Victory Chronicles-DAY 1163

Ukrainian activist and military volunteer Serhii Sternenko was shot and injured in an apparent assassination attempt in Kyiv on May 1, authorities said. The Odesa city native, 30, said that the bullet passed through his body without hitting vital organs. 

“They operated on me… I’m very lucky,” he wrote, adding that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had “literally saved his life.” It was the fourth attempt on Sternenko’s life dating to 2018. 

Surveillance video released by Ukrainska Pravda shows a woman opening fire as Sternenko exited a residential building. She was quickly subdued and later identified as a suspected agent from the Odesa region recruited remotely by Russian intelligence.

According to the SBU, the woman had tracked Sternenko’s movements since mid-April and collected a firearm from a hidden location, and had rented living space in the same Kyiv residential building where Sternenko lived. Authorities also found bomb components and digital evidence of her ties to Russia.

She has been detained without bail by a Kyiv court until June 29 and faces up to 15 years in prison. Sternenko, a high-profile figure since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, is known for his work supporting Ukraine’s military, especially with the provision of drones. He leads a drone procurement initiative that claims to be the country’s largest non-governmental supplier of FPV drones.

Ukraine signs contracts for 8,000 ground robots in 2025. Ukraine’s Defense Procurement Agency has already ordered approximately 8,000 ground robotic systems this year, significantly expanding its partnership with private domestic manufacturers.

The announcement was made by Serhii Prolubshchykov, head of the Ground Systems Office at the Defense Procurement Agency, during a briefing at the Ministry of Defense. “Our focus is on working with private companies, especially those contracting with the state for the first time, as their number has increased significantly,” Prolubshchykov said.

Around 600 ground robotic systems were delivered last year, he said, while adding that the agency has already secured contracts for more than 8,000 units this year. That number is expected to rise as procurement continues.

Regional officials: Drone strike on Zaporizhzhia injures 31 civilians, including two children. The number of people civilians who were injured in a mass Russian drone attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia has risen to 31, including two children, according to regional authorities. Zaporizhzhia regional governor Ivan Fedorov said Russian drones targeted civilian infrastructure in the city, damaging residential buildings, a university and other facilities.

As of early May 2, officials had reported 29 injuries. Later updates confirmed the number had increased to 31. Two people — a man and a woman — remain in serious condition. Four others are in moderate condition. Most of the injured, 24 individuals, were treated and discharged to continue recovery at home. Seven people remain hospitalized, Fedorov said.

Ukrainian special forces release footage of repelling Russian assault near Chasiv Yar. Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) have released body camera footage showing the repulsion of a Russian ground assault near the Donetsk regional town of Chasiv Yar.

The footage, recorded by SOF operators from the 8th Regiment, documents a previously classified combat engagement that took place last year. According to the military, the video was made public only now due to operational security concerns.

In the recorded incident, Ukrainian forces repelled a Russian assault and then cleared a group of enemy soldiers who had taken shelter in the basement of a residential building. “The basement became a trap for the enemy. The Russian troops were completely eliminated. SOF operators approached the site and used thermobaric grenades,” the statement said.

Another Russian group was later engaged in the same area, and a firefight ensued resultingin multiple enemy casualties. Ukrainian forces also captured enemy weapons and a radio.

Key Takeaways:

• The United States and Ukraine published additional information about their April 30 bilateral economic partnership agreement.
• U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg recently reaffirmed that Ukrainian officials remain committed to resolving the war in Ukraine, despite ongoing Russian refusals to accept U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated proposals for a general ceasefire in pursuit of lasting peace in Ukraine.
• Russia continues to reject US and European proposals to deploy Western peacekeeping forces to Ukraine and calls for Russia to make territorial concessions in pursuit of a lasting peace in Ukraine, signaling the Kremlin’s unyielding negotiating position.
• Russian forces recently advanced in Sumy Oblast and near Lyman, Siversk, Pokrovsk, and Kurakhove.

In memoriam: Ukrainian soldier Serhii Povkh, a hero of Ukraine’s defense forces. Spc. Serhii Povkh was killed in action on Aug. 24, 2024, during a combat mission near the village of Fedorivka in Bakhmut district, Donetsk region. He had turned 37 just a month earlier.

Povkh was born in Esztergom, Hungary, and lived in the city of Zolochiv in Lviv region. In 2005, he completed vocational training in carpentry and parquetry at a local trade school. Five years later, he graduated from Lviv National Agrarian University with a degree in geodesy, cartography and land management. He worked abroad before the war.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion, Povkh returned home to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the 70th Support Brigade under the Command of Support Forces. He held the position of senior sapper in an engineer-sapper platoon.

“My son was kind and sincere. He volunteered to join the army. He had been working abroad legally when the war broke out — but he came back to defend his homeland,” said his mother, Lesia Kazymyrivna. Povkh is survived by his mother and his brother, Andrii, along with Andrii’s family.

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

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• U.S. Secretary of state: Ukraine-Russia positions remain distant, but gap narrowing
• Intelligence suggests Putin’s immediate goals for Ukraine war may have shifted
• US Vice President JD Vance says Russo-Ukrainian war unlikely to end soon
• Large-scale drone attack on Crimea: explosions heard near military air bases
• US, Ukraine may wait decade or more to see revenue from minerals deal