Victory Chronicles-DAY 814

The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, has predicted heavy fighting in the Kharkiv Oblast. He believes that Russia, the enemy, is preparing for further offensive attempts. 

Syrskyi, who has been working in combat units in the Oblast, states that Ukrainian troops must do everything they can to prevent the enemy from advancing. They are expected to hold their lines and positions using air strikes, missile systems, artillery, and tank fire. Inflicting maximum losses on the enemy and creating conditions for their defeat from different directions with the help of mobile assault groups and units is also crucial. 

Syrskyi emphasizes the importance of the Ukrainian army utilizing their advantage in attack UAVs, combined with electronic warfare and accurate artillery fire. The situation in the Kharkiv Oblast is increasingly complex, and the Commander-in-Chief is foreseeing intense confrontations in the near future.

In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian troops have reported destroying two Russian planes and one helicopter. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russians have suffered significant losses, with 1,410 soldiers and over 180 pieces of military equipment, including two airplanes and a helicopter, being lost. These losses occurred during the period from February 24, 2022, to May 17, 2024. The General Staff announced the information on their official Facebook page.

The Russian army attacked the central part of Kherson in broad daylight. The hit caused two fires in apartment buildings at different addresses, which were quickly extinguished. People were trapped in another building. Rescuers rescued three children and a woman and handed them over to doctors.

Ukrainian Armed Forces release video of battle involving Bradley of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade in Pokrovsk sector.

Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko reported that Russian forces have executed civilians and taken civilians captive in Vovchansk. Klymenko stated on May 16 that Russian forces in northern Vovchansk are preventing residents from evacuating and are holding civilians captive in basements in the settlement.

Klymenko stated that Russian forces have begun to execute civilians and reported that in one instance Russian forces killed a fleeing civilian who refused to follow Russian commanders’ orders.

The detention and summary execution of civilians is a war crime and emblematic of Russian forces‘ behavior in all occupied Ukrainian territories. The United Nations (UN) reported in December 2023 that it had documented at least 142 cases of Russian forces executing Ukrainian civilians. Russian military massacres like the massacres in Bucha and Izyum are a microcosm of Russian atrocities throughout Russian-occupied areas, and the Russian military has shown no indication that it has attempted to constrain Russian forces from brutally victimizing Ukrainian civilians and committing other war crimes.

For almost the past year and half Russian forces have mainly been gradually advancing near small settlements that have been largely depopulated by the war, and it is notable that relatively rapid Russian tactical advances into a populated settlement were immediately accompanied by the detention and execution of civilians. Russian forces committed blatant war crimes in Bucha and Mariupol in the first months of the full-scale invasion; and over two years of fighting in Ukraine and the Kremlin’s corresponding dehumanization of Ukrainians have likely inured Russian forces to such crimes. Russian attempts to seize major population centers like Kharkiv City do not just threaten Ukraine with operationally significant setbacks but also with war crimes and violations that accompany Russian occupation.

Sergeant Ivan Aleksandrov, with the call sign “Dwarf,” died on July 4, 2023, while performing a combat mission on the left bank of the Dnipro River near Antonivskyi Bridge in Kherson Oblast. The fighter was 48 years old.

Ivan Mykolayovych was a resident of Tatarbunary, Odesa Oblast. He became a turner at the Kilia Technical College and worked at an elevator equipment factory in civilian life.

From the first days of the full-scale invasion, the man stood up to defend his country and volunteered to go to the front. He served in the 124th separate territorial defense brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was a squad leader of a reconnaissance platoon, and defended Mykolaiv and Kherson Oblasts.

“My father was a brave warrior, a man of his word, strong and unbreakable. He was a patriot of his country. He spent more than a year at the zero position. For his service, he received commendations and awards. While performing combat missions, he was injured and returned to combat positions again. He had a lot of plans for his life,” said Oleksandr, the son of the deceased.

The defender was buried in the town of Tatarbunary. He is survived by a  loving family and friends. 

*Ivan’s story is featured on the Heroes Memorial, a platform dedicated to sharing the stories of Ukraine’s fallen defenders.

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