Victory Chronicles
-DAY 471

Above: Kherson region on Thursday.  In an interview with Ukrainska Pravda, Andrii Yusov of Ukrainian intelligence provided more background on how Moscow carried out the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station attack. Ukraine has confirmed that the hydroelectric complex was blown up by internal explosions in a controlled detonation that had to have been approved by Putin himself. (Photo: Suspline)

• The Pentagon is set to announce on Friday that it is preparing a new $2 billion military aid package that emphasizes air defense capabilities. The money will be used to purchase Hawk launchers and missiles, as well as GEM-T and PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defense systems.
• A bipartisan group of US senators on Thursday introduced a draft law to facilitate the transfer of  confiscated illegal assets to Ukraine, expanding the power of the Justice Department to confiscate assets in violation of sanctions. The bill would allow the confiscation of assets due to the violation of any sanctions or export controls on Russia and Belarus related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2014. in February 2023, the US attorney general authorized the transfer to Ukraine of $5.4 million confiscated from Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev. 
• Representatives of the European Union in June will consider the options for transferring  Russian assets frozen in Europe for the restoration of Ukraine. the EU has frozen Russian assets worth about €24.1 billion on EU territory. However, law does not provide for the confiscation of these assets, 
• Politico reported on June 9 that German Chancellor Scholz and Polish President Duda will meet President Macron in Paris on June 12 to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and NATO membership. 
• The Russian Orthodox Church announced that it handed over a group of Ukrainian POWs to Hungary without informing Ukraine.  Budapest reportedly requested the transfer of 11 soldiers from Zakarpattia, the Ukrainian oblast on the border with Hungary.  Elements of the Hungarian government and the Moscow state church are trying to portray the POWs as “victims of the Kyiv regime.” Zakarpattia was under the control of the Austro-Hungarian empire and succession governments through WWII when it was taken over the by the Soviets. Authoritarian hardliners have called for Hungary to annex the ethnically Ukrainian region.  

Above: Captured enemy KamAZ tanker. (War Spotting)

Above: Ukrainian General Staff of the Armed Forces estimated enemy losses since February 24, 2022, with daily additions.

ITEM	QTY	▲
Liquidated personnel	213770	+1010
Tanks	3901	+10
Armored personnel vehicles	7600	+24
Artillery systems/ MLRS	3702/599	+34/4
Anti-aircraft systems	359	+4
Aircraft/ helicopters	314/299
Unmanned aerial vehicles	3247	+13
Cruise missiles	1171
Warships/ boats	18
Vehicles and fuel tanks	6410	+26
Special equipment	502	+2

 

General Staff on Facebook

Above: The remains of a public market in Vovchansk, Kharkiv, near the border with Russia. (New York Times)

• Ukraine’s Air Force reported on June 9 that air defense had successfully intercepted and shot down four missiles, along with 10 drones launched by Russia during attacks overnight. 
• During the evacuation of people in Kherson, shelling from the Russian military began. According to the latest data, nine people were injured . Among them are two employees of the State Emergency Service, a policeman, a doctor and a volunteer from Germany.
• Russian troops once again attacked the Uman region, Cherkasy, targeting an industrial facility and a car wash. Eight people were injured, two in serious condition.
• The Russian army shelled residential quarters in Pokrovsky, Donetsk. Six people were injured, the Prosecutor’s Office of Donetsk region reported .
• Overnight Russia attacked Zhytomyr Oblast, Governor Bunechko reported on June 9. Air defense was able to shoot down one missile, however, falling debris destroyed one residential building and damaged 12 others, killing one person and injuring three others.

Above: Ukrainian forces continue to strike rear areas in occupied Luhansk Oblast. Ukrainian forces apparently struck Luhansk City. Geolocated footage shows a large smoke plume rising from the city. (східний)

• Russian forces continued to conduct limited ground attacks on the Kupіansk-Svatove line and around Kreminna on June 8. Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive operations near Vesele (32km south of Kreminna). Russian forces in the Kupyansk direction are conducting air and artillery strikes.

