Victory Chronicles-DAY 659

On December 13th, Russia launched a series of attacks on the Odesa Oblast in Ukraine using attack drones. The assault began in the evening and lasted for over six hours. The head of the Odesa Oblast Military Administration, Oleh Kiper, provided details of the attacks. 

One of the kamikaze drones crashed into a dormitory, causing damage and injuring 11 people, including three children. Two cars were also destroyed in the attack. Following the shelling of Odesa, the Russians targeted the Izmail district, employing more than 20 attack drones to attack the port infrastructure. 

Although warehouses were damaged, no individuals were harmed. In total, the Russians launched 42 attack drones during the evening, with 41 being successfully shot down by air defense forces. The extent of the damage caused by the attacks is yet to be fully assessed.

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Australia’s Department of Defense is expanding its training program for the Ukrainian military with a funding of AUD 186 million($126 million). The program – Operation Kudu –  involves Australian troops in multinational training missions in the UK and has already trained 1,200 Ukrainian fighters. Australia’s total assistance to Ukraine amounts to AUD 910 million($611 million), with AUD 730 million($490 million)in military support.

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The Public Relations Service of the 41st Brigade has released a photo report showing Ukrainian fighters mastering large-caliber machine guns. “The fighters note that this is a very powerful and reliable weapon that has proven itself in combat conditions! Of course, there is no limit to improvement. That is why the military at the training ground are constantly carefully studying all the features and characteristics of their weapons in order to hit the enemy accurately in battle and support their comrades in time,” the Public Relations Service of the 41st Brigade said in a statement.

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Fighters of the Vykhor. Dnipro” unit destroyed a Russian Murom-M surveillance system. “The Ukrainian military destroyed a Russian surveillance system worth more than $100,000. This is the third system destroyed by our brigade!” the press service of the 108th TRO Brigade said in a statement.

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Russian and Ukrainian sources continue to report on the impacts of challenging weather conditions on offensive and reconnaissance operations throughout the front, even as reported freezing and snowy winter conditions in eastern Ukraine offer the prospect of better conditions for maneuver. Ukrainian Southern Operational Command Spokesperson Captain First Rank Nataliya Humenyuk stated on December 13 that poor weather conditions are complicating Russian and Ukrainian combat operations in the east (left) bank of Kherson Oblast. Humenyuk stated that fog and other weather conditions prompted by temperature fluctuations are making it difficult to conduct offensive operations and use drones and artillery.

Ukrainian Luhansk Oblast Military Administration Head Artem Lysohor stated that poor weather conditions are affecting Russian air strikes and drone operations in the Kupyansk-Lyman direction. A Russian milblogger claimed that mud, freezing rain, snow, and ice are impeding Ukrainian and Russian ground attacks north of Verbove in western Zaporizhia Oblast. Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces continued offensive operations near Bakhmut and Avdiivka despite “extremely unfavorable” weather conditions, including ice, which are negatively impacting Russian FPV and aerial reconnaissance drones.

One Russian milblogger suggested that a recent snowstorm improved the conditions for ground operations in occupied Luhansk Oblast, however. It will likely take more than one snowstorm and continual below-freezing temperatures to harden the ground enough to restore maneuver combat. Russian sources claimed that Russian forces are taking advantage of the challenging weather conditions to conduct ground operations while Ukrainian reconnaissance drones cannot operate.

Russian forces have likely committed to offensive operations in multiple sectors of the front during a period of the most challenging weather of the fall-winter season in an effort to seize and retain the initiative prior to the Russian presidential elections in March 2024 and to achieve informational effects in the United States and the West while Ukrainian forces establish and consolidate defensive positions to conserve manpower and resources for future offensive efforts.

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Captain Vladyslav Logvynenko, with the call sign Kozak, died in the Kherson Oblast on August 6, 2023. While returning from a combat mission with his fighters-in-arms, the boat exploded on an enemy mine while crossing the Dnipro River.

Vladyslav was born in Pavlohrad, Dnipro Oblast. Since childhood, he dreamed of being a fighter. In 2012, he entered the Ivan Bohun Military Lyceum in Kyiv. After graduation, he became a cadet at the Military Law Institute of the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law Academy of Ukraine. Later, he became a course officer at the Military Law Faculty of his home university. 

From the first days of the full-scale invasion, Vladyslav was at the forefront of the Kharkiv military grouping. He took part in the defense and liberation of Kharkiv, for which he was awarded the medal “For the Defense of the Hero City of Kharkiv.”

From the beginning of March 2023, he served in the military unit A0504, which is subordinated to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. The officer took part in many combat, sabotage, corrective, and reconnaissance operations.

“Vladyslav was my child’s godfather and my husband’s cousin. The Special Forces reconnaissance man with the call sign Kozak remained a loyal son of Ukraine, faithful to his comrades-in-arms, enjoyed authority and trust among the military, was extremely humane and fair until his last breath. A true Hero in life and in war. The whole family and Dnipropetrovs’k Oblast are proud of him,” said Yelyzaveta Churylina.

Captain Logvynenko was posthumously awarded the DIU insignia “For Courage in Performing Special Tasks”. The scout was buried in his hometown on the Alley of Heroes of Luhansk cemetery. Vladyslav is survived by his parents, younger brother, and relatives. 

*Vladyslav ’s story on the Heroes Memorial – a platform for stories about the fallen defenders of Ukraine.

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