Victory Chronicles
-DAY 398

Above: President Zelensky had a very busy day Monday.  The president continued his tour of the combat theater yesterday when he visited advanced positions in the Zaporizhzhia region including Marhanets, Nikopol and Zaporizhzhia. Following the tour, President Zelensky held a general military staff meeting in Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk.  At the end of the day, the president spoke with Polish President Duda to catch up on “big events” that are being prepared. (Photo: President’s Administration)

They have arrived!
Strykers and Cougars from 🇺🇲, Challengers from 🇬🇧, Marders from 🇩🇪 have officially joined the Air Assault Forces of the #UAarmy!
The greatest vehicles for the best soldiers.
Onward! pic.twitter.com/xZnjtdnwfq

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 27, 2023

It was a pleasure to take the first Ukrainian Challenger 2 MBT for a spin.
Such tanks, supplied by the United Kingdom, have recently arrived in our country.
These fantastic machines will soon begin their combat missions.
Thank you, @RishiSunak, @BWallaceMP, and the 🇬🇧 people. pic.twitter.com/zoCRmKdBnN

— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) March 28, 2023

Above: UK Ministry of Defence

• Estonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu believes that Ukraine’s Western allies should be more proactive in providing Ukraine with weapons in order to guarantee its victory as soon as possible. In particular, Estonia is pushing for F-16 fighter jets.  “With regard to the F-16s, pilots are pilots: we’re not talking spaceships here. And you have aircraft pilots, they will be trained in a short period of time. And what is very important is that these F-16s can also be an air defence platform, because their speed can also be used to launch missiles against Russian S-300s,” he said.
• The Kremlin ordered Moscow City to recruit 27,000 contract personnel, threatening a second wave of mobilization if recruitment efforts fail.

General Staff’s Daily Video Digest with English subtitles

Above: A destroyed Russian tank captured in Bucha in March 2022 is touring Latvia.  It has been in Riga in front of the Russian Embassy.  This week it moved to Liepaja.  Since the beginning of the war, Latvian state support for defenders of Ukraine has reached 1.14% of Latvia’s gross domestic product, or 498 million euros, ranking the country among the leading supporters of Ukraine’s brave defense against Russian aggression. (Latvia Public Broadcasting)

Above:  Five enemy armored vehicles headed for Crimea crashed on the Kerch Strait bridge due to practicing unsafe driving.  Looks like Russian armored vehicles are not protected from Russian drivers. (Defense Intelligence)

Ukrainian General Staff of the Armed Forces estimated enemy losses since February 24, 2022 (with daily additions)

• Liquidated personnel, 171,730 (+570)
• Tanks, 3,602 (+7)
• Armored personnel vehicles, 6,966 (+13)
• Artillery systems/MLRS, 2,653/525 (+15/2)
• Anti-aircraft warfare systems, 277 (0)
• Aircraft/helicopters, 305/291 (0)
• UAV operational-tactical level, 2,235 (+19)
• Cruise missiles, 911 (0)
• Warships/boats, 18 (0)
• Vehicles and fuel tanks, 5,502 (+9)
• Special equipment, 287 (+2)

Above:  “Quite a tough day in Slovyansk,” wrote Mayor Vadym Liazh last night.  Thirty-six civilian casualties including deaths.  (President’s Administration)

Glory to Ukraine!
The 398th  day of the Russian large-scale invasion has begun.

• During the day of March 27, the adversary launched 24x air and 12x missile strikes, and conducted 55x MLRS attacks.
• The enemy continues to ignore the laws and customs of war, uses terror tactics against civilians in Ukraine. On March 27, a missile attack on the infrastructure of Slovyansk (Donetsk oblast) caused civilian casualties, killing several people. Multistory and private houses were damaged. In the town of Beryslav (Kherson oblast), a civilian facility was damaged by an enemy air strike.
• At night, the enemy employed 15x Shahed-136 combat UAVs to launch air strikes. 14x of them were destroyed by Ukrainian defenders.
• The threat of further missile and air strikes remains high across Ukraine.
• During the day of 27 March, the enemy shelled the vicinities of settlements of Bleshnya (Chernihiv oblast), Baranivka, Tovstodubove, Studenok, Holyshivs’ke, Stukalivka, Volfyne, Tur’ya, Mais’ke, Mezenivka, Popivka (Sumy oblast), Tymofiivka, Krasne, Ustynivka, and Chorne (Kharkiv oblast).
• Kup’yans’k and Lyman axes: during the day of 27 March, the adversary conducted unsuccessful offensives in the vicinities of settlements of Krokhmal’ne, Kreminna, Kuz’myne, Bilohorivka, Verkhn’okam’yans’ke, and Berestove. The invaders fired artillery in the vicinities of settlements of Kam’yanka, Kolodyazne, Krasne Pershe, Novomlyns’k, Dvorichna, Zapadne, Kup’yans’k (Kharkiv oblast), Stel’makhivka, Novoselivs’ke, Nevs’ke, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Terny, Sivers’k, Spirne, and Vyimka (Donetsk oblast).
• Bakhmut axis: the enemy continues to assault the city of Bakhmut that is held by Ukrainian defenders, as well as the vicinity of settlements of Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bohdanivka, Ivanivske, and Ozarianivka (Donetsk oblast). The invaders shelled Vasyukivka, Hryhorivka, Min’kivka, Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Novomarkove, Bakhmut, Predtechyne, Kurdyumivka, Ozarianivka, Druzhba, and Maiors’k (Donetsk oblast).
• Avdiivka and Mar’inka axes: the adversary conducted unsuccessful offensive operations towards the settlements of Stepove, Avdiivka, Sjeverne, Pervomais’ke, Nevel’s’ke, and Mar’inka. The occupiers used non-lethal aerosol “tear gas” grenades in the vicinities of Novokalynove, Lastochkyne, Pervomais’ke, and Mar’inka. The enemy shelled more than 10x settlements. Among them are Novokalynove, Krasnohorivka, Stepove, Avdiivka, Tonen’ke, Sjeverne, Pervomais’ke, Nevel’s’ke, Mar’inka, and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast).
• Shakhtars’ke axis: during the day of 27 March, the enemy shelled the vicinities of settlements of Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Velyka Novosilka, and Vremivka (Donetsk oblast).
• Zaporizhzhia and Kherson axes: the adversary stays on the defensive. The invaders shelled Vil’ne Pole, Novosilka, Novopil’ (Donetsk oblast), Poltavka, Malynivka, Hulyaipole, Zaliznychne, Bilohir’ya, Novodanylivka (Zaporizhzhia oblast), Kherson, Kozats’ke, and Antonivka (Kherson oblast).

