Victory Chronicles-DAY 666

According to the morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there were 99 combat engagements on the frontline in Ukraine on Wednesday. The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine targeted enemy weapons concentrations, including air defense systems, 17 times. 

The enemy launched five missile strikes and 68 air strikes, in addition to firing 88 rocket salvos at positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements. Unfortunately, there were civilian casualties and damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure due to Russian terrorist attacks. About 100 settlements came under enemy artillery fire. The situation in certain sectors remained unchanged, while in other sectors, the enemy maintained a military presence in border areas to hinder the deployment of Ukrainian troops. 

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On the night of December 20-21, Ukrainian defenders successfully intercepted and shot down 34 out of 35 Russian attack UAVs. The drones attacked in waves from three different directions — Chauda in Crimea, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and Kursk in Russia. The Ukrainian forces responded to the air attack by engaging tactical aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, and mobile fire groups. 

The Southern Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine provided further details, stating that 13 drones were destroyed in Mykolaiv Oblast, three in Kherson, two in Vinnytsia, and one in Dnipro. However, during the interception, one of the downed drones caused damage to a warehouse belonging to an agricultural enterprise in Mykolaiv Oblast. Fortunately, no injuries were reported as firefighters swiftly extinguished the resulting fire.

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The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published a photo from one of the frontline areas where fortifications are being built. “The UA State Special Transport Service units continue to build fortifications in the designated areas,” the General Staff said in a statement.

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The Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform published a video showing Ukrainian defenders destroying Russian armored vehicles with Javelin ATGMs.

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Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explicitly stated that the Kremlin is uninterested in negotiations with Ukraine, suggesting that the Kremlin is moving away from its information operation meant to feign interest in negotiations. 

Peskov responded to a question on December 20 about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s December 19 statement that the issue of negotiations with Russia is currently “irrelevant,” stating that the Kremlin has repeatedly said that there is no “basis” or “foundation” for negotiations with Ukraine. 

Peskov also stated that the “prerequisites” for negotiations are absent, likely referring to Russia‘s unchanged maximalist objectives in Ukraine – which are tantamount to full Ukrainian and Western surrender. ISW has long assessed that the Kremlin does not intend to engage in serious negotiations with Ukraine or the West in good faith. 

The Kremlin previously pushed information operations feigning interest in negotiations with Ukraine in order to cast itself as a responsible party and blame Ukraine for refusing “reasonable” Russian negotiations, but the Kremlin appears to be moving away from this information operation, as ISW suggested on December 15.

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Senior Lieutenant Bohdan Zaichenko, with the call sign Dotsentr, died on June 6, 2023, in a hospital in Kurakhove. On that day, he received a severe shrapnel wound in a battle with the enemy near the village of Shakhtarske in Donetsk Oblast. On July 11, the Officer would have turned 28.

Bohdan was born in the village of Dykanka, Poltava Oblast. He lived in Poltava since childhood. He studied at school No. 38. In 2015, he graduated from the Poltava College of Food Technologies of the National University of Food Technology and was called up for military service. The following year, he participated in the ATO. In 2019, he graduated from the National University of Food Technologies, and in 2020, he graduated from the Kharkiv National Air Force University. 

In his free time, he was engaged in modeling and was fond of metal detecting. He loved Ukraine and studied its history. After graduation, the young officer served in the 1129th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment of the Bila Tserkva Air Defense Regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was the chief of service of the anti-aircraft missile battery of the anti-aircraft missile division. From the first days of the full-scale invasion, he and his fighters-in-arms defended Ukraine from the invaders.

On October 14, 2022, Bohdan sent the following greeting to Poltava College, where he graduated: “This year the holiday has taken on a completely different meaning. And if for some people, even after 2014, the war and the role of defenders in it remained abstract, now everyone has felt what a real struggle means. We all stand for returning to our homes and families. For our children not to be afraid to look up at the sky, for them to forget the word “war” and hundreds of new terrible words that have appeared in our lives. For the Ukrainian flag to never be abandoned and desecrated again. For there to be no more fear in our lives. We are fighting for the truth, for freedom, for Ukraine!”.

During his service, the defender was awarded the medal “Defender of the Motherland,” the Order “For Courage” III degree, and posthumously the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi III degree. “He was cheerful, planned his life, always responded to requests for help. He dreamed of buying a house. It will be for his daughter Olya in memory of her father,” said the officer’s mother, Alina Hryhorivna.

“Even in his student years, he took an active civic position, showed exceptional patriotism and love for his homeland. After graduation, Bohdan stood up to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of our country. A true patriot, a loyal son of Ukraine. He will always remain in our memory like that,” the Poltava College added.

The Hero was buried at the Memorial to the Fallen Defenders of Zaturyn Cemetery in Poltava Oblast. Bohdan is survived by his parents, sister, daughter, other relatives, friends, and fighters-in-arms.

*Bohdan’s story on the Heroes Memorial – a platform for stories about the fallen defenders of Ukraine. Images: zmist.pl.ua

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