Victory Chronicles
-DAY 481

Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defense, has reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have liberated eight settlements on the Berdiansk and Melitopol fronts, including the town of Piatykhatky.

“In two weeks of offensive operations on the Berdiansk and Melitopol fronts, during the specified period, units from the Tavriia Operational and Strategic Group of Forces have liberated 8 settlements, including Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blahodatne, Lobkove, Neskuchne and Piatykhatky”, she said. Maliar emphasized that, in total, the units on the Tavriia front had advanced into the depths of the Russian forces by up to 7 kilometers, and the liberated area in the south is 113 square kilometers. 

• Weapons: Zelenskyy: No Patriot system in Ukraine was destroyed
• Dam explosion: Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant explosion: 17 killed, 13 of them from drowning
• Russian losses: Russia loses four companies on the Tavriia front over the past 24 hours – Commander of Tavriia Group of Forces
• The Yermak-McFaul Group: 81% of foreign components in Russian missiles are produced in the USA

Ukrainian defenders destroyed 630 Russian occupiers who killed the peaceful Ukrainian population, shelled peaceful cities, and destroyed civilian objects. Russia continues to suffer losses in its aggressive war against Ukraine. Ukrainian defenders have destroyed a Russian helicopter, 18 artillery systems, 12 UAVs, and 6 armored combat vehicles just in the past 24 hours.

Russian forces attacked the city of Kherson on the night of 18–19 June, causing several fires. A civilian in Kherson Oblast sustained injuries due to the Russian attacks.

 

There is and will be no alternative to our steps for de-occupation – Zelenskyy. “As for the terrorist state. Their only concern now should be how to prepare their society, Russian society, for they will lose everything they are destroying the future of their state for. Russia will lose the occupied territories. There is and will be no alternative to our steps for de-occupation. Our troops are advancing, position by position, step by step; we are moving forward.”

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces defenders have entered the Russians’ trenches on the southern front from the rear. 

“In the south, while executing a mission, special purpose marine center operatives entered the enemy’s rear. The battle group made up of Special Operations Forces defenders caught the enemy by surprise. Having recovered from the surprise, some enemy defenders tried to resist. But, as you can see from the video shot by one of our defenders, it all was in vain”, reported SOF Ukraine.

A Wall Street Journal (WSJ) interview with Russian prisoners of war (POWs) indicates continued significant morale and command issues among frontline Russian units and the continued Russian use of “barrier forces” to shoot retreating defenders. 

WSJ amplified the statements of three unidentified Russian POWs who voluntarily surrendered to Ukrainian forces during Ukrainian counteroffensive operations near Velyka Novosilka, on the administrative border between Donetsk and Zaporizhia Oblasts. The POWs reported widespread fear of a Ukrainian counteroffensive among Russian front-line forces. The POWs indicated that the Russian military command sees Russian conscripts and penal recruits as expendable and claimed Russian officers order injured personnel deemed unfit for service back to the front line and use “barrier forces” to prevent penal recruits in “Storm-Z” units from retreating.

Barrier forces are specialized units that threaten to shoot their personnel either to prevent retreats or to force them to attack, and unverified social media footage recently circulated depicting Russian barrier troops shooting retreating Russian forces in Ukraine. The POWs also indicated that Russian forces struggled to supply and staff their units, including struggling to crew tanks and armored vehicles. The POWs expressed concern about returning to Russia in a POW exchange due to Russian laws prohibiting voluntary surrender to the enemy.

Chernihiv’s “Romashka” saves skillfully and fights valiantly. The territorial defense defender, Mykola, calls the female medic from his unit Mom because he is alive today primarily thanks to her. After a severe injury, to stop the bleeding, the medic’s hand was bandaged to the neck of the wounded defender to avoid additional blood loss. This way, the fighter could be transported to the nearest hospital successfully.

In war, where life and death are closely intertwined, one can meet amazing people who dedicate themselves entirely to fighting for their native land. Among them is the combat medic Olya with the call sign “Romashka.” Before the large-scale invasion of Russia, she was an ordinary paramedic at the Chernihiv Professional College of Railway Transport medical center. She was raising a small son.

On the second day of the war, the woman voluntarily came to the territorial recruitment center with the words: “I want to defend my Motherland!” At first, she spent a few days distributing conscription notices. Then, when the enemy approached Chernihiv, she was assigned to one of the territorial defense units.

The city heroically held the defense in the first months of the invasion. The enemy shelled Chernihiv daily, inflicted powerful air strikes, and mercilessly destroyed educational institutions, hospitals, and residential buildings. There were many wounded both among the military and among the civilian population. There was a catastrophic shortage of medics who knew how to provide first aid to the wounded. Olya selflessly worked day and night without rest, saving many lives. Her skills and knowledge have become invaluable to the affected people.

“I’m a fighting girl!” “Romashka” smiles. “Every day, our brigade worked under shelling, with danger to life, saving dozens of people. It was tough, but we didn’t give up!” She says that only a few such medical brigades were operating in the city. Almost every time after enemy shelling or bombing, they had to go out to help.

Olya is a true angel, bringing hope and faith in life to all who fall into her hands. Once, thanks to the medic’s ingenuity and determination, it was possible to save the life of a defender from her unit. Territorial defense defender Mykola had an artery in his neck grazed by a fragment of an enemy shell. The severe bleeding was not stopping. There were no necessary medicines available. There was barely any time to make decisions. Then Olya tamponaded the wound and ordered the fighter to hold the bandage with his own hand. To press the artery harder, without hesitation, she ordered her hand to be bandaged on top to the injured man’s neck. In this way, they decided to transport Mykola to the hospital as quickly as possible. But on the way, the medic’s car broke down. Fortunately for the wounded, defenders from another unit stopped near them. Mykola was transferred to their car, and Olya’s hand remained tied, pressing hard on the wound. Everything ended successfully, and the territorial defense defender was delivered to the Chernihiv Regional Hospital, where the doctors stopped the bleeding. Then he was urgently transported to Lviv for surgery. Over time, Mykola recovered and continued to serve in his unit, gratefully calling Olya his second mother.

Currently, Olya, along with her fellow fighters, is carrying out the defense tasks of the northern regions of our country. She continues her work and helps everyone who needs her. She constantly shares her knowledge of tactical medicine with others, teaching territorial defense defenders so that they can save more human lives when necessary.

In addition to medicine, Olya strives to achieve exceptional results in other “nuances” of military service. Despite traditional stereotypes associating the army with men, she trains on an equal footing with them. Her skills, strength, and endurance constantly grow, and the woman demonstrates fantastic results. She is fast and resilient on the specialized psychological obstacle course, expertly handles firearms, throws a grenade, and understands tactics.

“I go to training as part of the unit every week. They tell me, ‘You’re a woman! Why do you need this?’ However, where does it say that men need to go forward and I don’t? In a difficult situation, I must not let my unit down. So, I should be able to fight on par with everyone on the battlefield,” Olya asserts.