Victory Chronicles
-DAY 516

Strike on ammunition storage point in Crimea, Russians announce evacuation within 5 km radius

Sergei Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed puppet leader of Crimea, has reported a strike on a Russian ammunition storage point in the Dzhankoi district, claiming that 11 drones were shot down over Crimea. Aksyonov also said that the Russians had suspended railway traffic in the Dzhankoi district and traffic on the Dzhankoi-Simferopol motorway. In addition, Russians decided to evacuate the population of nearby villages within a radius of five kilometers from the scene of the explosion in the Dzhankoi district. Aksyonov added that no people were injured due to the explosion at the storage point in Crimea.

Latest news

• Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov: We will share a report on Ukraine’s use of cluster munitions with the Pentagon
• Russian attacks in Ukraine: 8 civilians wounded over the past day
• UK Defence Intelligence: Russian children to be taught combat drone operation
• Russians attack Odesa Oblast at night: Air defense downs 3 Shahed drones, grain terminal destroyed
• Zelenskyy: Ukraine expects to get more air defense, long-range weapons from partners

Symbolic number of the Day - 242,620

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on July 24 that Russia has lost 242,620 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 660 casualties suffered by Russian forces over the past day. According to the report, Russia has also lost 4,162 tanks, 8,118 armored fighting vehicles, 7,182  vehicles and fuel tanks, 4,675 artillery systems, 697 multiple launch rocket systems, 452 air defense systems, 315 airplanes, 310 helicopters, 3,963 drones, 18 boats.

War in Pictures

Today, about a third of Ukraine’s territory is contaminated with Russian mines and unexploded ordnance. Each explosion of these unwanted “gifts” is strictly controlled to clean up the land. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine demonstrated the work of engineer units of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Video of the Day

Assault and clearing of buildings: as part of the multinational training operation INTERFLEX in the UK, Ukrainian military personnel learned how to move forward, choose the right positions for fire control, use grenades and smoke, rescue and evacuate the wounded, act in groups, and more. Special attention was paid to analyzing the situation at the front line. We determined the procedure for reporting to commanders so that they always have up-to-date information and control the situation in the area.

ISW report

Wagner Group in Belarus poses no threat to Ukraine or Poland. Putin and Lukashenko also amplified information operations targeting the West. The leaders amplified their false claims that Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed. Senior Western and Ukrainian leaders–and ISW–continue to assess that it is too early to evaluate Ukraine’s counteroffensive since Ukraine still has significant uncommitted prepared forces and retains the ability to launch decisive operations at times and places of its choosing.  Lukashenko and Putin also reiterated an information operation that the Wagner Group poses a threat to Poland.

There is no indication that Wagner fighters in Belarus have the heavy weaponry necessary to mount a serious offensive against Ukraine or Poland without significant rearmament, as it was a condition of the Putin-Lukashenko-Prigozhin deal ending the armed rebellion that Wagner surrender such weapons to the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD). Maxar imagery of the main Wagner base in Tsel, Asipovichy, collected at an oblique angle on July 23 indicates that the vehicles currently parked in and around the vehicle storage area are primarily hundreds of cars, small trucks, and approximately 35 semi-trailers.

Wagner forces in Belarus pose no military threat to Poland or Ukraine, for that matter, until and unless they are re-equipped with mechanized equipment. They pose no meaningful threat to NATO even then.

War Heroes

Senior Ukrainian defender Ivan Kuzminskyi, with the call sign Dotsent, died during a combat mission on May 17, 2023, near the village of Dibrova, Luhansk Oblast. The warrior’s life was cut short by a sniper’s bullet. He was 39 years old.

Ivan was born in the city of Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Oblast. He studied to be a choral conductor at the Zhytomyr State Music College, named after Viktor Kosenko. He graduated from the Kyiv Conservatory (now the National Music Academy of Ukraine) with a Ph.D. in Art History. He researched ancient Ukrainian music, authored scientific articles, and worked as a director at Kyiv’s Malyatko TV children’s channel. 

With the outbreak of a full-scale war, Ivan decided to defend Ukraine from the invaders. He served in the 67th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ivan performed combat missions with courage and dignity. He believed in victory over the enemy and wanted to return home immediately after all Russians were eliminated from Ukrainian lands.

“He was always smiling and joking a lot. He consulted on the history of music. He wrote a thorough study of the history of music in Ostroh during the time of the Ostroh princes… We were just discussing new projects, and he died,” wrote Mykola Bendiuk, head of the Art Cluster of the Ostroh Academy and artist-restorer of the Ostroh Reserve. “Ivan is now 39 forever. Rest in peace, a fierce fighter with a unique laugh,” said the fighter’s wife, Khrystyna. Ivan was buried in his native Berdychiv. He is survived by his mother, wife, daughter (10 years old), and son (5).