Victory Chronicles
-DAY 492

Ukraine’s top general, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, wants shells, planes and patience - The Washington Post

For Ukraine’s counteroffensive to progress faster, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the top officer in Ukraine’s armed forces, says he needs more — of every weapon. And he is telling anyone who will listen, including his American counterpart Gen. Mark A. Milley as recently as Wednesday, that he needs those resources now.

In a rare, wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post, Zaluzhnyi expressed frustration that while his biggest Western backers would never launch an offensive without air superiority, Ukraine still has not received modern fighter jets but is expected to rapidly take back territory from the occupying Russians. American-made F-16s, promised only recently, are not likely to arrive until the fall — in a best-case scenario.

His troops also should be firing at least as many artillery shells as their enemy, Zaluzhnyi said, but have been outshot tenfold at times because of limited resources. So it “pisses me off,” Zaluzhnyi said, when he hears that Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive in the country’s east and south has started slower than expected — an opinion publicly expressed by Western officials and military analysts and also by President Volodymyr Zelensky. His troops have gained some ground — even if it’s just 500 meters — every day, he said. “This is not a show,” Zaluzhnyi said Wednesday in his office at Ukraine’s General Staff headquarters. “It’s not a show the whole world is watching and betting on or anything. Every day, every meter is given by blood.”

“Without being fully supplied, these plans are not feasible at all,” he added. “But they are being carried out. Yes, maybe not as fast as the participants in the show, the observers, would like, but that is their problem.” Read more…

Photo by Oksana Parafeniuk for The Washington Post

Latest news

• The Economist: The Wagner mutiny exposes the Russian tyrant’s growing weakness. But don’t count him out yet
• General Staff: Ukrainian fighters have had partial success and are gaining ground on several fronts in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk Oblasts
• Head of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov: After a coup attempt, the Russian FSB was tasked with eliminating the leader of the Wagner PMC, Yevhen Prigozhin
• BBC: Wagner Group continues to recruit militants for war in Ukraine
• Arms aid: U.S. is considering sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, officials say
• Ukrainian Defense Intelligence: Russian forces begin to flee Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
• Donald Trump: Ukraine may have to give up part of the territory to stop the war

Image: ricardo rey/ap

Symbolic number of the Day - 2

The detonation at the Kakhovka Dam has caused Ukraine at least $2 billion in direct damages, according to the initial calculations of KSE Institute.

War in Pictures

The Ukrainian 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade “Magura” showed and described the M2 Bradley. According to the Brigade, compared to Soviet weapons, such as BMPs and APCs, these are completely different protection classes. M2 Bradley is better in terms of armament and protection of the crew and troops. “During the fighting, there were many times when the armor of the American Bradley saved the Ukrainian infantry. Personally, I once exploded on an anti-tank mine and there was a direct hit of a cumulative shell in the turret. The sighting devices were damaged, the trim tabs were broken, and only the driver experienced a TBI. All other crew members and troops were unharmed,” says Dmytro, a fighter with the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade “Magura.”

Photo: radiosvoboda.org

Video of the Day

The tankers of the 28th separate mechanized brigade, thanks to the adjustment of the Gyurza unit, destroyed a tank and a truck with ammunition of the occupiers with accurate shots.

ISW report

Kremlin-affiliated businessmen may be acquiring Prigozhin’s domestic media empire, likely as part of an ongoing effort to destroy his reputation in Russia. Russian independent outlet The Bell, citing sources who cooperate with Prigozhin’s companies, reported that the Russian presidential administration will likely have direct control over Prigozhin’s media assets. Sources noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “personal banker” Yuriy Kovalchuk may acquire assets of Prigozhin’s “Patriot” media holding group and the RIA FAN news outlet for his “National Media Group.”

The Bell also noted that some Russian Telegram channels claimed that the president of the “Herst Shkulev Media” holding group Viktor Shkulev may purchase Prigozhin’s media assets for one ruble with a commitment to retain the media editorial teams for three months and to pay salary arrears to staff. Sources expressed confidence that the Russian Presidential Administration will likely directly control Prigozhin’s media assets regardless of the identity of the future owner of these companies.

War Heroes

Ilona Orlova, a medical service lieutenant from the Vinnytsia National Guard Brigade “Chervona Kalyna,” 30, died for Ukraine. The heroine was buried on June 29 at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, reported Lviv City Council.

Ilona Orlova was a native of the village of Zhovchiv (Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast). She went to the Kalush Lyceum #5 of the Kalush City Council of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and later entered Secondary School #48 in Lviv. She graduated from Danylo Halytskyi Lviv National Medical University as a physician and did her internship in the capital,” the statement reads. In peacetime, the woman worked as a family doctor in Drabiv, Cherkasy Oblast. She was fond of tourism and loved cats.

Ilona Orlova was a senior lieutenant in the medical service. In December 2019, she voluntarily joined the ranks of the 2nd separate Galician Brigade of the Western Operational and Territorial Association of the National Guard of Ukraine. Later, she served in Vinnytsia. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ilona performed tasks in the frontline’s “hot spots” in the ranks of the 14th Brigade of the National Guard “Chervona Kalyna.” Ilona Orlova is survived by her parents, brother, and aunts with their families.

Image: kuryer.if.ua