Victory Chronicles-DAY 853

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov. The warrants were issued in connection with alleged international crimes committed in Ukraine between October 2022 and March 2023. The charges include war crimes of attacking civilian objects and causing excessive harm to the civilian population or damage to civilian objects, as well as a crime against humanity consisting of inhumane acts. The arrest warrants were issued based on motions filed by the prosecution. The Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC believes there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects are responsible for missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against Ukrainian electrical infrastructure.

The United States is expected to announce another $150 million in military aid to Ukraine on June 25, according to Voice of America correspondent Carla Bebb. This announcement follows a recent military aid package worth $225 million, which was announced on June 7. The approval for the additional funding was granted by the U.S. Congress in April, totaling almost $61 billion. Furthermore, the United States has decided to prioritize the delivery of anti-aircraft missiles, specifically for the Patriot and NASAMS systems, to Ukraine over other countries. While other media outlets have yet to confirm the information about the upcoming aid package, this potential announcement reaffirms the U.S. commitment to supporting Ukraine and its allies.

On the morning of June 25, Russian kamikaze drones launched attacks on the city of Nikopol and the Marhanets community in Dnipropetrovs’k Oblast, according to Serhiy Lysak, the head of the Dnipro regional military administration. The attacks resulted in damage to infrastructure and the destruction of a car, but, fortunately, no people were injured. However, in the evening, there was additional shelling that resulted in a 71-year-old woman being injured and hospitalized in moderate condition. Four people were wounded the day before. Two houses and a car were also damaged in the attacks. 

Ukrainian reconnaissance forces successfully targeted and destroyed an enemy ammunition depot in the Voronezh region of Russia. Fighters from the Department of Active Operations of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine carried out the operation. A fire broke out on the shell sites, covering an area of 3,500 square meters, and it is still ongoing. Due to the large size of the depot, the explosions are expected to continue for a significant period. 

Current US policy regarding Ukraine’s use of Western-provided weapons allows Ukraine to strike anywhere within Russian-occupied Ukraine, which presumably includes using long-range ATACMS to strike the portion of the Kerch Strait Bridge within Ukraine’s internationally recognized land and maritime borders.

ISW assesses that 13 kilometers of the Kerch Strait Bridge — which Russian authorities built without Ukraine’s approval following Russia’s illegal occupation of the peninsula in 2014 — are within Ukraine’s internationally recognized territorial waters. The US policy on the Ukrainian ATACMS use, therefore, technically should allow Ukrainian forces to strike at least a section of the bridge if not the entire bridge. Pentagon Spokesperson Major Charlie Dietz also notably stated on June 24 that “Ukraine makes its own targeting decisions and conducts its own military operations.”

Then–US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert stated on May 15, 2018, that the US condemns Russia’s construction and partial opening of the Kerch Strait Bridge, that the bridge “serves as a reminder of Russia’s ongoing willingness to flout international law,” and represents Russia’s attempt to “solidify its unlawful seizure and its occupation of Crimea.”

Hlib Ivanov, a 21-year-old fighter, died in January 2023 while performing a combat mission near Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast. While leaving the position, he was ambushed by the enemy. A battle ensued, as a result of which the guy received injuries incompatible with life. For some time, he was considered missing. Only at the end of the month did his parents receive information about his death.

Hlib was born in Kyiv. After graduating from high school in 2019, he entered the Faculty of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. In his third year, he began training as an infantryman at the military department of the Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defense University of Ukraine. He managed to study there for only six months.

When the full-scale invasion began on the morning of February 24, 2022, Hlib and his father, Yaroslav, immediately went to the military enlistment office. From there, they were both sent to serve in the 16th Company of the Territorial Defense of Kyiv. At the end of April, their paths diverged: His father began serving in the 112th Brigade of the TOD, and Hlib joined the newly created 241st Brigade of the TOD, an anti-drone unit.

In December 2022, Hlib’s brigade was sent to one of the hottest spots—the Bakhmut area. The defender never returned. “Glib was a curious child, he read a lot, was interested in football, and played the saxophone in a brass band. He loved to travel and managed to visit 14 European countries. He saw himself only in a free and developed Ukraine, so he wanted to do everything possible to make it happen,” says his mother, Kateryna. Hlib is survived by his parents and younger sister.

*Hlib’s story on the Heroes Memorial – a platform for stories about the fallen defenders of Ukraine.

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• Spain hands over second batch of Patriot missiles to Ukraine