Victory Chronicles-DAY 1170

Despite declaring its own so-called three-day Victory Day truce, invading Russian forces launched at least 117 assault attempts across the front line on May 8, exposing the Kremlin’s habitual use of ceasefire pledges as empty, theatrical gestures. 

According to Ukraine’s General Staff, intense fighting continued unabated across nearly every operational axis, reinforcing the time-and-again pattern of Moscow using ceasefire declarations that are performative in nature and routinely substantively discarded in practice. 

The fiercest fighting took place on the Pokrovsk front, where Ukrainian defenders engaged in 41 combat clashes. On the Lyman axis, Russian troops attacked 17 times. In the Kharkiv sector, two enemy assaults were repelled, and a third was still underway by the time of the report.

Compounding these violations, Russian artillery units shelled Ukrainian population centers in Sumy Oblast from across the state border – further evidence that the so-called ceasefire was not observed at either the tactical or strategic levels. Further hostilities were recorded in several other regions. 

Russian troops conducted three assaults in the Kupiansk area, two in the Siversk sector, two in Kramatorsk, five in the Toretsk sector, and 19 on the Novopavlivka front. The Orikhiv axis saw three separate clashes, and two more were recorded along the Dnipro River in the Prydniprovske sector. In the Kursk direction, Ukrainian forces repelled seven Russian attacks.

Estonia warns EU against handing Putin 240 billion euros in frozen Russian assets. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has issued a stringent warning to the European Union (EU), urging it not to allow Russia to reclaim the 240 billion euros in frozen assets currently held by European institutions. 

These funds, rendered immobilized in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, were frozen as part of sweeping sanctions imposed on Moscow for its war of aggression against Ukraine and to deter further violations of international law.

Speaking on the sidelines of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Warsaw, Tsahkna stressed that Brussels must remain firm in its stance against Russian belligerence. He emphasized that discussions are already underway to to build a consensus ahead of a June vote to renew sanctions against Russia, including those related to its immobilized sovereign funds.

Russian strike hits apartment block in Donetsk regional town of Kostiantynivka, injuring 13 civilians. A Russian attack on the town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast has left 13 civilians injured after a projectile hit a nine-story apartment building. Emergency crews rescued two people trapped under rubble between the second and third floors, removing over one ton of collapsed debris.

Search and rescue operations are ongoing, as officials believe at least one more person may still be under the wreckage. Ten residents were evacuated from apartments on the second, third, fourth, seventh, and eighth floors. The strike caused a partial collapse of the building from the ninth to the first floor of one entrance section. 

Ukrainian drones destroy rare $46 million Russian radar and advanced flamethrower systems. Ukrainian drone operators from the 413th Raid Battalion of Ukraine’s Drone Systems Forces (SBS) have successfully targeted and destroyed  rare, high-value Russian military assets in two separate operations on the Kursk and Donetsk fronts, according to a statement shared on the SBS Telegram channel.

In Russia’s Kursk region, far from the Ukrainian border, Raid operators from the combined Jmil UAV detachment of the 78th Separate Air Assault Regiment targeted and disabled a Zaslon radar system mounted on a wheeled chassis. This rare modification of a ship-based radar complex is typically installed on Russia’s newest corvettes and can detect targets up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) away, providing targeting data for air defense missiles and coordinating artillery fire. In 2019, its estimated unit cost was around $46 million, according to Russian media reports..

Meanwhile, in Donetsk Oblast, Raid drone teams struck and destroyed two of Russia’s newest heavy flamethrower systems that utilize fuel-air explosives, the “Tosochka TOS-2 A modernized successor to the Solntsepyok TOS-1A Solntsepyok (Scorching Sun) the TOS-2 was officially adopted by the Russian armed forces in 2021. 

Key Takeaways:

• U.S. officials acknowledged Russia’s continued intransigence toward any ceasefire agreement in Ukraine while reiterating that Ukraine remains committed to US President Donald Trump’s proposed comprehensive 30-day ceasefire.
• Ukrainian forces likely recently advanced across the international border into southern Tetkino, Kursk Oblast, amid continued limited Ukrainian attacks in the area.
• Ukrainian forces conducted long-range drone strikes against defense industrial facilities and air bases in Russia overnight on May 6 and 7.
• Russian authorities will likely test their ability to completely disconnect large areas of Russia from the internet on May 9 under the guise of protecting Russian Victory Day celebrations.
• Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro signed the Russia-Venezuela Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement on May 7.
• Ukrainian and European officials continue to report on Russian executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in violation of international law and Russia’s use of chemical weapons in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), to which Russia is a signatory.
• Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin appeared to reject Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov’s recent request to resign from his post.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Vovchansk, Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, Novopavlivka, and Velyka Novosilka.

In memoriam: Ukrainian soldier Oleh Haikovyi, a hero of Ukraine’s defense forces

Pvt. Oleh Haikovyi, known by the call sign “Busia,” was killed in action on June 10, 2023, in the Serebrianske forestry area of Luhansk region. He was leading fellow soldiers to their position when Russian forces launched a mortar strike. He was 36.

Haikovyi was born and raised in Zolochiv, Lviv region. In 2008, he graduated from Ivan Franko National University in Lviv with a degree in applied physics. In civilian life, he worked in construction and software development, with job experience in Poland, Germany and Slovakia. He dreamed of launching his own construction company abroad. He loved spending time with his family and visiting his parents in the countryside.

Following the full-scale Russian invasion, Haikovyi joined National Guard military unit 3113, serving as a rifleman. His call sign “Busia” was chosen in honor of his beloved pit bull — the dog through whom he met his wife.

“They say war takes the best,” one of his comrades wrote. “From the day we met, I knew he was a man of his word — someone you could always rely on, even in the toughest moment.”

“He greeted me and our daughters on March 8, then packed his things and left,” his mother recalled. “I asked, ‘Where are you going? You’ve never had military training.’ He said, ‘Mom, my mind is made up. A 60-year-old dad won’t go — it has to be someone like me.’ He always told everyone: ‘I’m doing fine,’ so I wouldn’t worry.”

“For me, he was the best man in the world — love at first sight,” said his wife, Nadiia. “He was always determined, always trying to be better every day. He will forever live in our hearts.”

Haikovyi was posthumously awarded the Order “For Courage,” 3rd Class. He was laid to rest in the village of Pidhiria in Lviv region. He is survived by his parents, sister, wife, son and two daughters.

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

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