Victory Chronicles
-DAY 485

Since the beginning of the war with Russia, over 11,000 women have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, even serving in assault units. Tens of thousands of women serve in the Armed Forces, wrote on Facebook Lieutenant General Serhii Naiev. According to Lt.Gen., from the first day of hostilities against the occupiers, women have been on the front line alongside men.

“They chose the most dangerous specialties, joining the ranks of grenade launchers, machine gunners, riflemen, and snipers, sometimes having the most unexpected desire to become tank gunners, to be part of the crew of guns and mortars,” the Lt. Gen. said.

Lt. Gen. Naiev reports that today:

• over 16,000 female servicewomen serve in the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• over 7,000 are in the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• over 2,000 are in the Navy;
• over 1,000 women have joined the ranks of the Air Assault Forces and are fighting in assault units on the front lines;
• over 3,000 women are currently in the Territorial Defence Forces.

Photo: METIN AKTAS/ANADOLU AGENCY

• F-16 for Ukraine: Denmark sends a request for pilot training to the US
• Sanctions against Russia: EU Council approves 11th package of sanctions against Russia over war in Ukraine
• Ukrainian Resistance: Russian officers killed in explosion in occupied Mariupol 
• Military Forecast: Intensive military actions to take place on frontlines for 2–3 months – Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence
• The Economist: For Russia’s war to fail, Ukraine must emerge prosperous, democratic, and secure

The bodies of 51 fallen defenders have been returned to Ukraine. The repatriation of bodies from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine took place with the assistance of the Ministry of Reintegration, the Commissioner for the Disappeared in cooperation with the Joint Center at the SBU, the Armed Forces of Ukraine Central Command, other security structures, departments, and international organizations. The process of returning the bodies of fallen Ukrainian warriors continues per the Geneva Convention norms.

Russians hit utility workers in Kherson; two workers killed – Oblast Military Administration. In Kherson, the occupying forces deliberately fired at a municipal transport enterprise. They targeted civilian workers who ensured the city’s livelihood. A 55-year-old man died on the spot. Five of his colleagues were injured and hospitalized. Healthcare workers are providing the victims with assistance. “It has just become known that one of the wounded, a 43-year-old worker, has died in the hospital. Doctors tried to save his life, but the injuries were too severe. My condolences to the families of the deceased! Speedy recovery to the wounded! We will not forgive the Russian killers for the deaths of our people!” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Oblast Military Administration.

Photo: FB Oleksandr Prokudin

Punisher drones destroyed $30 million worth of Russian equipment in one day. Drone operators carried out five raids, spending $1000 on bombs. Their most valuable victim was a Russian ‘Tor’ air defense system worth $25 million. “Madyar Birds’ tactical group from the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed millions of dollars worth of Russian equipment using a Punisher drone. The company commander Robert Brovdi (‘Madyar’) showcased the results of the operation on his YouTube channel.”

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that Western partners have different expectations for Ukraine’s counteroffensive and stated that Ukrainian forces would perform operations as Ukraine sees fit, independently of pressure from another country. CNN reported on June 22 that senior US and other Western officials stated the Ukrainian counteroffensive thus far has failed to meet expectations. However, the officials acknowledged that the counteroffensive is still in the early phases, and Western states remain hopeful that Ukrainian forces will make significant gains. ISW continues to assess that the slow pace of current Ukrainian counteroffensive operations is not symbolic of Ukrainian forces’ overall offensive potential and that Ukrainian forces are likely setting conditions for a future main counteroffensive effort that will take time.

The warrior returned to the front after losing a leg and suffering a severe injury. Oleg Kravets (call sign “Kara”) served in the 28th separate mechanized brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign. The man died on May 11, 2023, near Bakhmut during a mortar shelling. Oleg was one of those who couldn’t calmly watch the enemy horde advancing on our land. He started fighting the Russian invasion back in 2014 in Eastern Ukraine. There he lost one leg and sustained a severe injury to the other. But even such a severe trauma did not prevent this brave man from being actively involved in public activities in peaceful life.

He was one of the Buzky Gard’s defense movement’s leaders, leading the resistance headquarters to its flooding. In April 2021, along with comrades who lost limbs, he participated in the action “A Russian soldier did not kill me, Energoatom kills me”. There, the guys chained themselves to a rock in protest against raising the level of the Oleksandrivske reservoir and the flooding of Gardovy Island in the Buzkiy Gard National Park. This way, they tried to warn officials that the veteran and environmental community of Mykolaiv Oblast will not allow the destruction of this place, which has a uniquely picturesque landscape and unique red book plants.  This location is also associated with the era of Ukrainian Cossacks – here was the center of the Bugo-Gardivska Palanka of the Zaporizhzhia Army.

“We met with Oleg at Shirlan in the summer of 2014, at the coordination of the 28th brigade. Later, I was assigned to the 79th, and our combat paths diverged, only to intertwine forever in civilian life. He lost his leg; I lost my arms… “We could make one normal person out of us…” – I joked, and he laughed, squinting as only he can. Then we chained ourselves to the cliffs of Gardovy Island to prevent its flooding and did not allow a single thought about the possibility of retreat… “Kara” was the one with whom I would have gone under the turbulent waters of the Bug and descended into hell without thinking to deal with the old man,” wrote on Facebook a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, head of the Department for Veterans and Internally Displaced Persons of Mykolaiv City Council, Oleksandr Tereshchenko.

Two weeks before his death, Oleg came straight from Bakhmut, where hellish battles were raging, to Lviv to participate in the “Invictus Games” again, as he was a regular participant. “My huge brigade team allowed me to compete, so I only perform with its flag. The Invictus Games are our happy ticket to the world of health and sport. This is a world where the will is forged stronger than the body. And its borders are beyond the bounds of everything possible. Because we are doing the impossible!” – the warrior emphasized.

He dedicated his participation in the competitions to his fallen comrades from the Mykolaiv team “GARD,” who died in 2022 – Dmytro Oliynyk and Volodymyr Motelchuk. “For every fallen of us, we must live two lives!”, – then said Oleg. Unfortunately, he was not destined to live these lives. Everyone who knew him admired Oleg as a friend and warrior and as a person who sought to improve Ukraine. After the farewell ceremony in Mykolaiv, the Hero’s body was taken to his small homeland for burial – in his native village of Shlyakhova in Vinnytsia Oblast.

Photo: Ukrinform