Victory Chronicles-DAY 1287

Ukrainian forces have retaken the village of Udachne in the Donetsk region, raising the national flag after weeks of close combat with Russian troops, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Sept. 2.

Soldiers of the 425th Separate Assault Regiment, known as “Skelia,” (Cliff) engaged in urban warfare by moving block by block through the population center over two weeks as they clearing houses and dismantled Russian positions. Military officials said all enemy strongholds in the area were destroyed before the flag was raised.

Udachne lies on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has been especially intense and is currently considered the hottest spot. The capture is small in geographic terms but symbolically significant, showing that Ukrainian forces are still able to claw back territory even amid Russia’s pressure across the region.

South Korean intelligence: 2,000 North Korean soldiers killed fighting in Ukraine. Roughly 2,000 North Korean troops sent to support Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine have been killed, according to South Korean lawmakers, who cited intelligence reports.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told parliament that Pyongyang, North Koreas’s capital, is preparing to dispatch an additional 6,000 soldiers to Russia as part of a third wave of deployments. 

About 1,000 North Korean combat engineers have already arrived, the agency said. The troops are reportedly have been stationed in rear areas as reserve forces, though casualties suggest they are being drawn closer to combat. Since October 2024, North Korea has sent about 13,000 personnel to Russia, according to intelligence estimates.

North Korea has publicly acknowledged losing about 350 soldiers in earlier deployments, a stark contrast to the far higher figures now emerging from intelligence sources.

Russian drone strike kills man Kyiv suburb of Bila Tserkvak, also damages homes. A Russian drone attack on the city of Bila Tserkva, about 50 miles southwest of Kyiv, killed one male and damaged residential buildings, a school and dozens of vehicles overnight on Sept. 2, regional officials said.

The strike set off fires across the city. Emergency crews later discovered the body of a 64-year-old garage watchman, who had been working when the explosions tore through his workplace. 

“Unfortunately, one person has died,” said Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration. “His body was found during the extinguishing of the fire at the garage cooperative.”

Ukrainian artillery destroys Russian guns and ammunition depot in Zaporizhzhia region. Ukrainian gunners struck Russian positions with pinpoint accuracy by destroying two artillery pieces and a hidden ammunition warehouse in the southern region of Zaporizhzhya the country’s military said Sept. 2.

The 44th Artillery Brigade carried out the operation in open fields, where spotting and targeting enemy equipment can be especially difficult. Videos released by the brigade showed explosions ripping through the Russian positions after the strikes.

Ukrainian officials said the attack was part of ongoing efforts to reduce Russia’s ability to shell front-line towns and villages from Russian-occupied positions. 

Key Takeaways:

• Kremlin officials continue to deny White House statements about the prospect of a bilateral Ukrainian-Russian or trilateral US-Ukrainian-Russian meeting in the near future.
• Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin continues to demonstrate his unwillingness to compromise on his unwavering demands for Ukraine’s full capitulation.
• The Kremlin likely timed the publication of a video address by former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to coincide with Putin’s SCO speech in order to lend legitimacy to Putin’s demand for regime change in Ukraine.
• Putin’s demands for regime change in his SCO speech are not new, but rather the reiteration of his pre-war demands that he has been pursuing throughout the war.
• The Russian military command reportedly redeployed relatively “elite” naval infantry and airborne (VDV) forces to Donetsk Oblast from northern Sumy Oblast and the Kherson direction.
• The reported redeployments suggest that the Russian Fall 2025 offensive will focus on efforts to seize the remainder of Donetsk Oblast, particularly in the Dobropillya, Pokrovsk, and Kostyantynivka areas.
• Likely Russian global positioning system  jamming affected a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sept. 1.
• Ukraine reportedly conducted its first strike with its domestically produced FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile on Aug. 30 against occupied Crimea.
• Ukrainian authorities reportedly collected new evidence of Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov endorsing war crimes against Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).
• Ukrainian forces advanced near Pokrovsk. Russian forces advanced near Kupyansk and Novopavlivka and in western Zaporizhia Oblast.

Deputy Commander of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine ‘Azov’ Sviatoslav ‘Kalina’ Palamar on the defense of Mariupol in 2022:

Regarding the Russian siege of the Azov Sea port city of Azov in the easternmost region of the Donetsk region in 2022, Ukrainian National Guard 1st corps commander Sviatoslav Palamar said the following: 

“The defense of Mariupol is a very important part of Ukraine’s overall defense in 2022. The men and women who fought there showed that they were prepared to die rather than let the enemy advance.

We understood that in this way we were delaying the enemy’s advance in other directions. Perhaps if the enemy had managed to capture Mariupol in a shorter period of time, all those armed forces would have gone to Zaporizhzhia, and the situation there would have been much worse than it is now”.

• ​​Turkish president says that Putin and Zelenskyy are not yet ready for meeting
• Finland’s Stubb eyes progress on US-backed Ukraine security plans
• UK intelligence explains why Russians push into Serebrianka Forest
• DeepState: Russia occupies village in Donetsk Oblast and advance in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv oblasts
• UK extends support for Ukrainian refugees for two more years
• UN secretary-general at SCO summit: Time to call ceasefire in Ukraine
• US treasury secretary: Trump to consider sanctions against Russia “very closely” this week
• Ukrainian Foreign Ministry: Russia significantly increases production of missiles and other weapons with support from North Korea and Iran