Victory Chronicles-DAY 1169

In a move raising deep international concern, Russian occupation forces have entrenched themselves at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), converting the civilian facility into a fortified military base and a training ground for drone operators, according to the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces.

In a comment to Ukrinform, Vladyslav Voloshyn said the facility’s protected international status prevents Ukrainian forces from striking it, giving Russian troops a strategic advantage.

“Right now, they’re using the nuclear plant as a military base because we won’t attack it. That lets them conceal units inside. Several locations are also being used to train UAV crews. A unit from Russia’s National Guard (Rosgvardiya), known as Akhmat, is also stationed there,” Voloshyn said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which maintains observers at the site, had reported hearing daily explosions near the plant in late April, underlining the volatile conditions in the area. Meanwhile, six drones were spotted just 1.5 kilometers from the South Ukrainian NPP on the night of April 25.

Russia’s battlefield losses in Ukraine approach 970,000. Russia’s military personnel losses – killed, wounded, and missing – in Ukraine has reached an estimated 960,770 troops since the start of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

The daily May 7 update added that Russian forces lost another 1,270 personnel in the past 24 hours alone. Beyond manpower, Russia has also reportedly lost 10,780 tanks, 22,419 armored fighting vehicles, 47,484 vehicles and fuel trucks, 27,502 artillery systems, 1,378 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,155 air defense systems, 372 aircraft, 335 helicopters, 35,266 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.

Aftermath of Russian drone barrage in Zaporizhzhia: two rescued from rubble. Overnight on May 6, Russian forces launched a massive strike using unmanned aerial vehicles on Zaporizhzhia between 9:55 p.m. and 10:20 p.m, to Ukraine’s state emergency services (SES). 

Pictures of the aftermath were subsequently released by officials with one residential building destroyed, sparking a fire that spread across 50 square meters. 

. Emergency crews managed to free two individuals who were trapped under debris and transferred them to medical personnel. The SES reported that the fire has been extinguished. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, and the total number of casualties is still being clarified.

Ukrainian forces destroy Russian Buk-M1 air defense system in precision strike. Ukrainian military intelligence operatives have destroyed a Russian Buk-M1 medium-range surface-to-air missile system and its accompanying ammunition in the eastern Ukraine, according to the press service of the Khortytsia Operational-Strategic Group.

The targeted strike, carried out by the Chornyi Lis (Black Forest) Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade, hit the air defense system  while it was in transit,triggeringa powerful detonation. “Ammunition cooked off in a spectacular ‘firework’ [display] following a direct hit on one of the Russian army’s modern air defense assets,” the statement said. The Buk-M1 is a critical   part of Russia’s layered air defense network. With an estimated value of $10 million.

Key Takeaways:

• Ukrainian forces continued limited attacks across the international border near Tetkino and Novyi Put, Kursk Oblast.
• Ukrainian forces also continued drone, air, and artillery strikes aimed at isolating Russian units in and near Tetkino.
• Kremlin officials are continuing to leverage the mythos of the Soviet Union’s role in the Second World War to form the basis of a new state ideology that will span generations and that Russia intends to leverage to justify a future military conflict against the West.
• The Kremlin appears to be consolidating around an informal state ideology predicated on perpetuating the belief that the West is determined to encircle and defeat Russia.
• Russian officials also appear to be leveraging the story of the Second World War (referred to as the Great Patriotic War in Russia) to dismiss Russia’s early failures in the war in Ukraine and present the false image that Russian victory in Ukraine is as inevitable as the Soviet triumph over Germany became at the end of World War II.
• Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov expressed his desire to resign from his post but acknowledged that only Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin can approve this request. Kadyrov has helped stabilize interethnic tensions in the North Caucasus, and leaving his post without a suitable successor could threaten the stability of Putin’s regime.
• It remains unclear who might succeed Kadyrov in the event of his resignation or death.
• Ukraine and Russia conducted a 205-for-205 prisoner of war (POW) exchange on May 6.
• Russian forces advanced near Kupyansk, Toretsk, Novopavlivka, and Velyka Novosilka.

In memoriam: Ukrainian soldier Serhii Zamaraiev, a hero of Ukraine’s defense forces. Sgt. Serhii Zamaraiev, known by the call sign “Melnyk,” was killed in action on May 22, 2024, during a combat mission near the village of Krasne Pershe in Kharkiv region’s Kupiansk district. He died from a fatal gunshot and shrapnel wound. He was 42.

Zamaraiev was born in the village of Okhoche in Kharkiv region’s Novovodolazka district and graduated from the local Okhoche Lyceum. He later settled in Kharkiv, where he spent the last 10 years working in horticulture. A devoted parishioner of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, he often volunteered to care for trees on church grounds.

After Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he joined the 123rd Kupiansk Battalion of the 113th Territorial Defense Brigade. He served as a senior line supervisor, maintaining communication systems on the battlefield. For his service, Zamaraiev was awarded the Medal “For the Liberation of Kharkiv Region” and honors from the Kupiansk Territorial Defense Forces.

“Serhii was a kind, caring, responsible and courageous man,” said his wife. “He always looked after people and animals alike.” Zamaraiev is survived by his wife, mother, and son.

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

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