Victory Chronicles-DAY 586

On the night of October 1, Russian drones hit civilian infrastructure objects in Uman, Cherkasy Oblast – a granary and a former oil depot. A total of 11 explosions were recorded.

“The military knows the number better, but we counted 11 explosions. In general, a granary and a former oil depot were hit. The sum of damage inflicted is being calculated,” Uman town mayor Iryna Pletniova told a Ukrinform correspondent. 

According to the mayor, the civilians also suffered damage – 68 houses were damaged in the blasts – windows, entrance doors, and interior doors are damaged. Fires broke out in warehouses; one person was injured.

Ukraine’s defense forces eliminated more than 2,700 Russian troops last week. Pavlo Kovalchuk, the spokesperson for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said this on Ukrainian television.

“Last week, the aircraft of the Ukrainian defense forces carried out 79 strikes on areas where enemy personnel, weapons and military equipment were concentrated, 18 strikes on anti-aircraft missile systems and two more strikes on the enemy’s EW stations,” he said.

The Russians attacked a transportation company in Kherson, injuring four people, including two policemen. “The Russian army attacked Kherson again since the beginning of the day. The enemy fired at a transportation company at around 10:00,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration.

The head of the Kherson Oblast Military Administration says that four people were injured, two in critical condition, due to the attack.

Ukrainian border guards defused a 152-mm high-explosive enemy shell in the Kupiansk sector. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported this.

Russian forces are conducting tactical counterattacks in the Robotyne area as part of their elastic defense against ongoing Ukrainian offensive operations in western Zaporizhia Oblast. The situation south of Robotyne is fluid as some tactically significant field fortifications have changed hands several times. Geolocated footage posted on September 30 shows Ukrainian forces striking Russian troops trying to enter a trench system about 1km southwest of Robotyne near the T0408 Robotyne—Tokmak road.

Footage posted on September 13 shows that Ukrainian forces had previously occupied segments of this trench and thus appear to have lost it to Russian counterattacks between September 13 and 30. ISW has recoded this area from Ukraine’s counteroffensive to Russian advances.

A Ukrainian fighter analyzed the footage of the area and noted that the aforementioned Russian-controlled trench is a strongpoint in an interconnected system of trenches, firing systems, and dugouts that lie between Robotyne and Novoprokopivka. The Ukrainian fighter noted that the trenches are connected by underground tunnel-like structures and that Russian forces are prioritizing the defense of these positions, which have tactical significance in the area between Robotyne and Novoprokopivka.

Geolocated footage posted on October 1 shows Russian forces striking a Ukrainian vehicle just south of the middle of the three trenches and about 1km west of the easternmost trench in the system, suggesting that Ukrainian forces control the easternmost trench and are attempting to push westward to recapture the remaining two trenches and connected dugouts and firing positions.

Commercially available satellite imagery indicates that Russian forces destroyed this vehicle between September 25 and 28, indicating that Russian forces repelled a Ukrainian attack and reconsolidated Russian positions near the trench systems in late September. The reported continued presence of Russian forces in the western and central trenches suggests that Russian forces have been conducting successful limited tactical counterattacks south of Robotyne and that the tactical situation in this area is complex and dynamic.

Senior fighter Viktor Kuzmenko, with the call sign Panda, died on July 7, 2023, near the village of Shakhtarske, Donetsk Oblast. While performing a combat mission, he came under enemy artillery fire and sustained fatal injuries. The defender is forever 38 years old.

Viktor was born in the village of Rykhalske, Zhytomyr Oblast. He received a secondary education. He was married and lived with his family in Kyiv. He worked as a design engineer in a construction company. He was fond of cars and motorcycles.

During the full-scale war, the man joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine to defend his native land from the invaders. He served in the 26th separate rifle battalion. He was a machine gunner. During his service, he was awarded the “Steel Cross” medal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“I would hug you harder if I knew it was the last time. You will always be in my heart,” wrote the deceased’s wife, Liudmyla. The fighter was buried at the Forest Cemetery in Kyiv. He is survived by his wife and two children. 

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