Victory Chronicles
-DAY 106

Above: Russia sows destruction on Ukraine’s agricultural fields outside of Slovyansk.  Photo via New York Times

• In remarks to journalists on Tuesday, President Zelensky outlined the dilemma in Luhansk facing the Ukrainian military.  Severodonetsk is surrounded on three sides by Russian forces, but a retreat would give Russia complete control of Luhansk Oblast and might make future counter offensives costly.  On the other hand, Ukraine wants to avoid a Mariupol siege situation.

Above: Nika-Tera grain port in Mykolayiv before enemy destruction.  Russia desperately wants to take Mykolayiv in order to control the southern Dnipro River and feed fresh water to drought-stricken Crimea.  Photo via Elevatorist

• Mykolayiv Mayor Vitaliy Kim said that the situation in Mykolayiv for civilians is very dangerous as the enemy constantly shells residential neighborhoods.  More than 3700 civilian facilities have been damaged or destroyed and more than 300 civilians have been killed by the invaders including two people yesterday.

 

• Over the weekend, the enemy shelled and destroyed one of Mykolayiv’s main grain terminals in an apparent Kremlin campaign to bring on a world food crisis.  Missiles arrived from the Black Sea. Photo above via Maritime-Executive

 

Above: Enemy forces patrol near Mariupol.  Photo via Deccan Herald

• Ukraine was able to push enemy Black Sea naval forces outside of the 100 kilometer coastal range.  The enemy has about thirty ships and submarines imposing the blockade and sending missiles into Ukraine.

• The US is considering ways to supply Ukraine with longer-range anti-ship missiles to help break the Black Sea blockade.  Thorny issues include long training requirements, complex maintenance, capture by enemy forces and enemy escalation.  Boeing-made Harpoons and Kongsberg-Raytheon-made Naval Strike missiles are under consideration. Photo above via Naval Technology

 

• Spain announced that it is making a “quantitative leap” in its military support to Ukraine and will supply Shorad Aspide anti-aircraft missiles and about forty Leopard A4 battle tanks and training on their use to Ukrainian forces in Latvia. The tanks have been in deep storage in Spain for over a decade and will require restoration before shipping to Ukraine. Photo above via Wikimedia Commons. (Read more)

• Poland signed a defense contract with Ukraine worth about USD700 million for the sale of about sixty Krab howitzer artillery guns.  Ukraine will also receive subsidies from the EU for the purchase. This is in addition to eighteen such guns already sent to Ukraine from Poland.  Ukraine is hoping to source the ammo from the US. Photo above via Ukrinform 

 

• Norway revealed that it donated twenty-two M109 howitzers to Ukraine in a package with peripherals, spare parts and ammo.  Norway’s Ministry of Defense said this and future announcements on arms delivery are delayed for security reasons. Photo via Defense Express  (Read more)

 

• A private Belgian company announced this week that it sold Ukraine sixty-four M109 howitzers that it bought from the government of Belgium for EUR 1.75 million in 2015. Photo above via Defense Express