Support the Armed Forces! United we will win! Glory to Ukraine!

Above:  Although the front is hundreds of kilometers away in eastern Kharkiv Oblast, Sumy Oblast receives multiple enemy strikes on civilian infrastructure daily.  The reason is because Sumy has the misfortune to be on the border with the ancient enemy and because Russians enjoy using their limited ammo to terrorize civilians. (Suspilne)

• Russian forces continued ground attacks along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on March 26 and 27 and have made marginal gains in the Svatove area as of March 27. Geolocated footage posted on March 27 indicates that Russian troops have advanced into Raihorodka, 12km west of Svatove. Russian forces continued unsuccessful offensive operations near Synkivka (10km northeast of Kupyansk), Kreminna, Bilohorivka (10km south of Kreminna), Vyimka (25km south of Kreminna), and Vesele (30km south of Kreminna) on March 26 and 27.[
• Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Spokesperson Serhiy Cherevaty reported on March 26 that Russian forces are conducting the highest number of artillery strikes along the entire Kupyansk-Lyman line and that there were 10 combat clashes on this line over the past day.

Above:  Communal meal of canned paté and white bread in the trenches near Bakhmut. (Suspilne)

• Russian forces continued ground attacks in and around Bakhmut on March 26 and 27 and made gains within Bakhmut as of March 26. Geolocated footage posted on March 24 and 26 shows that Russian forces have likely advanced along Zelena Street and Oleksandry Kolpakovoi streets in northwestern Bakhmut.
• The number of Russian attacks on Bakhmut is decreasing and suggested that Russian forces may be maneuvering with reserves in the area. Ukrainian troops repelled Russian attacks on Bakhmut itself; northwest of Bakhmut near Bohdanivka (6km northwest); west of Bakhmut near Ivanivske (5km west); and southwest of Bakhmut near Predtechyne (15km southwest) between March 26 and 27.
• Russian forces continued ground attacks in the Avdiivka-Donetsk City area on March 26 and 27. Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive operations near Avdiivka itself; in the Avdiivka area near Novokalynove (10km north of Avdiivka), Severne (5km west of Avdiivka), Tonenke (5km west of Avdiivka), Stepove (8km northwest of Avdiivka), and Novobakhmutivka (11km northwest of Avdiivka); on the northwestern outskirts of Donetsk City near Vodyane, Pervomaiske, Nevelske, and Krasnohorivka; and on the southwestern outskirts of Donetsk City near Marinka.
• Ukrainian intelligence forecasts that Wagner may appear in the Avdiivka direction. Russia may have decided to deploy Wagner elements to the Avdiivka area to support exhausted and lower-quality Donetsk People’s Republic elements. If Wagner fighters have been fighting near Avdiivka, their involvement may help explain the limited tactical gains made in the area over the past week.
• The Avdiivka Military Administration Head announced on March 27 that communal service workers are evacuating Avdiivka and that mobile communications will be turned off to thwart enemy collaborators. Entry to the city is prohibited due to escalating danger, including by journalists and volunteer aid workers.
• Ukrainian partisans conducted an improvised explosive device attack against an occupation police chief, blowing up his car in Mariupol on March 27. He survived with a concussion.

Above:  President Zelensky and International Atomic Energy Agency Director Grossi are briefed on the situation with the Kakhova dam and reservoir during their meeting at the Dnipro hydroelectric station on Monday. Mr Grossi said that the IAEA has abandoned the idea of a demilitarized zone around the temporarily-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as russia clearly refuses to cooperate.  Instead, Mr Grossi is hoping for a “behavioral” solution in which the invader would agree to not attack the station. (New Voice of Ukraine)

• Russian forces have decreased their tempo of shelling in Kherson Oblast from 90-100 instances to 50-60 instances per day.
• Russian forces are converting FAB-500 unguided aerial bombs into guided missiles to use as replacement for expensive cruise missiles.They have been testing these improvised guided aerial bombs along the contact line in Kherson Oblast for the past few days.
• Russian occupation authorities plan to implement a Free Economic Zone in occupied Kherson Oblast, building on existing factories to produce single products such as tomato paste. FEZs are designed to reduce tax and regulatory burdens to stimulate new enterprises.  It sounds more  like an opportunity to stimulate Russian corruption.
• Russian occupation authorities continue to prepare for a September referendum in occupied territories. Putin’s monopoly party United Russia claimed on March 26 that preliminary voting is underway in occupied territories and that over 2,500 residents of occupied Kherson Oblast have registered with the United Russia political party.