THE RUSSO-UKRAINE WAR BRIEF
For: 2024-08-26
Slava Ukraini! In early 2022 I began a Telegram channel aggregating news from a number of sources daily on the war in Ukraine. In June 2023 I began providing a daily draft for the Ukraine War Brief Podcast collecting news from over 70 sources daily, much of which formed the basis of the script. While the Podcast no longer exists I have continued to make this Brief available both on my own Substack and The People’s Media for those who wish to keep up with events on a daily basis.
All the latest news on the Russo-Ukraine War 6 days per week
ALONG THE CONTACT LINE
GSAFU Morning Report
GSAFU Morning Report
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in its Operational Information update at 22:00 on Aug 25 stated that day 914 of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation against Ukraine was about to begin.
During the past two day, 255 combat engagements took place. Over the past 48 hours, the enemy carried out 5 missile strikes, 129 air strikes, 932 drone strikes and more than 6,269 artillery strikes across the positions of Ukrainian forces.
At the same time, Ukrainian soldiers continue to inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the occupying troops, exhausting the enemy along the entire front line and continue to disrupt the plans of Russian occupiers to advance deep into the territory of Ukraine.
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Air Force Daily Report
On the night of August 25, 2024, the enemy attacked the frontline regions of Ukraine with missiles of various types. Chernihiv Oblast, Sumy Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, Donetsk Oblast were attacked. The enemy used land-based missiles from the Voronezh and Rostov regions: the Iskander-K cruise missile, the Iskander-M ballistic missile and six Kh-59/Kh-69 guided air missiles from the airspace of the Kursk and Belgorod regions. As a result of the active opposition of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, most of the missiles did not reach their targets.
Also, the occupiers attacked with 9 attack drones of the "Shahed" type from Cape Chauda - Crimea.
Eight "shaheeds" were shot down by mobile firing squads in the Mykolaiv region.
Final numbers for Aug 26 have not yet been released as a massive air strike is ongoing.
The Russian Border Incursion
Ukraine continues to advance in Kursk
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US based think tank, in its Aug 25 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment assessed that several Russian milbloggers claimed on August 25 that Russian forces recaptured Olgovka and Kremyanoye (both east of Korenevo) and that Russian forces are advancing west of Kremyanoye. Another Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces still control Kremyanoye, however.
Several Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces encircled elements of the Russian 18th Motorized Rifle Division (11th Army Corps [AC], Leningrad Military District [LMD]) in Malaya Loknya (north of Sudzha) and that elements of either the Russian 810th Naval Infantry Brigade (Black Sea Fleet [BSF]) or 1427th Motorized Rifle Regiment (Territorial Troops) broke through the Ukrainian encirclement and allowed the personnel of the 18th Motorized Rifle Division to withdraw.
Russian forces likely continue to operate within select areas of the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast as Ukrainian forces likely do not control all of the territory within the maximalist extent of claims about Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast. Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov similarly claimed on August 25 that elements of the Russian 14th Motorized Rifle Battalion of the Akhmat-Chechnya Regiment under the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) successfully evacuated 51 conscripts from combat near Ulanok (southeast of Sudzha).
The Russian military likely continues to redeploy forces from lower priority sectors of the frontline in Ukraine to the frontline in Kursk Oblast.
Commanders of the Russian 810th Naval Infantry Brigade, 155th Naval Infantry Brigade (Pacific Fleet, Eastern Military District [EMD], 11th Airborne (VDV) Brigade, 56th VDV Regiment (7th VDV Division), and 51st VDV Regiment (106th VDV Division) briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin on combat missions in Russian territories bordering Ukraine (likely referring to Kursk Oblast) on August 24.
Earlier in the day, Putin met with Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov and Chief of the General Staff's Main Operations Directorate Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy to discuss the Russian response to the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast.
ISW has observed elements of the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade, 155th Naval Infantry Brigade, and 11th VDV Brigade fighting in Kursk Oblast and has observed evidence that the Russian military command recently redeployed elements of the 56th VDV Regiment from the Robotyne area in western Zaporizhia Oblast to Kursk Oblast.