Above: Ukrainian soldiers ride an armored vehicle on the front line near Bakhmut. “Very brutal battles are taking place, but we are seeing results,” President Zelensky said in his daily address. (RFERL)

• Ukrainian officials signaled that Ukrainian forces have transitioned from defensive to offensive operations in the Bakhmut sector and are making gains of between 200 meters and nearly two kilometers on the flanks of the city. Geolocated footage published on June 7 indicates that Ukrainian forces made limited advances near Berkhivka (6km northwest of Bakhmut). Ukrainian forces made advances 1.8km wide and 1.2km deep along the western bank of the Siverskyi Donetsk Canal west of Andriivka (10km southwest of Bakhmut) and pushed enemy elements out of their positions.
• Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive operations near Orikhovo-Vasylivka (11km northwest of Bakhmut), Ivanivske (6km west of Bakhmut), and Pivnichne (20km southwest of Bakhmut). At least 81,000 Wagner mercenaries and conflict-fighters were killed or wounded in the fighting around Bakhmut since July 2022.
• Russian forces conducted limited ground attacks along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line on June 8. Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive operations near Avdiivka, Opytne (3km southwest of Avdiivka), Sieverne (6km west of Avdiivka), and Pervomaiske (11km southwest of Avdiivka). Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks on Marinka.

 

Above: Volunteers from the Red Cross unloading humanitarian aid supplies on Tuesday in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, 60 km northwest of the major flooding in Kherson.

(New York Times)

• Ukrainian forces conducted a limited but significant attack in western Zaporizhia Oblast on the night of June 7 to 8. Russian forces apparently defended against this attack in a doctrinally sound manner and had reportedly regained their initial positions as of June 8. Geolocated combat footage suggests that Ukrainian forces crossed the Polohy- Voskresenka highway, but Russian sourcing indicates that Russian forces likely pushed Ukrainians back in the Orikhiv direction towards the frontline and regained lost positions.
• The overall Russian response to the attack, both among various milbloggers and the Russian MoD, was notably coherent and relatively consistent with the available visual evidence, which may suggest that Russian forces were not surprised and reacted in a controlled and militarily sound manner. 
• Russian forces appear to have executed their formal tactical defensive doctrine in response to the Ukrainian attacks southwest of Orikhiv. Russian doctrine for a defending motorized rifle battalion calls for a first echelon of troops to repel or slow attacking forces with minefields, fortifications, and strongpoints, with a second echelon of forces counter attacking against an enemy breakthrough. Russian forces apparently operated in this fashion in this sector – Ukrainian forces penetrated the initial defensive lines; Russian forces pulled back to a second line of fortifications; and Russian reserves subsequently counterattacked to retake the initial line of defenses.
• Russian forces and occupation authorities continue to exacerbate the humanitarian ramifications of the flooding resulting from the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam destruction. Russian forces are hiding amongst civilians who are evacuating from flooded settlements on the east bank of the Dnipro River and occupation authorities are housing evacuated residents in boarding houses and recreation centers where Russian troops and equipment are located. Russian forces were forced to withdraw further to rear areas in eastern Kherson Oblast between five and 15 kilometers from the front line on the Dnipro River.
• Decreasing water levels in the Kakhovka Reservoir do not currently threaten the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Ukraine’s hydroelectric authority stated on June 8 that the ZNPP is still drawing water from the Kakhovka Reservoir to cool its nuclear reactors even though the water level has dipped to levels below which experts previously estimated that the ZNPP’s water pumps could no longer operate. Kakhovka Reservoir water level has dropped from 16.8 meters to 12.7 meters and the ZNPP can likely sustain cooling operations if the water level drops to 11 meters. The water level is currently decreasing at a rate of four to seven centimeters per hour.