Victory Chronicles-DAY 623

Russia’s proxy official and former military commander, Mikhail Filiponenko, was eliminated by a car bomb in occupied Luhansk, Russian state-run media TASS reported on Nov. 8. TASS noted that it was not the first time a car bomb had been used in an attempt on his life — Filiponenko’s car was previously blown up in February 2023.

Russian officials, their proxies, and collaborators have been routinely targeted in both occupied parts of Ukraine and in Russia. Kyiv does not typically comment on the attacks. Oleg Tsaryov, a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician who fled Ukraine in 2014, was shot in occupied Crimea on Oct. 27. He survived the attack but was hospitalized with serious injuries. Earlier in October, Vladimir Malov, a member of Russia’s ruling United Russia party, was killed in a car bomb explosion in the occupied city of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson Oblast.

A total of 45 combat clashes took place at the front during the past day, reported the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. During the past 24 hours, 45 combat clashes took place. In total, the enemy carried out 6 missile strikes and 50 airstrikes, as well as 64 attacks from multiple-launch rocket systems on the positions of Ukrainian troops and populated areas.

A Russian drone has attacked a police car. Three law enforcement officers are in the hospital with concussions. “The investigative-operational group was on its way to [complete] the task of detaining collaborators. While moving, they were attacked by a Russian drone. The police immediately recognized the sound of the drone that was chasing them. The law enforcement officers tried to break away, but realized that they would fail, jumped out of the car seconds before the drone dropped the grenade and the explosion rang out,” reported the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

110th Brigade demonstrates how drones and artillery work in the Avdiivka sector. “Drones adjust artillery, search for the enemy on the contact line and in their rear, drop “gifts” on the heads of Russians, and all this together and at the same time, day and night, along the entire front line!” the brigade said in a statement.

Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces transferred a limited number of armored vehicles to the east (left) bank of Kherson Oblast and are continuing larger-than-usual ground operations on the east bank with a light infantry grouping of roughly battalion size. 

Russian milbloggers amplified a picture on November 6 purporting to show a Ukrainian tracked amphibious transport (PTS) vehicle carrying an infantry fighting vehicle onto the east bank near Krynky (30km northeast of Kherson City and 2km from the Dnipro River). Other milbloggers claimed on November 7 that a Ukrainian amphibious infantry fighting vehicle crossed the Dnipro River on its own near Krynky and amplified separate footage on November 7 purporting to show a destroyed Western amphibious armored personnel carrier in an unspecified location on the east bank.

Select Russian milbloggers claimed that either one or two Ukrainian PTS vehicles crossed the Dnipro near Krynky, while other milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces transferred several unspecified armored vehicles to the area. Russian milbloggers claimed that more than 300 Ukrainian personnel (about a battalion’s worth) are operating on the east bank in the Krynky area and continue to claim that Ukrainian forces maintain positions in central Krynky and nearby areas. One milblogger claimed that several hundred Ukrainian personnel are operating throughout east bank Kherson Oblast. Russian milbloggers claimed that combat engagements continued near Krynky, as well as near Poyma (12km east of Kherson City and 4km from the Dnipro River), Pishchanivka (13km east of Kherson City and 3km from the Dnipro River), and Pidstepne (17km east of Kherson City and 4km from the Dnipro River), but did not claim that Ukrainian attempts to advance on November 6 and 7 were particularly larger than in previous days.

Ukrainian forces likely conducted initial company-sized assaults across the Dnipro River onto the east (left) bank of Kherson Oblast on October 17 and 18. The reported battalion-size Ukrainian force grouping on the east bank suggests that heavy Russian interdiction efforts along the Dnipro River have not prevented Ukrainian forces from transferring additional personnel and materiel to positions on the east bank. ISW will not speculate on the prospects of ongoing Ukrainian activity on the east bank of Kherson Oblast.

Two defenders who died protecting Ukraine’s independence will be buried today in Lviv Oblast.

Fighter Bohdan Mashkara native of the village of Yushkivtsi, Lviv Oblast. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, he stood up to defend his homeland from the Russian invaders. He performed combat missions in the southern and eastern direction as part of the 704th separate regiment of radiation, chemical, and biological defense of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For his personal courage, the defender was awarded numerous decorations: the medal “For Military Service to Ukraine,” the honorary badge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “Best Sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” and the Presidential Award “For Defense of Ukraine.” The defender is survived by his parents, wife, daughter, son, sister, nephews and godson.

Fighter Volodymyr Pastushchyn a resident of the village of Tuchne in the Peremyshliany community. With the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he stood up to defend Ukraine from the occupier. The warrior was a scout of the 3rd reconnaissance division of the reconnaissance platoon of the 2nd mechanized battalion of the military unit A4447. He died on October 31, 2023, during a combat mission near the village of Robotynne, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, as a result of artillery and mortar shelling. The defender is survived by his mother, wife, daughter, brothers and sisters.

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• France announces additional 200 million euro in Ukraine aid.