ISW has not yet observed reports of elements of the 51st VDV Regiment fighting in Kursk Oblast, but the fact that the 51st VDV Regiment commander briefed Putin alongside the commanders of other units that have recently redeployed elements to Kursk Oblast suggests that the elements of the 51st VDV Regiment have also likely redeployed to the area. Elements of the 51st VDV Regiment have been fighting in the Siversk direction in recent months alongside other units of the 106th VDV Division.
The AFU stormed a penal colony in Kursk that was used to hold Ukrainian female prisoners
Ukrainian forces seized a women's penal colony in the village of Malaya Loknya in Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian prisoners were previously held, Media Initiative for Human Rights reported on Aug. 23.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, one of the main places where Ukrainian prisoners were held was a detention center in the city of Kursk, according to the Media Initiative for Human Rights.
Subsequently, the organization found that female prisoners were also taken to the women's penal colony in Malaya Loknya, which is designed to hold over 200 people. In the fall of 2022, more than 50 captured military and civilian women were held there, the Media Initiative for Human Rights said.
According to witnesses, the penal colony in Little Lockney served as a temporary place of detention before the exchange, keeping the prisoners there from one to several months. After that, they could immediately be taken to exchange or returned to Kursk SIZO № 1 or SIZO № 2 in Taganrog, Rostov region.
MIHR stated that the capture of the colony is an important step in documenting war crimes committed by Russia against Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The Khortytsia operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the northeastern part of Ukraine. )
Kharkiv axis: There were 4 Russian attacks over the last day near Liptsiv and Vovchansk. 1 engagement continues in Vovchansk.
Kupyansk axis: The enemy carried out 13 attacks against Ukrainian positions near Sinkivka, Petropavlika, Hlushkivka, Kolisnikivka and Stelmahivka. 4 engagements are still ongoing.
Lyman axis: The enemy carried out 11 attacks against Ukrainian positions near Druzhelyubivka and Nevske,
Siversk axis: Russian forces carried out 6 unsuccessful assaults in the vicinity of Bilohorivka, Verkhnokamianske, Spirne and Vyimka.
Kramatorsk axis: Russian forces carried out 12 offensive actions near Chasiv Yar.
Toretsk axis: There have been 7 Russian attacks over that last day with air support. All the efforts of the enemy were directed to the areas of Toretsk and Nelipivka. 3 assaults are ongoing.
The Tavria operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the central-eastern and southeastern part of Ukraine.)
Pokrovsk axis: The greatest activity of the enemy today occurred in this sector. The enemy conducted 41 attacks against Ukrainian defences in this area over the last day concentrating in the vicinity of Almost half of the attacks the enemy concentrated near Novohrodivka. Defense forces have already repelled 37 attacks in the direction, the invaders' attacks are still ongoing near Vozdvizhenko, Novooleksandrivka, Kalinove and towards Sukhoia Balka.
Kurakhove axis: Russian forces unsuccessfully tried to advance 14 times in the area of settlements Mykhailivka, Karlivka, Pervomaiske, Nevelske, Heorhiivka and Kostiantinivka.
Vremivka axis: In this sector the situation is under control, Russian forces made 9 assaults against Ukrainian positions near Voidane and Vuhledar. 1 battle is onging.
Orikhiv axis: The situation in this sector has not changed significantly.
The Odesa operational-strategic group
(Responsible for Kherson, Qırım, (also known as Crimea) and the Black Sea.)
Prydniprovsk axis: The situation in this sector has not changed significantly.
TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Nothing to report.
THE HOME FRONT
Ukrainian air defense intercepts 30 Russian missiles and drones targeting Kyiv
Ukrainian air defenses took down approximately 15 Shahed drones and 15 missiles launched by Russia on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv city administration reported on Telegram on Aug. 26 after a morning enemy barrage of the country with cruise and ballistic missiles. New Voice of Ukraine reports.
The missiles entered the capital in very dense groups after complicated maneuvers from different directions.
Up to a dozen of drones launched from Russia’s Kursk Oblast were intercepted in the suburbs of Kyiv prior to the missile attack.
Ukrainian air defenses are currently repulsing another wave of Russian Shahed drones.
The air raid alert in the Ukrainian capital has been in effect for more than 6 hours.
Russia launches massive attack on Ukraine, injuring 21, killing 4
Russian forces launched missiles at Ukraine on the morning of 26 August. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that 15 Ukraine’s oblasts were affected by the massive Russian attack. Euromaidan Press reports.
