Victory Chronicles-DAY 558

The Russian troops launched Shahed kamikaze drones to attack Odesa Oblast overnight, 17 of which the Ukrainian air defense forces shot down. Still, some hits have occurred, reported Ukrainian Defense Forces. 

“Russian terrorists attacked the south of Odesa Oblast with kamikaze drones for 3.5 hours. Our air defense forces shot down 17 UAVs”, said the Head of the Odesa Oblast Military Administration. The heavy attack also resulted in hits. Warehouses and industrial buildings, agricultural machinery and equipment in industrial facilities were damaged in several settlements of Izmail district.

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War costs us US$100 million a day – Defense Minister. “The day of war costs us $100 million. Now take the budgets of all the respectable large volunteer foundations and see how much they raise. And take the state, which spends $100 million per day in general. Just think about it. Therefore, it is unfair to present claims to the government – to the military and political leadership, to everyone – from local leaders to parliament, government, or president, that volunteers do everything. This is not the case,” Reznikov noted.

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Russian Shaheds crash and explode in Romania. Oleh Nikolenko, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, has said that Shahed kamikaze drones that Russia launched to attack the port of Izmail in Odesa Oblast crashed and exploded in Romania. Nikolenko posted a photo of the explosion and stressed that this is yet another confirmation that Russian missile terror poses a huge threat to the security of Ukraine and the security of neighboring countries, including NATO member states.

The Romanian Ministry of Defense has “categorically denied” Ukraine’s account, which asserts that Russian attack drones crashed and exploded on Romanian territory during a nighttime attack on 4 September. “The relevant structures of the Ministry of National Defence monitored the situation in real time, observing Russian drone attacks conducted last night against the infrastructure of the Reni Seaport. The drone attacks conducted by the Russian Federation did not pose any direct military threats to our national territory or Romania’s territorial waters” said the Romanian Ministry of Defence.

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In the northwestern part of the Black Sea, during an attempt to land enemy personnel, the naval aviation of the Ukrainian Navy destroyed an enemy boat of the KC-701 “Tunec” type. The enemy suffered losses of 6 killed and 2 wounded occupants.

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Ukrainian military officers offered notably frank and direct commentary about the prospects of further Ukrainian advances in western Zaporizhia Oblast and indicated that the series of prepared Russian defensive positions immediately ahead and further south of the Ukrainian advance may be less challenging to Ukrainian forces. 

Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Commander Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, who commands the Ukrainian grouping in southern Ukraine, discussed Ukraine’s counteroffensive in an interview with The Guardian on September 2. Tarnavskyi stated that Ukrainian forces have decisively breached Russian forces’ “first line of defense” and that he expects faster Ukrainian gains as Ukrainian forces press on a weaker “second line” of defense.

Ukrainian forces have advanced up to the next series of prepared Russian defensive positions in certain areas in the Robotyne area in western Zaporizhia Oblast, although many Russian sources assert that these positions are the first, not the second, defensive layer in a multi-echeloned Russian defense in southern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials and Russian milbloggers are using different terminology to describe the same positions. Russian sources characterize the first series of positions that Ukrainian forces have previously breached as a forward line without giving it an ordinal number, and the series Ukrainian forces are currently approaching as the first main line of defenses — while Ukrainian forces characterize these positions as Russia’s second line of defenses.

Tarnavskyi stated that Russian forces devoted 60 percent of their time and resources into building the series of defensive positions that Ukrainian forces have now breached and only 20 percent each to the two subsequent defensive layers further south. This breached series of Russian defensive positions consists of a system of interconnected Russian trenches and dugouts guarded by anti-tank ditches and dense minefields, and Tarnavskyi’s reporting supports ISW’s previous observation that Russian forces may have not extended similarly challenging preparations throughout subsequent series of defensive layers, particularly regarding the density of minefields. Russian defensive positions are not uniform in strength across the frontline in western Zaporizhia Oblast, and Tarnavskyi’s description of weaker Russian defensive positions may refer only to the immediate Robotyne area. Tarnavskyi also commented on the weight of Ukrainian efforts elsewhere in southern Ukraine and suggested that the Ukrainian advance in western Zaporizhia Oblast is an operational priority.

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The funerals of the pilots who died in the crash of two Mi-8s in Donetsk Oblast have taken place. On September 1, relatives, friends, and comrades-in-arms gathered in a church in Horbanivka to pay tribute to the Poltava brigade’s aviators who died in the crash – Yurii Anisimov, Valentyn Vorobets, Viktor Opanasiuk, Vladyslav Rymar, Ivan Yarovyi, and Yevhen Kysil. 

On August 29, two Mi-8 crews from the 18th Separate Army Aviation Brigade named after Igor Sikorsky were performing a combat mission in Donetsk Oblast. The helicopters crashed near Novoyavlenka, killing the pilots. A farewell ceremony for the helicopter pilots was held on September 1 at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Horbanivka. Hundreds of people came to pay their respects and say goodbye. It is currently unknown where the defenders will be buried.

The names of the fallen heroes:

Captain Yurii Anisimov, born in 1986. Senior aviation technician-instructor of the helicopter squadron A3384.

Senior Lieutenant Valentyn Vorobets, born in 2000. Helicopter navigator of the helicopter unit of the helicopter squadron A3384.

Colonel Viktor Opanasiuk, born in 1967. Helicopter commander of the helicopter unit of the helicopter squadron A3384.

Captain Vladyslav Rymar, born in 1995. Commander of the helicopter squadron of the military unit A3384.

Senior Lieutenant Ivan Yarovyi, born in 2000. The navigator of the helicopter squadron’s helicopter unit, pilot of the helicopter squadron A3384. He is survived by his wife and little daughter.

Captain Yevhen Kysil, born in 1988. Senior flight engineer-instructor of the helicopter squadron A3384.

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• Deputy Minister of Defense: Ukrainian defense forces already liberated 47 sq km near Bakhmut
• Head of the Bundestag’s defense committee: Scholz is the only one in the coalition who is blocking the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine
• UK intelligence: Russia uses hacking attacks against Ukrainian military 
• The head of the Ukrainian President’s Office: For Russia not to threaten neighboring states, it should be deprived of opportunity to launch drones at Ukraine
• General Staff: Ukrainian defenders kill 460 Russian soldiers and destroy 37 UAVs in one day