Victory Chronicles-DAY 880

Russian occupants in Crimea have started dismantling the Holy Cross Church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, according to former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Gunduz Mamedov. 

This church is believed to be the last Ukrainian church in Crimea. The demolition began on July 21, with the dome and upper tier of the church already removed. The Ukrainian parish of the church has been facing pressure since 2019 to comply with a Russian-controlled court decision to demolish the church. Despite constant threats and pressure, the parishioners have refused to cooperate. 

As a result, the Russian-controlled authorities in Yevpatoriya appealed to the court demanding that the parishioners themselves demolish the church and that they bear the cost of the demolition. This incident is seen as an example of the systemic discrimination against Ukrainians by the Russian Federation during the occupation of Crimea.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Russian troops lost 20,000 servicemen during their failed offensive in the Kharkiv Oblast. He revealed that Russia attempted to occupy the city of Kharkiv, home to 1.5 million people, but Ukrainian forces stopped their offensive. The Russian invasion reached a maximum depth of 10 kilometers from the border before being halted by Ukraine. Zelenskyy emphasized that this was the price Russia paid for their aggression in the gray zone, which refers to the areas affected by shelling and where people were evacuated beforehand. The President expressed doubt that the operation would succeed, and he confirmed that once Ukrainian forces have reserves, they will return to their positions.

According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the Russian army conducted an air strike on a residential area in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast. The attack resulted in the injury of one person and caused damage to residential buildings, shops, and infrastructure. A statement from the State Emergency Service reported that a fire broke out in a private house and an open area as a result of the shelling. In total, 12 private houses, an apartment building, two shops, and three infrastructure facilities were damaged in the attack. 

Special Forces of the Security Service of Ukraine are “burning the ground under the feet” of Russians at the front. This was reported by the official channel of the Security Service of Ukraine. Among the enemy’s losses over the past week are 18 tanks, 37 armored personnel carriers, 37 artillery systems and MLRS, 192 vehicles, 120 enemy positions and fortifications, 4 ammunition and fuel and lubricants depots, 181 occupants.

Russian State Duma Chairperson Vyacheslav Volodin recently visited Nicaragua and Cuba, likely as part of ongoing Kremlin efforts to project its influence in the Western hemisphere and rally states against the US and the West. Volodin met with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo in Managua, Nicaragua on July 20 and relayed a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin stating that Russo-Nicaraguan relations are “developing dynamically” and that the two states’ coordination efforts in international affairs are “yielding good results.”

Ortega condemned Western sanctions against Russia and reiterated Kremlin narratives claiming that NATO support for Ukraine is aggravating the war. Volodin met with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana, Cuba on July 21 and relayed a similar message from Putin that Russo-Cuban relations are “developing dynamically.” Diaz-Canel thanked Russia for its support to end the US blockade against Cuba.

Volodin told journalists on July 21 that the Russian State Duma will send observers to the Venezuelan presidential election on July 28. Russia has increasingly been trying to demonstrate its influence in the Western hemisphere, including by signing a memorandum of understanding with Venezuela aimed at countering “coercive measures” and conducting naval exercises near and port calls to Cuba and Venezuela in June 2024. Cuba and Nicaragua were also notably among the eight Russian “ally” states that voted against a recent United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution demanding that Russia withdraw its forces from the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and return the plant to full Ukrainian control.

Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have recently expressed interest in joining BRICS, and Putin has recently identified BRICS as a pillar of his envisioned “Eurasian security architecture” that is aimed at undermining NATO.

Senior fighter Serhii Aseykin, with the call sign Babai, died on February 6, 2023, in a battle near the village of Zaliznianske, Donetsk Oblast. He received a fatal shrapnel wound to the neck as a result of an enemy mortar attack. In April, the fighter would have turned 50 years old.

Serhii was born in the town of Vatutino, Cherkasy Oblast. He graduated from school and college. He worked as a maintenance foreman at a factory in Vodyanyky, Cherkasy Oblast.

He was a jack of all trades, repairing everything he could. He was fond of biking. He loved his homeland above all else. He participated in the Revolution of Dignity. He volunteered and traveled to the front line many times.

With the outbreak of a full-scale war, he voluntarily took up arms and went to defend Ukraine. He served in the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Konstanty Ostrogski. He held the position of senior rifleman of the machine gun section of the machine gun platoon of the rifle battalion.

He received his call sign because he loved to tell jokes, was very funny and knew how to find an approach to everyone. After joking about Babaiko, his comrades started calling him that.

“Dad was a wonderful man. All his comrades miss him, they say that there is no such comrade as Babai anymore. We all miss him very much. He remained a part of each of us,” said daughter Anastasia. She has taken over her father’s initiative and is engaged in volunteering.

Posthumously, Serhii Aseykin was awarded the Order “For Courage” of the III degree. He was buried at cemetery No. 3 in his hometown. Serhii is survived by his wife, three daughters and two grandsons.

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

• Ukraine’s Foreign Minister to visit China for peace talks
• Reuters: US-Japan Patriot missile production plan hits Boeing component roadblock
• Fire breaks out at Russian refinery after Ukrainian drone attack
• Zelenskyy: German Patriot air defence system has arrived Ukraine
• FT: Mysterious Russia-linked buyers amass LNG ‘dark fleet’
• Ukraine to receive 100,000 rounds of ammunition from Czech initiative within two months