Victory Chronicles-DAY 917

On Wednesday, Kryvyi Rih in Ukraine was targeted by Russian ballistic missiles following a recent hotel attack in the city. Eight people were injured in the strike, which caused damage to infrastructure and cars, as well as starting a fire. The military had previously issued a warning about the possibility of a missile attack. 

The victims of the attack include four men aged between 29 and 64, who suffered shrapnel wounds, bruises, and acupuncture injuries. They are currently in a moderate condition in the hospital. 

A 54-year-old woman and an 18-year-old boy, who will receive outpatient treatment, were also injured. The attack resulted in damage to the garage cooperative, as well as broken windows at the hotel.

The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, announced that Ukrainian courts have already convicted 126 Russian war criminals. He emphasized that the prosecution includes ordinary individuals and high-ranking Russian military officers. Ukrainian law enforcement has identified 660 suspects in war crimes committed against Ukrainians. The goal is to establish who committed the crimes and to gather evidence of their involvement. Kostin highlighted that Ukraine is the first country since World War II to raise the issue of international prosecution for the crime of aggression with the international community. He stated that without the crime of aggression, the war crimes committed against Ukrainians, which have reached 136,000 cases, would not have occurred. 

In the Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine, Russian shelling in the town of Izium resulted in the injury of 12 people, including five children between the ages of 3 and 16. The Russian military launched two X-59 missiles, with one hitting a local bakery and the other hitting a private household. As a result of the attacks, 15 houses were damaged. 

In the Kramatorsk sector, the 28th Brigade of the Land Forces successfully destroyed an enemy Su-25 Russian attack aircraft. The Brigade service members demonstrated their high skill by utilizing man-portable air defense systems to land the aircraft. 

Russian forces have made significant tactical advances in the Pokrovsk direction amid reports that Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from select areas southeast of Pokrovsk. Geolocated footage published on August 27 confirms that Russian forces have advanced over two kilometers from their last confirmed position into northwestern Novohrodivka (southeast of Pokrovsk) along Dubinina Street, suggesting that Russian forces additionally hold positions within the central part of the town.

A Ukrainian fighter reported in a now-deleted Telegram post that Ukrainian forces withdrew from Novohrodivka, which Russian state media and several Russian milbloggers amplified and used to claim that Russian forces control the majority of the settlement. Additional geolocated footage published on August 27 indicates that Russian forces have marginally advanced in southeastern Hrodivka (east of Pokrovsk and northeast of Novohrodivka) and have seized Kalynove (further southeast of Pokrovsk and southeast of Novohrodivka).

 Russian milbloggers also claimed that Ukrainian forces “lost” Marynivka (directly south of Novohrodivka) and that elements of the 228th Motorized Rifle Regiment (90th Tank Division, 41st Combined Arms Army [CAA], Central Military District [CMD]) seized Memryk (southeast of Novohrodivka), although ISW has not yet observed visual evidence of Russian forces operating in these settlements. Some Russian sources also claimed that Russian forces advanced into southern Mykhailivka (south of Novohrodivka) and are attacking into northeastern Selydove (southwest of Novohrodivka).

The recent rate of Russian advance in the Pokrovsk direction has been relatively rapid, and Russian forces have advanced through most of Novohrodivka in a matter of days. Russian forces appear to be prioritizing advancing along the railway line in Novohrodivka toward Pokrovsk instead of fighting through the entire urban area of the settlement. The comparatively rapid Russian advance into Novohrodivka over the past 24 hours is likely in part enabled by apparent Ukrainian withdrawals from Novohrodivka. Russian forces in theory could advance with relative ease through Novohrodivka despite its relative urban build-up if there are no Ukrainian defenders receiving their advances. ISW previously assessed that it would take Russian forces longer to seize Novohrodivka, but that assessment has been proven as incorrect and was premised on Ukrainian forces maintaining a positional defense within the urbanized areas of Novohrodivka—which does not appear to currently be the case.

Urbanized areas without sufficient defending forces are not inherent battlefield obstacles, and the Ukrainian command likely deemed that defending Novohrodivka was not worth the potential losses. Novohrodivka is not an operationally significant town in isolation—its potential capture would in theory open the road to Pokrovsk (Russia’s articulated operational objective on this sector of the front), but Pokrovsk is larger, more fortified, and ultimately more significant than Novohrodivka due to its central position as a key logistics node in western Donetsk Oblast, and Ukrainian forces are unlikely to withdraw from Pokrovsk without defending the city.

The Russian military command will likely be forced to expend significant manpower and materiel in order to seize the more defendable and significant town of Pokrovsk if the Ukrainian military command chooses to reinforce this direction. Advancing Russian forces are therefore unlikely to be able to sustain the current rate of gains indefinitely, especially if they begin assaults on Pokrovsk itself.

21-year-old fighter Ivan Matei, with the call sign Avas, died on February 29, 2024, near the village of Synkivka in the Kharkiv Oblast. In a battle with the occupiers, the defender received a fatal gunshot wound.

Ivan was from the village of Kraynikovo, Zakarpattia Oblast. He graduated from a secondary school there. From 2021, he served at the Zhytomyr Military Institute, named after S.P. Korolev.

During the full-scale Russian invasion, Ivan joined the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi. He fought as a squad leader.

“We grew up with him from a young age. He was kind and reliable. He came to everyone’s aid and gave everything he had without hesitation. He was sincere and always smiling… He will always remain like that for us,” said the deceased’s cousin.

The young fighter was buried in his native village. Ivan is survived by his mother, sister, other relatives, friends, and fighters-in-arms.

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

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