Victory Chronicles-DAY 831

According to Dutch Defense Minister Keesa Ollongren, the Netherlands will allow Ukraine to use F-16 fighters supplied by the Netherlands, including for strikes on targets in Russia. 

Ollongren stated that the same principle of allowing Ukraine to use capabilities will be applied, with the expectation that they comply with international law and the right of self-defense. She also called for the lifting of restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons imposed by allies. 

Ollongren expressed hope that the new Dutch government’s policy of supporting Ukraine will continue. Denmark has also announced that it will not restrict Ukraine’s use of F-16 fighter jets it plans to donate.

According to the European Union Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, Russia has already destroyed 9.2 GW of Ukrainian generation capacity. This destruction includes the recent missile attacks that took place two nights ago. The statement highlights the urgent need for energy equipment to help mitigate the impact of these ongoing missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The destruction of 9.2 GW of generation capacity is a significant blow to Ukraine’s energy sector, putting further strain on an already precarious situation. The statement emphasizes the importance of addressing Ukraine’s priorities in the coming months, particularly in terms of securing the necessary equipment to minimize the damage caused by Russia’s attacks.

On the night of June 3, the Russian army launched a missile attack on a recreation center in the Chuhuiv district of the Kharkiv Oblast in Ukraine. The attack resulted in the death of a 45-year-old internally displaced person from the Donetsk Oblast, as well as injuries to a 35-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man, both employees of the recreation center. The missiles used in the attack were identified as S-300 missiles and were fired from the territory of the Belgorod region in Russia. The Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office has initiated an investigation into the incident for the violation of laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder. 

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine released a video of a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle destroying two Russian BTR-82s. “Aerial reconnaissance men spotted enemy vehicles with troops moving into the area of responsibility of the 47th separate mechanized brigade. The crew of the Tihyi promptly moved to a firing position. Waiting for favorable conditions, namely the moment when the enemy moved into the open, the Bushmaster gun stopped the equipment and eliminated the Russian terrorists,” the General Staff said in a statement.

The provision of Western air defense systems and the lifting of Western restrictions on Ukraine’s ability to strike military targets in Russian territory with Western-provided weapons remain crucial for Ukraine to repel Russian glide bomb and missile strikes against Kharkiv City.

A dozen Western countries have recently partially or completely lifted restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western-provided weapons to strike military targets in Russian territory.  These policy changes will allow Ukrainian forces to use Western-provided systems to strike Russian firing and staging areas in Russia’s border areas and airspace. Ukrainian officials reported that Ukrainian forces downed a number of Russian military aircraft in February 2024, many of which were conducting glide bomb strikes in the Avdiivka direction.

Ukrainian forces’ ability to down Russian military aircraft in a frontline area indicates that Ukrainian forces will likely be able to replicate the same effects with both Ukrainian and Western-provided systems to protect northern Kharkiv Oblast and Kharkiv City from Russian glide bomb strikes launched from Russian airspace. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously stated that Russian forces would not be able to seize Kharkiv City if Ukrainian forces received two Patriot air defense systems to deploy to the region.

Russian forces have targeted Kharkiv City with glide bombs and various missile strikes in the past several weeks, although two Patriot batteries in northern Kharkiv Oblast would have limited effectiveness in defending against Russian airstrikes without the ability to fire on Russian aircraft in Russian airspace.

25-year-old fighter Pavlo Suvorov, with the call sign Riko, died on January 26, 2024 in a battle near the village of Novoandriivka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The warrior’s life was cut short by enemy artillery fire.

Pavlo Viktorovych was a native of the village of Yasenynychi, Rivne Oblast. He received his secondary education at Verkhivska secondary school. He worked as a baker at Verkhivsk Khlib LLC. He was married and spent his free time with his family and friends.

During the full-scale Russian invasion, the man fought in the 128th separate mountain assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “He wanted to fight to the last, a few months before his death he was transferred to aerial reconnaissance, he wanted to take direct steps to end the war. Now this war has taken away a loving husband and the closest person to his two children,” said the deceased’s wife. Pavlo was buried in the village of Verkhivsk in Rivne Oblast. Pavlo is survived by his mother Natalia, wife Sofia, daughter Myroslava and son Yaroslav. 

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

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