Victory Chronicles-DAY 868

Sweden’s Foreign Minister, Tobias Bylström, has stated that Sweden is ready to provide Ukraine with JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets in the future. However, Sweden had previously halted the supply of aircraft to Ukraine due to the challenges faced in simultaneously operating both F-16 and Gripen fighters. This includes aircraft purchase, pilot training, and system integration complexities. 

Nevertheless, Bylström clarified that Sweden is open to resuming work on Gripen fighters once the F-16 program is completed, emphasizing that the decision ultimately rests with Ukraine. Given the current circumstances, Sweden has decided to provide Ukraine with specialized early warning and control aircraft (ASC 890) that can be used in coordination with the F-16. This will enable Ukraine to carry out future operations effectively.

Denmark will be funding the purchase of 18 self-propelled artillery systems called “Bohdan” for Ukraine’s Defense Forces. This support from Denmark is the first direct financing by a NATO country for Ukrainian arms and ammunition production. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed that the first batch of these artillery systems will be delivered in the next few months. The Ministry also thanked Denmark for their ongoing support and emphasized the importance of unity among allies. This assistance from Denmark will further bolster Ukraine’s defense capabilities and contribute to strengthening its armed forces.

A drone operated by the Russian military dropped an explosive device on a firefighters’ vehicle in the Kherson Oblast of Ukraine, according to the State Emergency Service. The incident occurred during extinguishing a fire caused by enemy shelling in the Bilozerska territorial community. Fortunately, the firefighters could move to a safe location and no personnel were injured. This is not the first instance of a Russian drone dropping explosives in the Kherson Oblast, as a tractor driver was previously injured while working in a field. 

In the past two weeks, the SBU Special Forces have launched a retaliatory attack against the occupants on the frontline using attack drones and various other weapons. They have successfully destroyed a significant number of enemy assets, including 30 tanks, 43 armored personnel carriers, 56 artillery systems and MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket Systems), 12 air defense systems, 8 electronic warfare systems, 461 vehicles, and 235 enemy-fortified positions. Furthermore, the SBU Special Forces targeted and destroyed 11 warehouses containing ammunition and fuel. Notably, during these operations, a total of 485 enemy occupants were eliminated by the SBU Special Forces. 

Ukrainian First Deputy Defense Minister Lieutenant General Ivan Havrylyuk stressed that robust Western security assistance will be crucial for Ukraine’s ability to contest and seize the battlefield initiative. 

Havrylyuk also challenged the notion that Russian forces will be able to indefinitely sustain the consistent gradual creeping advances that support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s theory of victory for winning a war of attrition in Ukraine. Havrylyuk published an article entitled “What Factors Will Allow Ukraine to Conduct a Counteroffensive” on July 9 wherein he states that Ukraine must contest the initiative and conduct counteroffensive operations in order to neutralize the Kremlin’s efforts to protract the war and to increase costs on Russia that will force it towards a just peace aligned with Ukraine’s terms.

Havrylyuk stated that Ukraine can contest the initiative if Ukraine strengthens combat brigades with personnel, ammunition, and equipment and specifically staffs and equips new brigades. Havrylyuk also noted that it will be critical for Ukraine to create and consistently replenish reserves and sufficiently train new personnel.

Havrylyuk emphasized that Western security assistance will be critically important in determining at what scale Ukraine can achieve these tasks and called for more air defense systems, artillery shells, and long-range strike capabilities to strengthen Ukrainian combat effectiveness and operational capabilities. Ukraine is addressing its manpower challenges and is already forming several new brigades, but Ukraine’s ability to equip these brigades will be the determining factor for how, when, and at what scale Ukraine can commit new brigades to support potential counteroffensive operations.

Current reporting suggests that Ukraine will not be able to fully equip all new planned brigades without the arrival of additional Western security assistance. Western security assistance that provides Ukrainian forces with the necessary equipment and weapons at the scale, timing, and regularity required for operations that liberate significant swaths of occupied Ukraine remains the only likely path for reducing Putin’s current commitment to destroying Ukrainian statehood and identity.

23-year-old aerial reconnaissance man Mykola Oranskyi, with the call sign Kashtan, died on March 22, 2024, while performing a combat mission near the village of Robotyno, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. First, the occupants attacked with the first fpv drone and wounded the fighter, and the second attack was fatal.

Mykola Romanovych was born in the city of Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro Oblast. Since the age of 18, he has volunteered and worked at festivals and music events, including Faine Misto and Zaxidfest. In 2018, he worked as a cameraman at Rudana TV. In 2019, he moved to Kyiv, where he got a job as an engineer at “Hromadske”.

In January 2023, the man voluntarily mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Thus, Mykola became a fighter of the 118th Separate Mechanized Brigade. He fought as an operator of unmanned aerial vehicles. In January 2024, he received the Golden Cross award from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“Fate brought us together when I had just graduated from high school and I was 17, and you were 18. I remember how 7 years ago, after the Rubtsovs’ engagement, we danced from the warehouse to the bonfire and sang “Hold Me Tight”. This song became the anthem of our friendship, but you don’t hold me anymore. For so many years of our friendship, we shared everything, and I always knew that I could trust you with everything, but you are taking my secrets to the grave. We were always happy and young together. And I could write many different beautiful words, but beautiful words don’t come to mind. Instagram did not come up with a post format that would fit all our photos and memories, but I will keep many of them, so now they are all left to me,” wrote Janusz Sipukhina, Mykola’s friend.

The fighter was buried in his native Kryvyi Rih. Mykola Oransky became the 75th Ukrainian media worker to die as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The hero is survived by his parents, younger sister, wife, relatives, friends and fighters-in-arms.

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

• Special Operations Forces destroy 15 Russian boats in Kherson Oblast
• Lithuania allocates 1M Euro to restore Okhmatdyt hospital
• White House publishes joint statement by USA, Netherlands and Denmark on sending F-16 to Ukraine
• Russia has lost 555,000 of its fighters in a full-scale war
• Sweden open to sending Gripens to Ukraine after ‘F-16 program completed,’ decision up to Kyiv