Victory Chronicles-DAY 622

The initial images of a Russian Askold missile carrier, which met its demise at the Zaliv shipyard in the temporarily occupied region of Crimea, have surfaced on the internet. This revelation was made by the Ukraine Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom). According to StratCom, the ship has incurred substantial damage, raising concerns that it might be irreparably harmed.

At least 127 companies in the UK have voluntarily confessed to violating the sanctions against Russia since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The information about 127 UK companies breaching the sanctions was relevant as of 17 May 2023, the response states. Companies can report their violations voluntarily in order to reduce the fines, the FT reports.

Stacey Keen, Pinsent Masons’ partner specializing in financial crimes, thinks that a significant amount of the sanctions against Russia became a challenge for the UK business due to Moscow being heavily integrated into the global economy. “Russian individuals and entities had a footprint outside of Russia that perhaps if you look at the Iranian regime or the Syrian regime — there just wasn’t those interlinks between the economies,” she added.

Keen believes that the British business must consider admitting to violating the sanctions against Russia to avoid harsher punishments, up to criminal proceedings. Less severe measures are a warning or a fine without a top limit.

On the evening of 6 November, residents gathered in Uzhhorod and Mukachevo, Ukraine’s Zakarpattia Oblast, to honor the memory of the fighters of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade who died in a Russian attack on 3 November.

“With lamps and flowers, people came to the memorial stele to the defenders on the Cyril and Methodius Square. The clergy held a memorial service. Other cities of Zakarpattia also paid honour to the fallen fighters today,” reported Mukachevo City Council.

HIMARS and Ukrainian mines destroyed Russian tanks in a failed attack near Krasnohorivka. Ukraine thwarted multiple Russian armored attacks on its lines. The footage was captured by one of the Special Presidential Brigades fighting near the town of Krasnohorivka, to the west of Donetsk city.

In a recent development, a minimum of four armored offensives encountered formidable resistance, with the deployment of landmines, artillery, anti-tank rockets, and HIMARS, resulting in the effective neutralization of Russian tanks and armored vehicles. Krasnohorivka, located just north of Vuhledar—a town under Ukrainian control, became a focal point during Russia’s previous attempt to advance into the Donbas region last winter, which ultimately failed. It appears that Russia is poised to revisit this strategic approach in the upcoming winter season.

The war in Ukraine is likely exacerbating an emerging identity crisis within Russian society resulting from tensions between Russian identity and Russian nationalism. 

Russian “Vostok” Battalion Commander and Russian Orthodox ideologue Alexander Khodakovsky wrote two long Telegram posts on November 6 about what it means to be “Russian,” acknowledging a schism in Russian national identity that has largely resulted from the ideological arguments advanced to justify and mobilize support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Khodakovsky shared an anecdote of an unidentified Chechen general who, he claimed, conducted a “genetic study” to identify “the ethnic composition ” of his Russian friends and found out that “Russian genes” were not dominant. Khodakovsky used this anecdote to offer commentary on what it means to be “Russian,” and concluded that it is not “ethnogenetic,” but rather a matter of morals and ideologies, observing that Russian nationalism is “hysteria” resulting from a lack of consolidated Russian identity.

Khodakovsky thereby appears to offer the suggestion that when one fixates on a genetic definition of what it means to be Russian, the destructive and toxic ideologies of nationalism appear and erase broader and more socio-cultural and linguistic definitions of identity. Khodakovsky warned that a population that lacks a coherent identity can easily destroy itself from within.

On November 6, Major Hennadii Chastiakov, assistant to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, was killed by a grenade in a house in a residential complex in the village of Chaiky (Bucha district) in Kyiv Oblast. He was 39 years old. 

According to the Chesno movement, Hennadii Chastiakov was from Donetsk Oblast. “Born on November 6, 1984, in Biletske, Dobropole district, Donetsk Oblast, a citizen of Ukraine, has been living in Ukraine for the past five years, has a higher education, is the general director of Onyx Soyuz LLC, non-partisan, lives in Volodymyr, Volyn Oblast, has no criminal record, self-nominated,” the statement reads.

The head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, wrote on social media that Chastyakov’s death is “unspeakable pain and a heavy loss for the Armed Forces of Ukraine” and for him personally. 

“Today, under tragic circumstances, my assistant and close friend, Major Hennadii Chastiakov, died in his family circle on his birthday. An unknown explosive device detonated in one of the gifts. Hennadii is survived by his wife and four children. My deepest condolences to the family…,” Zaluzhnyi said in a statement.

He emphasized that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Chastiakov had been a reliable shoulder for him, devoting his life to the Armed Forces and the fight against Russian aggression. Maria Popova, an employee of the Ministry of Strategic Industries, wrote on social media that Chastiakov “was a wonderful person.”

“Hennadii was a wonderful person. His death is unfair, as is the death of every Ukrainian defender. But for some reason, this one – at home, in a sneaky way, in a family circle, on his birthday – is unfair in a special way,” Popova said in a post.

• Military intelligence: Russia mines critical infrastructure in occupied Kherson Oblast
• Zelenskyy holds conference call: additional NASAMS systems put in operation
• Ukraine’s Armed Forces destroy Russian Solntsepyok heavy MLRS and 2 Msta-S howitzers
• EU Foreign Affairs chief acknowledges that war between Israel and Hamas is already affecting support for Ukraine
• UK intelligence: Ukrainian attack on warship in Kerch may force Russia to move its fleet further
• Ukrainian defenders eliminated 890 Russians and destroy 21 artillery systems