Sergei Zhurikov

Sevastopol, sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base throughout its history. Since the city's founding in 1783 it has been a major base for Russia's Black Sea Fleet, and it was previously a closed city during the Cold War. The total administrative area is 864 square kilometres (334 sq mi) and includes a significant amount of rural land. The urban population, largely concentrated around Sevastopol Bay, is 479,394, and the total population is 547,820.

Crimea is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukraine. To the east, the Crimean Bridge, constructed in 2018, spans the Strait of Kerch, linking the peninsula with Krasnodar Krai in Russia. The Arabat Spit, located to the northeast, is a narrow strip of land that separates the Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. Across the Black Sea to the west lies Romania and to the south is Turkey. The largest city is Sevastopol. The region has a population of 2.4 million, and has been under Russian occupation since 2014.

The Russo-Ukrainian War is an international conflict between Russia and Russian-backed separatists, against Ukraine, which began in February 2014. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian military in the Donbas war. The first eight years of conflict also included naval incidents, cyberwarfare, and heightened political tensions. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A sexton is an officer of a church, congregation, or synagogue charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. In smaller places of worship, this office is often combined with that of verger. In larger buildings, such as cathedrals, a team of sextons may be employed.

Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra or Kyivo-Pechers’ka Lavra, also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Eastern Orthodox Christian monastery which gave its name to one of the city districts where it is located in Kyiv.

Sloviansk is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located in the north of the region, in the valley of the Kazennyi Torets River, a right-tributary of the Donets. The city was previously known as Tor until 1784. Sloviansk had a population of 105,141, but during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the population had shrunk to around 24,000 by July 2022, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Sloviansk is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located in the north of the region, in the valley of the Kazennyi Torets River, a right-tributary of the Donets. The city was previously known as Tor until 1784. Sloviansk had a population of 105,141, but during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the population had shrunk to around 24,000 by July 2022, according to Ukrainian authorities.

A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision rifles and high-magnification optics, and often also serve as scouts/observers feeding tactical information back to their units or command headquarters.

The Ukrainian Ground Forces, also known as the Ukrainian army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They were formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Ukrainian independence, and trace their ancestry to the 1917-22 army of the Ukrainian People's Republic.

Sumy Oblast, also known as Sumshchyna, is an oblast (province) in northeast Ukraine. The oblast was created in its most recent form, from the merging of raions from Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Poltava Oblast in 1939 by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.