Victory Chronicles-DAY 740

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, many combat engagements took place over the past day. In particular, 78 combat engagements took place on the contact line, including 7 missile attacks and 50 air strikes. In addition, 112 rocket attacks were launched from multiple launch rocket systems at Ukrainian troops’ positions and populated areas. 

The General Staff provided a list of settlements that were subjected to air strikes, including those in Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. More than 80 settlements in different Oblasts came under artillery fire. While the Armed Forces of Ukraine successfully repelled Russian attacks on several fronts, including Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Novopavlivka, the Russians launched three unsuccessful attacks on the Orikhivske front. 

In addition, Ukrainian defense forces conducted air strikes on 7 areas of enemy manpower concentration. The military situation remains tense in many regions, with ongoing clashes and attempts to break through the Ukrainian defense.

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According to British intelligence, the average daily number of Russian casualties in Ukraine in February 2024 was the highest since the beginning of the war. The Russian occupation forces reportedly lost an average of 983 people per day during that month. The review conducted by the UK Ministry of Defense also suggests that Russia has likely suffered more than 355,000 military personnel killed and wounded in the war in Ukraine.

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On March 3, the village of Kurakhove in Donetsk, Russia was hit by shelling, resulting in 16 people being wounded and 15 houses being damaged. According to Vadym Filashkin, the head of the Donetsk regional state administration, the attack occurred in the city center and preliminary reports suggest that the Russians used a guided aerial bomb.

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Novomykhailivka remains one of the hottest spots in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Russians continue to try to force the 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade out of the area. During the recent assault, the enemy used infantry on armored vehicles, but their efforts proved futile as they suffered losses and their equipment was destroyed. Anti-tank missile systems played a crucial role in stopping the advance of enemy armored vehicles, and a strike unit consisting of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) successfully destroyed them with precision air strikes. The video demonstrates the successful coordination and effectiveness of this tactic. 

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Russian forces operating around Avdiivka appear to be adapting to conducting offensive ground operations with trained and untrained personnel. The Washington Post published interviews on March 2 with seven Ukrainian servicemen from the 3rd Assault Brigade who discussed overwhelming Russian wave attacks in Avdiivka in the lead-up to Russia’s capture of the settlement in mid-February. Several interviewed Ukrainian servicemen described Russian forces involved in later direct assaults on Ukrainian positions as well-prepared. One Ukrainian fighter told the Washington Post that about three-quarters of Russian personnel his unit engaged with near Avdiivka appeared to have “decent” military training and the rest were “just confused.”

One Ukrainian serviceman recalled that a group of well-trained Russian fighters used rocket-propelled grenades to enter their positions, while another serviceman recalled that inexperienced Russian servicemen avoided attacking his position after he was able to shoot eight fighters in one day. The serviceman stated that the Russian military sent inexperienced personnel who appeared to be 40 to 50 years old to attack in waves each morning, afternoon, and evening without protective vests or helmets near Avdiivka. Another Ukrainian serviceman observed that the Russian skill levels were not “really consistent” and that some servicemen had more advanced equipment than their counterparts who only had basic rifles. The reports about inconsistencies in the nature of Russian attacks and in the quality of attacking personnel indicate that Russian forces may be conducting layered ground attacks alternating between groups of trained forces and untrained forces, likely consisting of mobilized personnel or Russian “Storm” units composed of recruited convicts.

Commander of the 2nd Assault Battalion of the 3rd Brigade Mykola Zynkevych similarly recalled in an interview with a Ukrainian publication that Russian forces used 20 to 30 people to attack one position — a lot more than Russian forces used in similar attacks during the effort to seize Bakhmut.

Russian forces likely used poorly trained personnel to carry out mass daily attacks on Ukrainian positions and employed trained personnel with better equipment to assault specific positions after exhausting Ukrainian forces. Russian forces are likely attempting to adapt ground attacks to sustain a higher tempo of offensive operations near Avdiivka with personnel of varying levels of training and to prevent rapid attrition of better-trained units and formations.

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Marine Vitaliy Berdiuhin, with the call sign Burn, died on March 16, 2022, in the battle for the city of Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast. He was wounded during one of his missions and taken to the hospital, but the enemy launched an air strike that ended the fighter’s life. He will be 27 forever.

Vitaliy was born and lived in Mykolaiv. He studied at the local school №15. In 2014, he graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov Children’s Music School No. 1 with a degree in guitar, and played in folk instrument ensembles and orchestras. In the same year, he received a degree in electrical engineering from Mykolaiv Polytechnic College. In 2016, he graduated from the Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding, receiving a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He was interested in military tactics and sport shooting, which he dreamed of doing professionally.

In 2017-2020, the man served under contract in the 4465th military unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where he held the position of an electrician driver of airfield mobile electrical units.

During the full-scale invasion, Vitaliy fought for Ukraine in the ranks of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilynsky of the Ukrainian Navy. He was a gunner of the gun emplacement. Together with his fighters, he defended Mariupol.

“Vitaliy was a very kind man, he loved cats. He was a brave and courageous warrior who was not afraid of war. He enjoyed it, planned to study to become an officer and continue to do everything for victory. He was very good with weapons and taught me a lot,” said his fighters Artem.

Posthumously, Chief Seaman Berdiuhin was awarded the Order “For Courage” of the III degree. The fighters is survived by his parents, relatives, friends and fighters-in-arms.

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

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