Victory Chronicles-DAY 664

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 92 combat engagements took place on the frontline throughout the day. The report states that Russia launched one missile and carried out six airstrikes. Ukrainian territory was fired upon 33 times from multiple rocket launchers. 

In the Kupyansk sector, Ukrainian defenders successfully repelled four enemy attacks near Synkivka and east of Petropavlivka in the Kharkiv Oblast. In the Liman sector, Ukrainian defense forces were able to fend off ten enemy attacks near Makiivka in the Luhansk Oblast, as well as east of Terny and Spirne in the Donetsk Oblast.

In the Bakhmut sector, Ukrainian troops successfully repelled 17 enemy attacks near Bohdanivka, Klishchiyivka, and Andriivka in the Donetsk Oblast. In the Avdiivka sector, Ukrainian defenders repelled nine enemy attacks near Avdiivka and 13 attacks near Severne, Tonenke, Pervomayske, and Nevelske in the Donetsk Oblast.

Despite facing 12 unsuccessful enemy attacks near Novomykhailivka in the Mariinka sector, Ukrainian defense forces held their ground with aviation support.

In the Zaporizhzhia sector, Ukrainian defense forces repelled 13 enemy attacks west of Novopokrovka and Robotyno in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Ukrainian defense forces also continued to hold positions on the left bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson Oblast and engaged the enemy with fire.

Swedish Defense Minister Paul Johnson and Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund have signed a joint declaration of intent to provide further support to Ukraine regarding infantry fighting vehicles. Denmark will initially contribute DKK 1.8 billion (approximately $191.5 million), while Sweden will assist with the procurement under an agreement reached between the Swedish Defense Material Administration and Ukraine in July. The declaration outlines plans to purchase additional CV90 armored vehicles for Ukraine to strengthen the country’s military capability. The Swedish defense minister considers this agreement an important step in supporting Ukraine’s Armed Forces and highlights that the CV90 has already proven to be a significant addition to Ukraine’s defense, with 50 units delivered by Sweden earlier this year.

“Frost and ice are replaced by piercing cold, dampness, and omnipresent mud. At Ground Zero, the unity with nature praised by ecologists and philosophers takes place in the most frank and brutal forms. For some, it can be a test, a challenge, a test of strength and will. For our heroes, it is part of their everyday life. The background against which they are fighting the enemy, defending our freedom and dignity,” reads the statement published by the public relations service of the 58th Mechanized Brigade.

Ukrainian troops destroyed three tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles and one armored personnel carrier. The video posted by the 10th separate mountain assault brigade “Edelweiss” shows how the Russian occupiers are trying to break through the line of defense of Ukrainian units using tanks and armored personnel carriers. “As a result, we destroyed three tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles and one infantry fighting vehicle was hit. Of course, countless enemy infantry remained in the field,” the 10th separate mountain assault brigade wrote.

A combination of artillery ammunition shortages and delays in the provision of Western security assistance is likely causing Ukrainian forces to husband materiel and may delay future Ukrainian counteroffensive operations. 

Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Commander Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi stated in an interview with Reuters published on December 18 that Ukrainian forces have shortages of 122mm and 152mm shells along the entire frontline. Tarnavskyi stated that the shortages are prompting Ukrainian forces to redistribute artillery ammunition and replan military tasks. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister General Ivan Havrylyuk also acknowledged on December 18 that Ukrainian artillery ammunition shortages will continue. Tarnavskyi stated that Russian forces are also having issues with artillery ammunition, although Ukrainian and Western officials have reportedly assessed that the Russian forces are currently conducting artillery fire at a rate five to seven times greater than the Ukrainian forces.

Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have likely expended large portions of their Soviet-era stocks of 122mm and 152mm artillery shells, forcing both to look abroad for other stocks of this artillery ammunition. Russia has recently received large quantities of these shells from North Korea, and Ukraine and its Western partners have engaged in efforts to source these shells from foreign stocks.

It is unclear what delays or impediments there may be in Ukrainian and Western efforts to source 122mm and 152mm shells and how any such delays may be contributing to current Ukrainian shortages. Ukrainian forces are increasingly using Western-provided 155mm artillery systems along the front, and possible delays in Western security assistance may impact available supplies of 155mm shells, although US assistance packages have recently included 155mm shells. Havrylyuk stated that Ukraine is currently focusing on the domestic production of drones to offset artillery shortages and is planning to produce 155mm ammunition in Ukraine with Western companies in 2024.

Defender Vlad-Volodymyr Pasteliak, with the call sign Osnova [“Basis”], died on July 18, 2023, while performing a combat mission near the village of Novodanylivka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. On July 29, the fighter would have turned 22 years old.

Vlad-Volodymyr was born in the village of Chertezh, Zakarpattia Oblast. He graduated from the Mukachevo Lyceum with enhanced military and physical training, named after the Heroes of the Red Field. After graduation, he started working as a waiter and bartender. But military service had always been his dream, so he entered the National Army Academy in Lviv. However, after persuasion from his mother, he withdrew his documents. Later, he found another option – he entered the Faculty of Health and Physical Education at Uzhhorod National University, where he simultaneously studied at the military department. In 2021, he went to work abroad.

When the full-scale war broke out, he volunteered for the Uzhhorod military enlistment office. He served there for some time but kept asking to go to the front line. Eventually, in the fall of 2022, he transferred to the 25th separate assault battalion, where he became a machine gunner.

“He was fearless, brave, a true warrior, a model of indomitability, a man who wanted to change something in this unjust life. With fortitude of character and courage of his fighting spirit, he defended his positions with his comrades to the last. He gave his life and fulfilled his duty to protect his country. I am proud of my brother. I hope that the lives of him and thousands of other Heroes will not be in vain,” his sister wrote.

“He never stood on the sidelines, but fought for the homeland he loved so much,” said a friend of the deceased. The young hero was buried in his native village. Vlad-Volodymyr is survived by his sister, relatives, friends and fighters-in-arms.

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

• Many Russian soldiers on Kupiansk front ill with rat-bite fever
• Pentagon warns Congress that funds for Ukraine will run out by end of December
• UK to help Ukraine strengthen its maritime potential
• Private military company controlled by Russian Defence Ministry starts recruiting HIV-positive people for war
• Former GRU officer flees to Netherlands and is ready to witness at ICC