Victory Chronicles-DAY 573

Three strikes on industrial warehouses in Lviv were recorded due to a Russian attack using Shahed kamikaze drones on the night of 18-19 September. 15 Russian drones were destroyed.

“As per the information available at the moment, 18 Shahed drones flew in the direction of our region. 15 of them were shot down by Air Command Zakhid (West). Seven were shot down directly in Lviv Oblast airspace. These numbers may change slightly, as the information is being clarified, but even now we can imagine the scale of the attack and the scope of work that the regional air defense had to do. Unfortunately, there were three strikes to industrial warehouses in Lviv.” Maksym Kozytskyi, Head of Lviv Oblast Military Administration. Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported in a post at 09:56 that a man who worked at the warehouse had been found dead under the rubble. 

216 Russians surrender voluntarily, over 1,000 wait for their turn in the last year. Over 210 Russian occupiers surrendered voluntarily to Ukrainian captivity during the year’s “Khochu Zhyty” [“I Want to Live”] project operation.

Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War noted that the state project marks its one-year anniversary this month. Over 48 million people from the Russian Federation and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine have visited the project site.

The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) blocked 256 domains of the project site. Over 25,000 requests for surrender were received this year. 216 people surrendered physically.

The Public Relations Service of the 22nd Separate Mechanised Brigade published spectacular photos of the work of the jet fighters. “It’s better to see at least once how inevitable death flies towards the occupiers in a full salvo, missile after missile. According to the commander of the jets, Yaryi, they always work very loudly, but after that, silence reigns at the enemy positions.”

The Ukrainian liberation of two villages that Russian forces were fighting hard to hold could correspond with the severe degradation of the Russian units defending them, as Ukrainian advances in western Zaporizhia Oblast appear to correspond with the significant degradation of defending Russian units and formations in that sector of the front. 

Russian forces defending in western Zaporizhia Oblast since the start of the counteroffensive have done so largely without operational-level unit rotations and have likely suffered compounding losses. Elements of the Russian 42nd Motorized Rifle Division’s 71st, 70th, and 291st Motorized Rifle Regiments (58th Combined Arms Army, Southern Military District)routinely repelled Ukrainian assaults and engaged in various “combat clashes,“ including limited engagements and some counterattacks, during the first phase of the counteroffensive from June to August 2023.

In mid-to-late August, Ukrainian forces began breaking through the initial Russian defensive layer that these elements of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division had spent considerable amounts of manpower, personnel, and effort to hold. Russian reporting and footage suggest that many of these elements of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division have since withdrawn to positions behind a subsequent Russian defensive layer between Verbove (18km southeast of Orikhiv) and Solodka Balka (20km south of Orikhiv) and now mainly shell advancing Ukrainian units.

The absence of recent reports and footage of these elements participating in combat engagements in western Zaporizhia Oblast suggests that casualties sustained during the first phases of the Ukrainian counteroffensive rendered them combat ineffective. Elements of the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment reportedly temporarily withdrew to a rear area during the Ukrainian breakthrough and returned to frontline positions in early September, suggesting that Ukrainian advances had degraded this unit enough to compel the Russian command to give it time to refit in the rear — which would be one of the very few unit rotations ISW has observed on this sector of the front.

Elements of the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade (Black Sea Fleet), which also held forward positions at the initial Russian defensive layer during the earlier phases of the counteroffensive, similarly appear to be deployed further behind the Russian defensive layer ahead of the current Ukraine advance. Elements of the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade reportedly engaged in close combat during the Ukrainian push through Robotyne (10km south of Orikhiv), and Russian milbloggers maintain that some elements of the unit hold positions near the southern outskirts of Robotyne.

Junior Sergeant Ihor Stoliaruk, with the call name Judge, died near the village of Yakovlivka, Donetsk Oblast, during a combat mission. He was fatally wounded by enemy artillery fire. The defender was 39 years old.

Ihor was born and lived in the village of Hirka Polonka, Volyn Oblast. He received a secondary education. He worked for himself and had a  construction business. In his spare time, he liked to make woodwork. In 2014-2015, he took part in the ATO as part of the 44th separate artillery brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2016-2019, he served under contract in the 14th separate mechanized brigade. He was the chief sergeant of the platoon. He performed combat missions in the ATO/JFO. From 2020 to 2021, he fought in the 128th separate mountain assault brigade. 

During his service, he was repeatedly awarded by the command, including the medals “War Veteran,” “For Participation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation,” “ATO Participant,” and “For Defense of the Motherland”. With the outbreak of full-scale war, he returned to the 14th Brigade and continued to defend Ukraine from the Russian invaders. He held the position of a combat vehicle commander of the squad.

“My husband was a great patriot of his country. He always fought for justice. From the first days of the war, he went to defend the country. He was brilliant, courageous and strong in spirit. He studied all types of weapons to perfection. He knew how fast a bullet could fly. He knew how to determine the coordinates. He knew how to provide first aid. He knew all the military laws. He was a real warrior who knew everything about war and life in the field. He passed on his knowledge to many guys and saved many lives. He was always proud that he kept all the guys together and they returned home to their families,” said Anzhela Stoliaruk.

The defender was buried in his native village. A memorial plaque in his honor was unveiled on the facade of the village school. Ihor is survived by his mother, wife, son, relatives, friends and fighters-in-arms.

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