Victory Chronicles-DAY 854

The US administration is considering lifting a ban on the deployment of US military contractors to Ukraine, according to CNN. 

The move aims to assist the Ukrainian military in maintaining and repairing US-provided weapons systems. Currently, US-provided military equipment that is damaged during fighting in Ukraine has to be taken out of the country for repair, which is a time-consuming process. 

The Biden administration has been reviewing the restrictions on contractors in Ukraine in light of the ongoing advance of Russian troops and the delay in military aid. However, the decision is still under discussion and has not yet received final approval from the US president. If approved, the Pentagon could sign contracts to deploy US contractors to Ukraine to help local engineers with repairs.

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Ninety Ukrainian fighters have been released from Russian captivity and returned to Ukraine on June 25. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for their assistance in the release, as well as to the Ukrainian team involved in the process. 

The fighters belonged to various branches of the Ukrainian military, including the National Guard, Navy, Army, territorial defense, and border guards. They were involved in defending Mariupol, the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, and various fronts in Kherson, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk. The Russians claim an equal exchange of 90 fighters for 90 fighters occurred. 

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that 32 National Guard members, 18 border guards, 17 Navy defenders, 15 Armed Forces members, and 8 territorial defense fighters were among the fighters who returned.

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A fire has broken out on Cape Chauda in Crimea, where Russian troops launch Shaheed drones towards Ukraine. The Cape is a military training ground for the Russian army, which has been used to launch Shahed/Geran barrage munitions at targets in Ukraine. The cause of the fire is currently unknown, as there have been no reports of missile or drone attacks in the area recently. 

The Cape Chauda area houses several Russian military facilities, including a training ground that was closed in the 1980s but reopened by Russia in 2016. A satellite image taken on Monday morning clearly shows the fire on the annexed Crimea cape.

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The crew of Bradley infantry fighting vehicle shot down an enemy FPV drone with a Bushmaster gun. The fighters of the 47th Brigade were proactive and prevented the American vehicle from being hit. “The sky in the Pokrovske sector is dotted with Russian attack drones. The occupiers launch more than a hundred FPV drones a day. And this is only in the area of responsibility of the 47th separate mechanized brigade. We have been observing such activity for a month now,” the 47th Mechanized Brigade said in a statement.

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Two major international bodies—the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) — announced decisions on June 25 confirming Russia’s long-term perpetration of war crimes and human rights violations in Ukraine. The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber II (the chamber in charge of the ICC’s Ukraine-related investigations and prosecutions) announced on June 25 that it had issued arrest warrants for former Russian Defense Minister and current Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the Russian General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov for “the war crime of directing attacks at civilian objects” in Ukraine.

The ICC noted that there is reasonable evidence to believe that both Shoigu and Gerasimov bear individual responsibility for the war crimes of causing incidental harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects and the crime of inhumane acts, both of which are violations of the Rome Statute. The ICC also emphasized that even in the case of Russian forces targeting “installations that may have qualified as military objectives at the relevant time,” the incidental civilian harm was excessively weighed against the expected military advantage—contrary to the international legal principle of proportionality.

 The ICC concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Shoigu’s and Gerasimov’s military decision-making intentionally inflicted serious bodily harm and suffering on Ukraine’s civilian population.

The ECHR’s Grand Chamber also ruled on June 25 that Russia has committed various human rights violations in Crimea since the beginning of its illegal occupation of the peninsula in February 2014. The ECHR found that Russian officials and forces in Crimea committed numerous violations of the European Convention of Human Rights, including violations of the right to life, prohibition of inhumane or degrading treatment, right to liberty and security, right to no punishment without law, right to respect for private and family life, right to freedom of religion, right to freedom of expression, right to freedom of assembly, right to property, right to education, and right to freedom of movement, among other human rights violations. The ECHR’s ruling emphasized that the evidence that the Ukrainian government has provided to the court amounts to “a pattern or system of violations” perpetrated by Russia in Crimea. The decision is the first in which any international legal body has recognized Russia’s widescale and systemic violation of human rights spanning over a decade in occupied Crimea.

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34-year-old fighter Petro Yusyp, with the call sign Cowboy, died on August 19, 2023 near the village of Urozhayne, Donetsk Oblast. While performing a combat mission, he was fatally wounded as a result of mortar fire from the occupiers.

Petro Ivanovych was born in the village of Kalna, in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. After graduating from Stryi Higher Art Vocational School #16 with a degree in woodworking, he began his career as a woodworker, specializing in furniture and artistic wood creations. A lover of literature and nature, Petro enjoyed hiking and was passionate about photographing landscapes. He also honed his skills in climbing walls.

Eventually, Petro transitioned to working on a construction site in Kyiv, where he learned and excelled as a professional facade painter, always eager to embrace new challenges and enhance his abilities. His quest for growth led him to a factory job in the Czech Republic, and later, after completing a driving course, he became a trucker in Poland.

When the full-scale war erupted, Petro enlisted in the military on March 4, 2022. He served in the 710th Security Brigade of the State Special Transport Service under the Ministry of Defense, taking on roles as a driver-shooter and a sniper in an assault squad.

“Petro was a wonderful man, a good friend, a wonderful son and the best brother. We miss him very much, and each of us lost a part of ourselves with him. He had a good sense of humor and many friends, was sensitive, kind, sincere and hardworking. He loved life and had many plans. He was building his own house, where he planned to start a family. However, all his plans and hopes were destroyed by the war…” said his sister Kateryna Mala.

Posthumously, the defender was awarded the Order “For Courage” III degree and the medal “Knight of Combat Rank.” The fighter was buried in his native village. Petro is survived by his mother, six sisters and four brothers.

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

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