

Above: Azov Defenders surrender after superhuman defense. Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Kyrylo Budanov expressed hope that a significant number of Azov Defenders will be exchanged “in the very near future.”  Photo via Tempo

COMBAT HIGHLIGHTS

Above: “Cannon fodder” conscripts from DPR wearing gear from another era.  Photos via Canadian Ukrainian Volunteer

• The Mayor of Severodonetsk Oleksandr Stryuk estimated that seven- to eight-thousand civilians remain in the city. Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai disclosed that the road from Lysychansk to Bakhmut is impassable.
• Russia has made significant improvements in its air-defense capacity in Donbas, reducing the effectiveness of Ukrainian drones like the Turkish Bayraktar and US Gray Eagle.  Ukraine also suffers from a lack of fighter planes.  Enemy air-defense improvements are limited to Donbas, and elsewhere in Ukraine, drones and airstrikes are effective.
• The UK Ministry of Defense estimated that conscripted forces from the Donetsk People’s Republic have been reduced by fifty-five percent.  Since the beginning of the war, stories have circulated about the forced mobilization of men aged eighteen to sixty-five living in the illegally occupied Donetsk breakaway region and sent to battle without proper training or equipment.  This is a living example of the tiny despot’s contempt for human life.
• Retired US General Mark Hertling characterized the battle for Donbas as a heavyweight boxing match with punches and counterpunches, but neither opponent was able to deliver the knockout blow.  He predicts that it will come as enemy forces are further depleted and Ukraine is strengthened by deployment of arriving weapons and equipment from the West.
• Some analysts predict the Kremlin’s long plan is to cause global disruption in the energy and food markets this winter so that the West no longer has the political will to support Ukraine. The tiny despot calculates that he would then be able to demand an end to sanctions and large territorial concessions from Ukraine. Ukraine hopes to deliver the knockout blow before that happens.

UKRAINIAN RESISTANCE

Above: “Russian scum, out of Kherson.  Kherson is Ukraine!” Even under brutal occupation, Kherson resistance is strong. Photo via Gur.Gov.UA

• Head of the Defense Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov confirmed that the vehicle of an enemy collaborator was blown up in Kherson. He did not know the condition of the vehicle’s owner, former Servant of the People deputy Alexei Kovalev.  Earlier in the invasion, Kovalev posted, “Russia is forever and the closest integration with Russia is already underway.”  Mr Budanov confirmed that an active resistance movement in Kherson is cooperating with Ukrainian security and intelligence forces.