Victory Chronicles-DAY 806

Ukrainian Defense Forces have successfully neutralized some of the enemy assault units that penetrated the refractory plant in Krasnohorivka, Donetsk Oblast, according to Lieutenant Colonel Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman for the Khortytsia operational and strategic grouping of troops. In the last 24 hours, the area witnessed 11 assaults, 2 counter-attacks, and around 120 drone attacks. Despite ongoing efforts by the enemy to capture the town using small assault groups on foot or motorcycles, Ukrainian forces have repelled these attacks using artillery and mortar fire. Those groups that infiltrated the refractory plant have been mostly dealt with; the few remaining are struggling with low ammunition and no armored support. Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to effectively prevent further incursions into both the heart of Krasnohorivka and its outskirts. The battle in the region is still active.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, 546 children have been killed and 1,330 have been injured of varying severity. The majority of these casualties occurred in the Donetsk Oblast, followed by Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovs’k, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv. Recent incidents include the shelling of Kharkiv on May 8, resulting in injuries to four children, and a 6-year-old girl being wounded in Nikopol on May 7. Additionally, two teenagers were injured in the village of Ugrody in the Sumy Oblast on May 6, and a 16-year-old girl was wounded in Borova village in the Izium district on the same day. 

The public relations service of the 148th separate artillery brigade of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published a photo report about an artilleryman who used to work as a builder and gardener.

“There are people who thought they were “not made for war”. But they fight well. I never thought before that I would be in the army, and at war! I knew that sooner or later I would be mobilized, but I did not hide. I went to work, got a call-up and got into the army. I was preparing for the worst, but everything was fine. During basic military training, I ran around in armor and it turned out that I was not so weak! Once you get here, you feel like a fish out of water after a week of working with the crew. Everyone here wants to have more shells to hit the enemy as much as possible,” says Ihor, a loader in the M777 gun crew. 

He used to be a builder and gardener, and now he has become an effective artilleryman who has been serving for over a year. 

The 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade released a video showing how fighters of the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle brigade destroyed a Russian T-80 tank with a TOW anti-tank missile.

Russian forces conducted large-scale missile and drone strikes targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure on the night of May 7 to 8, continuing to exploit Ukraine’s degraded air defense umbrella ahead of the arrival of US and Western security assistance at scale. Ukrainian Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk reported on May 8 that Russian forces launched 21 Shahed-136/131 drones and 55 missiles, including 45 Kh-101/555 cruise missiles, four Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles, two Iskander-M ballistic missiles, an Iskander-K ballistic missile, two Kh-59/69 cruise missiles, and a Kh-47 “Kinzhal” aeroballistic missile.

Oleshchuk reported that Ukrainian forces intercepted 33 Kh-101/555 cruise missiles, all four Kalibr cruise missiles, both Kh-59/69 cruise missiles, and 20 Shaheds. Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko reported that Russian forces struck electricity generation and transmission facilities in Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Vinnytsia oblasts.

Ukraine’s largest private energy operator DTEK reported that Russian forces attacked three unspecified thermal power plants (TPPs) in Ukraine and seriously damaged unspecified equipment. Ukrainian state electricity transmission operator Ukrenergo spokesperson Maria Tsaturyan stated that regional energy authorities will implement shutdowns evenly across all oblasts in Ukraine due to energy shortages and warned that the Ukrenergo control center will issue a command for emergency shutdowns throughout Ukraine if consumption continues to grow in the evening. Ukrainian state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia reported that Russian forces also targeted railway infrastructure in Kherson Oblast, forcing railway administrators to reduce train travel along the Kyiv-Kherson and Kyiv-Mykolaiv routes. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that it targeted Ukrainian energy facilities and defense industrial enterprises in order to reduce Ukraine’s ability to produce military materiel and transfer Western materiel to the frontline.

This is the fifth large scale Russian missile and drone strike targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure since March 22, 2024, as the Russian military has attempted to exploit degraded Ukrainian air defense capabilities in spring 2024 to collapse Ukraine’s energy grid and constrain Ukraine’s defense industrial capacity. Russian forces will likely continue to conduct mass strikes to cause long-term damage to Ukrainian energy infrastructure as degraded Ukrainian air defense capabilities persist until the arrival of US-provided air defense missiles and other Western air defense assets at scale. Russian forces have also intensified strikes against Ukrainian transportation infrastructure in recent weeks in an apparent effort to disrupt Ukrainian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) and constrain the flow of expected US security assistance to the frontline.

Russian forces have continued to heavily target Ukrainian energy facilities in limited larger missile and drone strike series, however, suggesting that Russia is either prioritizing the effort to collapse the energy grid over interdiction efforts or must use a larger number of missiles to penetrate Ukrainian air defenses near energy facilities and cause significant damage to these facilities.

Fighter Oleksandr Bezpalchuk died on November 5, 2023, while performing a combat mission near the village of Serhiivka, Svatove district, Luhansk Oblast. On October 24, the defender turned 47 years old.

Oleksandr Viktorovych was a native of the village of Kotyurzhyntsi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast. He received the profession of driver at a school in the village of Chornyi Ostriv. Then he completed his military service. He worked in a collective farm, was a fisherman and a builder. 

In 2014, he volunteered for an anti-terrorist operation, and the following year he received the medal “For the Defense of the Motherland”. After demobilization, he returned to civilian life.

On February 25, 2022, the man went to the military registration and enlistment office to defend his homeland again. On March 6, he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served as a grenade launcher in the 68th separate Oleksa Dovbush Ranger Brigade. Together with his comrades, he defended the eastern direction of the front.

“Dad was loyal to his comrades and the state until his last breath. Everyone who knew him will say that he was a man of incredible kindness – he never offended anyone, neither man nor animal, he helped everyone, supported and reassured everyone. I am proud of my father, he is a Hero! He gave the most precious thing for our peace – his life…” wrote Ivanna, the daughter of the deceased. Oleksandr was buried in his native village. He is survived by his mother, wife and daughter.

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

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