Victory Chronicles-DAY 1050

Ukraine’s military used drones to target an oil storage depot in the Russian Saratov regional town of Engels overnight on Jan. 7. The attack caused numerous explosions and a large-scale fire at the facility. Local authorities and Ukraine’s military command confirmed the strike. The oil depot provided fuel to the Engels-2 military airfield, which is a base for enemy strategic aviation. The operation was conducted by the units of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence and the Unmanned Systems Forces, in cooperation with other components of the military. The severe damage at the oil depot is expected to create logistical problems for the Russian occupiers’ strategic aviation, reducing their ability to launch attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilian targets. Clarity on the full scope of the drone attack is still being verified.

Missing persons commissioner: Over 71,000 Ukrainians classified as missing since beginning of 2025. Ukraine’s registry of missing persons currently has more than 71,000 entries, according to Artur Dobroserdov, commissioner for persons gone missing under special circumstances. More than 30,000 Ukrainians have been classified as missing since the beginning of 2024. 

He did not provide specific numbers for the military, as this information is classified. The Donetsk region, followed by the Dnipro and Kharkiv regions, have the highest number of missing persons based on the December 2024 statistics. Furthermore, there are still 59,000 Ukrainians who remain missing, with only 7,500 officially confirmed as prisoners of war by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service uses robotic machine to clear mines in Kharkiv region. The Croatian machine, called the  MV-4 mechanized mine clearing machine, is being used to clear areas near power lines. By using this device, sappers are able to speed up their work and improve safety. The machine effectively defuses mines of different types, which reduces the time needed to clear areas. Additionally, the remote control capability of the machine increases the safety of the sapper-operator.

Ukrainian Special Operations and Defense forces repulse Russian attacks in Kursk region. The Special Forces destroyed five enemy armored vehicles and eliminated enemy personnel during a failed attempt to assault Ukrainian positions. They destroyed two enemy tanks and three armored vehicles, while first-person view drone operators killed four enemy soldiers during the clash. 

The Ukrainian General Staff stated that Ukrainian forces struck a command-and-control post of the Russian 810th Naval Infantry Brigade (Black Sea Fleet, Southern Military District) in Belaya, Kursk region on Jan. 7. The Ukrainian General Staff did not say if the strike killed or wounded Russian personnel. Ukrainian forces previously conducted a strike, reportedly with the use of high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS), against a different 810th Naval Infantry Brigade command post near Lgov, Kursk Oblast on Dec. 25, killing the brigade’s deputy commander and other staff officers.

Defender Dmytro Sushchyk, nicknamed Zapaden, was killed on May 6, 2024 in a battle with the occupiers near the village of Semenivka, Donetsk region. Enemy shelling caused his death. 

Sushchyk was born in the city of Nikopol, Dnipro region. He had lived in the Lviv regional town of Stryi. He graduated from Lviv Polytechnic National University and received a basic higher education in Computer Science. He worked at the Ekran plant in Stryi. In 2014, he took part in the Revolution of Dignity. He volunteered with the Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps.

The soldier took part in the anti-terrorist ooperation of 2014 as part of the 44th artillery brigade. Later, he fought in the Kholodnyi Yar 93rd separate artillery brigade.

A year before the full-scale invasion, he voluntarily came to the defense of the state again as part of the 44th separate artillery brigade. On Aug. 1, 2023, he was transferred to the Oleksa Dovbush 68th Jaeger Brigade. 

He served as a senior gunner of a grenade launcher platoon. During his service, Sushchyk received the following awards: “War Veteran”, “ATO Participant”, and “Warrior Ranger Cross” of the first degree.

“Dmytro was a man of honor and dignity. He loved his family very much, but above all he loved Ukraine,” said his cousin Yulia. The soldier was buried on the Alley of Glory at the cemetery in Stryi. Sushchyk is survived by his mother, daughter, relatives, friends and comrades-in-arms.

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

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