Victory Chronicles-DAY 1252

A Russian airborne struck the central Ukrainian Dnipropetrovsk regional city of Kamianske early on July 28, killing three civilians and injuring five others, including a pregnant woman, local and national officials said.

The missile struck around 2 a.m., partially destroying a three-story building and damaging a maternity hospital and city medical center, according to Dnipropetrovsk regional Governor Serhii Lysak. 

Among the dead was a 23-year-old woman named Diana, who was expecting a child, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed in a statement.

“Three people were killed by this strike. One of them was Diana,” he said. “She was just 23 years old.” Two of the wounded remain in serious condition, Lysak added.

Elsewhere in the region, Russian forces also shelled communities in Nikopol and Synelnykove districts, using artillery, guided bombs and FPV drones. One person was killed, and at least two others were injured.  A firefighting crew came under a second drone attack while responding to a blaze, but was unharmed.

Russian rocket strike kills 5 at aid site in Kharkiv region. Five civilians were killed and three injured on July 29 when Russian forces shelled residents who had assembled to  collect humanitarian aid in Novoplatonivka, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine’s emergency service reported. The attack occurred as they awaited to receive supplies, with Russian forces striking the crowd using unguided multiple rocket launchers. Emergency crews, including 13 firefighters and several vehicles, responded to the scene. 

Russian drone hits firefighter vehicle in eastern Ukraine, injures two. A Russian explosive drone struck a fire truck in the frontline city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region on July 28, injuring two emergency workers, local officials said.

The truck, part of a municipal rescue team, was helping evacuate civilians from a dangerous area when it was hit mid-drive by afirst-person view drone,  type of small, remote-controlled explosive used frequently by Russian forces in Ukraine. Both firefighters were injured and received medical care.

Ukrainian infantry captures Russian in close-quarters operation near Torske. Ukrainian soldiers from the 51st Battalion of Ukraine’s 63rd Mechanized Brigade captured a group of Russian assault troops during a clearing operation near the village of Torske in Donetsk region, the brigade reported.

While sweeping a forest area, Ukrainian infantry uncovered a Russian unit concealed in a dugout. The enemy initially opened fire, but after sustained grenade strikes, the Russian soldiers surrendered. Footage released by the brigade shows the intense close-quarters engagement and successful capture of the enemy position. 

Key Takeaways:

• US President Donald Trump announced a new deadline for Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine no later than August 9.
• Kremlin officials continue to frame Russia as in direct geopolitical confrontation with the West in order to generate domestic support for the war in Ukraine and future Russian aggression against NATO.
• Russian forces recently advanced in the Lyman, Toretsk, Novopavlivka, and Velyka Novosilka directions.

The commander of the Russian volunteer corps White Rex, which fights on the Ukrainian Ukraine, on the lack of resistance from Russian citizens when the RDK entered Russian territory:

 “The guys from KRAKEN (a combat unit under the command of the Main Intelligence Directorate) asked me, ‘Listen, how did you find them there? Did they rush at the armoured personnel carriers and grab the barrels? How was it?’ And I am ashamed to say that none of that happened.

When the Russians entered Ukraine, we saw people in Kherson throwing themselves under armoured personnel carriers, and an old woman chasing Russian soldiers out of a house in Irpin…

We don’t see anything like that when we enter Russian territory. People sit quietly. They don’t understand — are they ours, are they yours… They see men with machine guns and that’s it — no one interferes with the situation.

As the example of the Prigozhin march showed, only garbage trucks tried to stop it; there were no brave defenders of the Russian Federation. Our example showed the same thing.

The Sudzha district was under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for almost eight months. Was there even one act of partisan warfare there? Maybe someone threw a Molotov cocktail at a Ukrainian armoured personnel carrier? Or set fire to a Ukrainian military warehouse? Nothing of the sort happened.

Compare this with the footage from the beginning of the invasion, when a guy is driving, next to him is a girl with long hair, and she throws a Molotov cocktail at a Russian armoured personnel carrier. Nothing like that happened on Russian territory… People gave up their right to control their own destinies to those higher up. In exchange for security, they lost their rights. And as a result, they have neither rights nor security.”

*An excerpt from an interview given to Ukrainska Pravda.

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