Explosions have been reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Odesa, and Khmelnytskyi oblasts.
There are power outages in several cities. Ukrainian National Energy Company Ukrenergo introduced emergency blackouts.
The Russian attack caused power outages in several districts of Kyiv. According to Klitschko, the interruptions are due to “problems in the all-Ukrainian energy network.” Russian attack injured three people, including a 5-month-old baby, and damaged an infrastructure facility and private houses.
The city mayor said that as of 11 am, power and utility companies had restored water supply equipment on the right bank of the Dnipro River in the capital.
Two power facilities were damaged in the Kyiv Oblast, the head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration said.
An apartment building was damaged due to a Russian attack in Lutsk, Volyn Oblast, according to the city mayor. Local authorities reported one death in the city.
At about 10 am Russian troops hit one more apartment building in the city, injuring one more person, Governor Yurii Pohuliayko said.
Lviv Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said that Russia attacked several energy facilities. There were temporary power outages in Lviv and the oblast.
Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said the Russian missile hit an energy infrastructure facility in the oblast. “The traffic across the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station dam will be temporarily blocked,” he said. One person is reportedly injured, and one is killed.
A power facility was also hit in Rivne Oblast. The attack damaged residential buildings; there were no casualties.
In Poltava Oblast, an industrial facility was attacked. Five people were injured, Governor Filip Pronin said.
Dnipro Governor Serhii Lysak said about one died due to the Russian attack on the Oblast, and one was injured. Russia hit residential buildings on the oblast.
Russia also hit residential buildings and critical infrastructure facilities in Zhytomyr Oblast. A woman was reportedly dead in the oblast, Governor Viltaliy Bunechko said. The water supply was stopped due to a power outage.
Russia’s attack injured three people in Mykolaiv Oblast, Governor Vitaliy Kim said. According to him, the situation with the electricity supply is not critical.
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said that the Russian morning attack injured seven people, including a 10-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy. According to the governor, the falling debris damaged private houses and many cars.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia deployed six long-range Tu-22M3 strategic bombers before the attack.
Russian attack damages two energy facilities in Kyiv Oblast
The latest Russian missile attack has damaged two energy facilities in Kyiv Oblast. The Press Service for Kyiv City Military Administration reported.
In addition, 22 houses have been damaged by falling wreckage from downed Russian targets.
"One house has been completely destroyed and another one severely damaged. A warehouse building, garages, and three cars have also been affected," the press service added.
A dam in Kyiv, part of the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant, was struck during a massive Russian attack across Ukraine on Aug. 26, Timofiy Mylovanov, an advisor at the President's Office, said.
Mylovanov said that while the dam "holds," the plant was damaged in the attack.
"If the dam were to collapse, a significant portion of Kyiv would be flooded," Mylovanov said.
At the same time, there is conflicting information about the strike on the plant and the resulting damage.
Forbes Ukraine wrote, citing an energy official who remained anonymous because he was not authorized to speak about the attack, that the plant had been targeted.
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of an anti-disinformation department at the National Security and Defense Council, then said that there was "no threat" to the dam and that "it is impossible to destroy it with missiles."
Russians are using perceived threats to the dam's structural integrity to "incite panic," Kovalenko added.
Russian attacks overnight on Aug 25 injure at least 29, local authorities say
Russia launched several missiles and drones overnight targeting northern and eastern Ukraine, injuring at least 29 people, Ukrainian military and local authorities said on Sunday. Reuters reports.
The attack targeted Ukraine's frontline regions of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk, Ukraine's air force said on the Telegram messaging app. Russia has been pummelling Ukrainian border regions with strikes, and Kyiv said its surprise incursion earlier this month into Russia's Kursk region aimed to hinder Moscow's ability to stage such attacks.
"Most of the missiles did not reach their targets," the air force said, adding that Russia launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile, an Iskander-K cruise missile and six guided air missiles. It did not specify how many missiles were destroyed.
A missile attack on the northern region of Sumy killed one person, injuring at least 16 more, including three children, local authorities said on Telegram.
Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region in the east, posted on Telegram that at least 13 people were injured in the Russian attacks, including a 4-year-old child.
Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv city, said a gas pipeline was damaged in the city and at least two houses were destroyed and 10 damaged.
The air force said Russia launched nine attack drones, with Ukraine's air defence systems destroying eight of them over the Ukraine's Mykolaiv region.
