Victory Chronicles
-DAY 524

US signs agreements with Bulgaria and South Korea to supply 155mm ammunition to Ukraine

The United States seeks to increase the supply of crucial 155mm ammunition to Ukraine to support its counteroffensive, reported The Financial Times. Officials cited by the newspaper said the United States has already signed agreements with Bulgaria and South Korea to supply shells to Ukraine and is negotiating with Japan. The Financial Times says that the Biden administration has been aware of Ukraine’s depleted ammunition stockpile for several months and has stepped up efforts to deliver the shells to Kyiv.

According to the publication’s sources, US efforts to provide weapons are focused on supplying more 155 mm caliber shells, including supplies from international allies in the short term. They plan to increase their production in the US over the next two years. According to the US Army, Washington aims to produce up to 90,000 rounds per month by fiscal year 2025, up from 24,000 and 14,000 per month before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Latest news

• Ukrainska Pravda: UAV attacks Moscow City business center once again
• Ukrinform: Shelling in Kherson Oblast: four dead, 18 injured, including a child
• UK Intelligence: The Russian troops fighting in southern Ukraine are running out of artillery ammunition and reserves.
• U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham on Russia’s nuclear threats against Ukraine: That would be an attack on NATO
• Economy Minister: Croatia allocates 1 million euros for demining in Ukraine

Symbolic number of the Day - 500

Russia continues to suffer losses in its war of aggression against Ukraine. Over the past day alone, Ukraine’s defenders have killed 500 Russian invaders and destroyed 23 artillery systems, 17 armored combat vehicles, 10 unmanned aerial vehicles and five tanks, reported the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook.

War in Pictures

Russian drone attacks student accommodation in Kharkiv, destroying 2 floors. Around midnight, the enemy struck Kharkiv with Shahed drones. A three-story building of an educational institution in the Saltivskyi district was hit. Two floors were destroyed, and a fire broke out. There were no casualties. Three more “arrivals” were recorded on the territory of the sports complex in the Shevchenkivskyi district. A two-story building was damaged. A 63-year-old security guard was injured and hospitalized.

Video of the Day

Rescue operation continues in Kryvyi Rih on the site of Russian missiles’ hits. Preliminary, two ballistic missiles were used in the attack. Floors four through nine of the residential building have been completely destroyed. The work is challenging – parts of the building’s structure collapsed. The terrorists also targeted the university building and the administrative building. As of now, five people are reported dead, including a child and her mother. My condolences! Dozens of people are injured and traumatized, all of them are being provided with the necessary assistance. More than 350 people are involved in the rescue operation – I thank everyone who is saving lives and helping people!” said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

After the Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, 81 people have been reported wounded, including 7 children, 6 people were killed. Currently, 19 residents of Kryvyi Rih, including 2 children, are in hospitals. Utility companies continue to eliminate the consequences of the attack; aid centers are also operating.

ISW report

Imagery posted on July 30 and 31 visually confirms damage to the Chonhar Bridge following a Ukrainian strike on July 29. Satellite imagery posted on July 30 reportedly shows damage to the Chonhar railway bridge. Social media sources additionally circulated an image taken by someone standing on the bridge itself reportedly showing damage to the railway bridge.

One source speculated that the pictures taken from the bridge do not match the location of the damage as shown on available satellite imagery, which suggests that the full extent of the damage to the bridge is still unclear. Russian milbloggers maintained their silence on damage to the Chonhar Bridge on July 31, possibly supporting ISW’s previous assessment that the Kremlin may have directed Russian commentators to refrain from covering the strike in an effort to exert greater control of the information space.

War Heroes

Junior Sergeant Oleh Markovych, with the call sign Foxtrot, died on April 26, 2023, due to enemy artillery fire during the launch of a drone near the village of Ivanivske, Donetsk Oblast. The fighter would have turned 32 in May.

Oleh was born and lived in Lviv. He studied at Lyceum №2. Then he graduated from Lviv Polytechnic National University with a degree in Management and worked as a manager in the Ukrainian Foxtrot chain of stores [electronics stores]. He was a valuable and promising employee and a leader and received numerous awards. In his spare time, he liked to fish. During 2014-2015, he performed combat missions in the ATO zone as part of the 80th separate airborne assault brigade of the Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

From the first day of the full-scale invasion, he returned to the ranks of the 80th Air Assault Brigade and his warriors-in-arms. He took part in combat operations in the hot spots of Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. From June 2022, he heroically defended his country in the Donetsk sector, for which he was awarded the medal “For Military Service to Ukraine.”

In September 2022, the unit in which Oleh served was one of the first to enter the Kharkiv Oblast. The defenders heroically liberated the town of Izyum, for which Oleh received the Order for Courage, III class, from the President of Ukraine. Subsequently, the fighter actively learned to fly drones. In his unit, Foxtrot organized a separate aerial reconnaissance unit. Later, he was promoted to chief sergeant of a reconnaissance platoon. Since the beginning of 2023, their unit has been performing missions near the city of Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast, and in March, the defenders went to the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast.

“According to the battalion leadership and his comrades, Oleh greatly contributed to the organization of aerial reconnaissance. He was a true warrior, a man of his word, a man of courage, a model of unbreakable strength and fortitude. He had big plans for the future, many ideas on effectively fighting the enemy, improving aerial reconnaissance, and always learning and developing. Now his comrades and students are implementing his plans and ideas at the front. After Oleh’s death, a special aerial reconnaissance unit was formed in his battalion, named Foxtrot in honor of its commander,” said the wife of the fallen fighter. The Hero was buried on the Mars Field of Lychakiv Cemetery in his native Lviv. He is survived by his wife Vira, son Marko, parents, and sister.