Victory Chronicles
-DAY 98

LUHANSK-DONETSK LINE

Above: Severodonetsk is the scene of the war’s most intense fighting so far.  May via ISW (Click on the image to see the full map or right-click to open it in a new tab)

• In an attempt to implement a pincer movement around Severodonetsk, enemy forces have made small advances to the north around Popasna but have not been able to move south from Lyman.
• As invaders advance within the city of Severodonetsk, analysts note that Ukrainian forces have held out longer than expected given the great bulk of enemy resources thrown at Severodonetsk.  Field reports state that the cream of the crop of enemy forces are deployed in the battle for Donbas including Chechen and Wagner group mercenaries. (Read more)
• Ukrainian resistance has allowed rear defenders to build up defensive positions on the western side of the Siversky Donets River along the Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Bakhmut axis.  (Read more)
• In his evening address, President Zelensky estimated that Ukraine is sustaining up to six hundred casualties – killed and wounded – per day in the Donbas front. (Read more)

SOUTHERN UKRAINE

Above: “Uprising behind the iron curtain” 1948. Ukrainian partisans have been fighting enemy invaders for centuries.  Photo via InformNapalm

• Partisan resistance has forced the enemy to travel in heavily guarded convoys along main roads to guard against ambushes.  Analysts believe that southern enemy forces are of the lowest quality and strength in Ukraine.

UNITED STATES

Above: Multiple guided rocket launch systems are game changers for Ukraine.  Photo via CNN

• The US will send longer-range multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine with the next security package.  Heeding a threat from the Kremlin, the US stipulated that the range of these systems will not be long enough to strike deep into Russian territory.  The new MLRS will have a range of about 80 kilometers or 50 miles. Ukraine hopes that the timely arrival of the new weapons will be soon enough to reverse the Donbas advance.

UA2EU

Above: Italian PM Mario Draghi supports UA candidate status – others don’t.  Photo via Foreign Policy

• The Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi stated that almost all major EU countries “except Italy” oppose granting Ukraine candidate status for accession to the European Union leading up to a special meeting of the European Council in the last days of May. EU leaders will wait for European Commission recommendations based on criteria for candidate status.

RUSSIAN ACCOUNTABILITY

Above: Ukrainian refugees are mainly women and school-aged children.  Photo via CroatiaWeek

• The United Nations Refugee Agency estimated that 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes since the start of Russia’s full-scale war in February.  Roughly thirty percent have resettled in Ukraine while seventy percent have left the country – mostly to Poland or one of the many European countries on Ukraine’s border. Because Ukrainians can travel in Europe without a visa, these figures are likely underestimated.