Reuters safety adviser killed, 6 others injured in Kramatorsk strike
Ryan Evans, a member of the Reuters team reporting on the war in Ukraine, was killed, and two other Reuters journalists were injured in a Russian missile strike on Kramatorsk that occurred late at night on Aug. 24, the news agency said. The Kyin Independent reported.
A total of six people have been injured in the attack, including two local female residents, Ukraine's National Police confirmed.
Two of the agency's journalists were being treated in hospital; one of them was seriously injured. "We are urgently seeking more information about the attack, including by working with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and we are supporting our colleagues and their families," Reuters said.
In a statement, Reuters it said a six-person team had been staying at the Hotel Sapphire when it was hit by "an apparent missile strike." Ukraine's General Prosecutor's Office said the attack happened around 10:35 p.m. on Aug. 24.
RUSSIAN WORLD
Nothing to report.
NEWS WORLDWIDE
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested at French airport
Telegram chief executive Pavel Durov has been arrested by French police at an airport north of Paris.
Mr Durov was detained after his private jet had landed at Le Bourget Airport, French media reported.
According to officials the 39-year-old billionaire was arrested under a warrant for offences related to the popular messaging app. The investigation is reportedly about a lack of moderation, with Mr Durov accused of failing to take steps to curb criminal uses of Telegram. BBC reports.
The app is accused of failure to cooperate with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud. Telegram has previously denied having insufficient moderation.
Pavel Durov was born in Russia and now lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based. He holds dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France.
Telegram is particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and former Soviet Union states.
The app was banned in Russia in 2018, after a previous refusal by him to hand over user data. The ban was reversed in 2021.
Telegram is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.
Mr Durov founded Telegram in 2013. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VKontakte social media platform, which he sold.
On Sunday, the Russian Embassy in France wrote on Facebook that it was seeking to "clarify the reasons for the detention and to provide for the protection of Mr Durov’s rights and facilitate consular access".
The post added that French authorities had not been cooperating with Russian officials.
Russian Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram asking whether Western human rights NGOs would be silent on Mr Durov's arrest, after they criticised Russia’s decision to “create obstacles” to the work of Telegram in Russia in 2018.
Several Russian officials condemned the businessman's arrest, saying it showed the West has double standards when it comes to free speech and democracy.
American whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has been living in exile in Russia since 2013, said on Twitter that Mr Durov's arrest "was an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association".
Twitter owner Elon Musk, who has faced extensive criticism over moderation and material hosted by his own social media site, posted repeatedly about the situation. He hashtagged one post #freepavel, and in another wrote: "POV [Point of view]: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme."
Telegram allows groups of up to 200,000 members, which critics have argued makes it easier for misinformation to spread, and for users to share conspiracist, neo-Nazi, paedophilic, or terror-related content.
In the UK, the app was scrutinised for hosting far-right channels that were instrumental in organising the violent disorder in English cities earlier this month.
Telegram did remove some groups, but overall its system of moderating extremist and illegal content is significantly weaker than that of other social media companies and messenger apps, say cybersecurity experts.
MILITARY & TECH
Ukraine plans to create new brigades of Ukrainians abroad
The General Staff plans to create several new mechanized brigades from Ukrainians living in Europe. Militarnyi reported on this, citing its own sources.
On the instructions of the President of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is preparing to create military units abroad.
The publication has received information that at least two new mechanized brigades will be formed, which will receive 160th numbers.
The basis of the new units will be formed in Ukraine, and most of the military personnel is expected to be recruited through diplomatic missions.
In the future, these military units are to go abroad for further training at western training grounds.
The publication noted that a new mobilization mechanism could be used for recruitment, which would allow military unit commanders to draft people without the involvement of draft offices.
Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Kateryna Chernohorenko reported that as of the beginning of August, 88,000 citizens abroad had updated their data through the Reserve+ app.
Previously, Poland announced the creation of a volunteer unit called the Ukrainian Legion. Citizens of Ukraine residing in Poland or elsewhere abroad will be able to enroll and undergo training with the possibility of joining the Ukrainian Defense Forces under contract.
“The Ukrainian Legion will train in Poland and be equipped with the help of partners. Every citizen of Ukraine who decides to join the legion will be able to sign a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
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