Victory Chronicles-DAY 904

A military commandant’s office has been established in the Kursk region of Russia, with Major General Eduard Moskalev appointed as its head, to maintain law and order and address the priority needs of the population in Ukraine-controlled territories. The announcement was made by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The military operation in Sudzha and three other settlements in the Kursk region has been completed, and establishing the commandant’s office is seen as a step towards stabilizing the region. Ukrainian troops have made significant advances, capturing 82 settlements and covering a total of 1,150 square kilometers of territory since the offensive in the Kursk region began. Despite encountering three enemy counterattacks, the overall situation remains under control.

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The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has captured 102 Russian servicemen in the Kursk region. This is the largest capture of enemy soldiers that the SBU has carried out. The operation was conducted by the SBU’s special unit “A”, who successfully cleared a well-fortified stronghold with underground facilities and provisions for the enemy. The captured soldiers belong to the 488th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces and the Akhmat unit. Reports suggest that these soldiers expressed a desire to be exchanged for Azov fighters currently held captive by Russia. 

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Two volunteers from the Hospitallers medical battalion were killed and three others injured when a Russian drone attacked their vehicle in the village of Bilyi Kolodyazh, Kharkiv Oblast. Serhiy Bolvinov, head of the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kharkiv Oblast, reported the incident on Facebook. The attack resulted in the deaths of a man and a woman who were in the car. Additionally, a civilian car traveling in the same direction was hit by the explosion from the drone and all three occupants were injured.

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On August 14, Ukrainian paratroopers from the 46th separate airmobile brigade discovered and destroyed 15 units of enemy military equipment in the Donetsk sector. The discovery was made thanks to aerial reconnaissance, and the paratroopers were able to take destructive action against the enemy. The enemy had moved in three columns, but with the use of Ukrainian Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs), and FPV drones, seven enemy armored personnel carriers and two tanks were successfully destroyed. The Air Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this information on their Facebook page and shared a video of the destruction.

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Ongoing Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast are generating tangible defensive, logistical, and security impacts within Russia. Commercially available satellite imagery collected by Maxar on August 12 shows a newly dug series of field fortifications, including trenches and anti-vehicle ditches southwest of Lgov along the E38 Lgov-Rylsk-Hlukhiv highway (northwest of Sudzha).

Additional satellite imagery published on August 13 and collected between August 6 and 11 shows the recent appearance of field fortifications near the 38K-024 highway just south of Lgov. These new fortifications are about 17 kilometers north of the furthest claimed limit of Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast, which suggests that Russian forces are concerned about potential continued and rapid Ukrainian mechanized northward advances within Kursk Oblast. Russian forces appear particularly concerned about major highways and are likely trying to preemptively safeguard important ground lines of communication (GLOCs) to inhibit Ukrainian maneuver, particularly along the E38 and 38K routes. Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast are also reportedly impacting Russian railway logistics — the Belarusian Railway Workers Community claimed on August 13 that its internal sources are reporting that Russian state-owned railway company Russian Railways informed Belarusian state-owned railway company Belarusian Railways to stop directing trains from all Belarusian Railway stations to stations along the Oryol-Kursk branch of the Moscow Railway starting on August 12 due to a “large-scale operational transfer of troops in the direction of Kursk Oblast” and the movement of freight trains for military logistical purposes.

Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov also announced a state of emergency in Belgorod Oblast on August 14, which will allow Belgorod Oblast authorities the power to restrict movement within emergency areas likely either to secure Russian logistical support for Belgorod Oblast border areas or Russian defensive measures within Kursk Oblast.

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Senior fighter Vasyl Doroshenko, with the call sign Paladin, died on August 13, 2023, near the village of Klishchiyivka, Donetsk Oblast. The fighter was 28 years old.

Vasyl was born in the village of Tiaziv, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. He graduated there and then studied finance and credit at the Ivano-Frankivsk State College of Technology and Business. In 2014, he participated in the Euromaidan. In the same year, he joined Plast, was an educator and instructor at the Ivano-Frankivsk station, and after changing his place of residence, he moved to the Lviv station. Later he studied at the history program of the Faculty of Humanities at the Ukrainian Catholic University.

In civilian life, he worked at Terra Recycling, a waste sorting company, and at the Ye bookstore. He was fond of hitchhiking and books. He wrote prose and poetry. He dreamed of publishing his own book. He was a leader of the Reverse Protestant youth movement. He studied law at the Lviv Polytechnic National University and at the University of Silesia in Katowice. Vasyl was also a member of the Green Box NGO team, where he was in charge of logistics and sales. He put a lot of effort into the public sorting center. He also volunteered at the Tarilka NGO.

During the full-scale invasion, he served first in the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade and was transferred to the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade in February 2023. He was awarded the Order “For Courage” III degree and the honorary badge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the “Golden Cross.”

“We were united by a living faith in Christ, we met in church. Vasyl faithfully served Christ and Ukraine. We all love our lives and fear for our lives. It is important to us. The Apostle Paul told the Philippians: “For me, life is Christ, and death is gain. Life is Christ, and to die for him is a reward.” These words were Vasyl’s guiding principle at the front. The commander would give him a task, and Paladin would answer directly and uncompromisingly: “I am ready. I’m always ready to meet God!”, wrote Natalia Snitynska, the girlfriend of the fallen defender.

The fighter was buried in his native village. He is survived by his mother, grandmother, and two younger brothers.

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

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• Biden ‘open’ to sending long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine
• Air defense forces destroy all 29 Russian Shaheds at night
• Ukrainian forces advance 0.5-1.5 kilometers into Russia’s Kursk Oblast and now control 82 settlements
• British Challenger 2 tanks have been used inside Russia by Ukrainian troops
• Russian troops dig trenches in Kursk region
• AFU General Staff confirms four military airfields in Russia have been hit