Victory Chronicles-DAY 793

Russian attacks in Ukraine over the past 24 hours have killed five people and wounded 29 others. The targets of Russia’s attacks were Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Kherson, Kharkiv and Donetsk Oblasts.

In Donetsk Oblast, five civilians were killed and eight others were injured. The governor of the region reported that Russian troops conducted 15 strikes, damaging nearly 40 residential buildings, an apartment building, administrative and industrial buildings, a coffee shop, and a cultural institution. 

In the Kherson Oblast, six people were injured during the shelling of the city of Kherson and 20 other settlements. Damage to infrastructure includes an apartment building, six residential buildings, a shopping center, a kindergarten, an agricultural facility, and cars. 

The shelling in Kharkiv Oblast wounded 11 people, including railroad workers, and damaged residential buildings, a railway station, and agricultural facilities. In addition, Russian shelling in the Nikopol district of Dnipropetrovs’k Oblast resulted in four people being injured and damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.

A total of 140 fallen Ukrainian service members have been repatriated to Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Among them, 112 bodies were from the Donetsk sector, 20 from the Luhansk sector, five from the Sumy sector, two from the Zaporizhzhia sector, and one from the Kherson sector. The successful repatriation was made possible through the cooperation of various Ukrainian authorities, including the Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Armed Forces, and the State Emergency Service. The bodies will be transported to designated state institutions, where law enforcement agencies and forensic experts will identify the victims. After identification, the bodies will be returned to the families for burial.

The Public Affairs Service of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilinsky published a photo report on the training of Ukrainian marines. “Mykolaiv marines are always ready to fight for Ukraine!” the press service of the 36th separate brigade said in a statement.

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine released a video of the destruction of a Russian dugout. Border guards and artillerymen of the “Pomsta” brigade hit the occupiers’ dugout and ammunition depot with a precise hit from a 105-mm M101 cannon.

Russian offensive operations west of Avdiivka aim to exploit opportunities for tactical gains while the Russian offensive operation to seize Chasiv Yar offers Russian forces the most immediate prospects for operationally significant advances. 

Russian forces in the Avdiivka area remain roughly 30 kilometers from their reported operational objective of Pokrovsk and roughly 17 kilometers from relatively large villages east of Pokrovsk. Even if Russian tactical gains do cause Ukrainian forces to withdraw to positions further west, the current Russian gains northwest of Avdiivka are unlikely to become operationally significant advances in the near term. Russian pressure on Chasiv Yar is more significant. Russian forces currently on the eastern outskirts of Chasiv Yar have been intensifying efforts to seize the city since March 2024.

The offensive effort to seize Chasiv Yar offers Russian forces the most immediate prospects for operationally significant advances as the seizure of the town would likely allow Russian forces to launch subsequent offensive operations against cities that form a significant Ukrainian defensive belt in Donetsk Oblast. Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly. 

Russian forces are likely attempting to seize as much territory as possible before the arrival of US security assistance significantly improves Ukrainian defensive capabilities in the coming weeks, and the Russian military command may be intensifying offensive operations northwest of Avdiivka because the area provides greater opportunities for making more rapid tactical gains despite the relative operational insignificance of those gains.

Junior Sergeant Mykhailo Felust, with the call sign Moisha, died under enemy mortar fire on October 6, 2023, near the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk Oblast. The fighter was 21 years old. 

Mykhailo was originally from Chernihiv. From the age of eight he was involved in the sports club “White Wind”. He graduated from the ninth grade of Chernihiv Collegium #11, and then entered the Professional College of Transport and Computer Technologies at Chernihiv National Technical University. After graduation, he worked as an electrician at the Atlant Construction Company in Kyiv. 

In February 2023, he signed a contract and joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in one of the units of the military unit A2120. He held the position of commander of the first airmobile unit.

“Mykhailo was a very bright and positive person, always trying to help everyone who needed it. He voluntarily defended Ukraine for the sake of his family, friends and the country’s bright future. He wanted to join the paratroopers, he adored this branch of the military,” wrote a close friend, Oleksandra Samoilenko. Mykhailo Ihorovych Felust was buried at the cemetery in Yalivshchyna. He is survived by his parents and grandmother.

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

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