UKRAINE WAR BRIEF DAILY DRAFT
For: 2024-07-29
Slava Ukraini! In early 2022 I began a Telegram channel aggregating news from a number of sources daily on the war in Ukraine. Since June 2023 I have provided a daily draft for the Ukraine War Brief Podcast collecting news from over 60 sources daily, much of which forms the basis of the script. While the Podcast is on hiatus I will make this Draft available here both on my own Substack and The People’s Media for those who wish to keep up with events on a daily basis.
ALONG THE CONTACT LINE
GSAFU Morning Report
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in its Operational Information update at 22:00 on July 28 stated that day 886 of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation against Ukraine was about to begin.
During the past day, 97 combat engagements took place. Over the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out 2 missile strikes, 66 air strikes, 611 drone strikes and more than 3,400 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.
Air Force Daily Report
On the night of July 29, 2024, the enemy attacked with an Kh-59/Kh-69 guided air missile from the airspace of occupied Donetsk region and 10 "Shahed" type UAVs from Cape Chauda - Crimea.
Anti-aircraft missile units and EW of the Air Force, mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces of Ukraine were involved in repelling the air attack.
As a result of the anti-aircraft battle, the Kh-59/Kh-69 guided air missile and nine "Shahed-131/136" unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down. Air targets were destroyed in Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Kirovohrad regions.
The Khortytsia operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the northeastern part of Ukraine. )
Kharkiv axis: There were Russian attacks near Hlyboke and Vovchansk.
Kupyansk axis: The enemy carried out an attack near Novoosinovogo. The battle is still going on. The situation is under control.
Lyman axis: Russian forces13 times attacked Ukrainian positions o near Novoserhíivka, Makíivka, Terny, and Torske. Seven attacks are repelled, six are ongoing.
Siversk axis: Russian forces carried out 7 unsuccessful assaults in the vicinity of Ivano-Darivka and Spirne , the situation is under control.
Kramatorsk axis: Russian forces carried out seven offensive actions near Vasiukivka, Hryhorivka, Chasiv Yar, Ivanivske and Klishchievka. Defense forces repelled six attacks, one more continues in the area of Chasiv Yar.
Toretsk axis: There have been 15 Russian attacks over that last day, 3 battles are still ongoing. All the efforts of the enemy were directed to the areas of Pivinchne, Zalizne and Nui-York.
The Tavria operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the central-eastern and southeastern part of Ukraine.)
Pokrovsk axis: The greatest activity over the past day was in this sector. The enemy conducted 36 attacks against Ukrainian defences in this area over the last day in the vicinity of Kalynove, Novooleksandrivka, Tymofiivka, Ivanivka, Zhelanne, Novoselivka Persha and Yasnobrodivka.
Kurakhove axis: Russian forces tried to advance 4 times in the areas of settlements Krasnogorivka and Heorhiivka,
Vremivka axis: The Russians conducted 2 offensive actions near Kostiantynivka.
Orikhiv axis: The enemy made 3 unsuccessful attacks in the vicinity of Novoandriivka and Mala Tokmachka
The Odesa operational-strategic group
(Responsible for Kherson, Qırım, (also known as Crimea) and the Black Sea.)
Prydniprovsk axis: In this sector, over the last day Russian forces made 1 attempt to force Ukrainian units from their positions on the left bank of the Dnieper were also unsuccessful.
TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Nothing to report.
THE HOME FRONT
Six Odesa residents arrested for burning military cars on Russian orders
Six residents of Odesa have been accused of burning 15 military vehicles at the behest of Russian intelligence services, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General (GPU), the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and the National Police. The suspects, aged between 18 and 23, allegedly received instructions and payments through a Telegram channel from Russia’s representative. Euromaidan Press reports.
The GPU reported that the suspects were charged with obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and have been remanded in custody without bail. They face up to eight years in prison if convicted.
The investigation revealed that the suspects allegedly agreed to set fire to cars belonging to the military in Odesa in exchange for payment. They reportedly coordinated the locations and targets with their Russian contact, who promised substantial rewards but actually paid them between 5,000 and 8,000 UAH per vehicle ($121-195).
The SBU says that the suspects, working as delivery couriers, were recruited through Telegram channels where they had posted their “résumés” seeking easy money. During the crimes, they typically operated in pairs, with one person setting the fire and the other recording it on video to send to their Russian contact as proof of completion.
RUSSIAN WORLD
Head of Russian defence research institute reportedly attempts self-immolation on Red Square
Retired army captain Vladimir Arsenyev, who currently heads the Volna Central Research Institute, a contractor for Russia’s Defense Ministry, tried to set himself on fire on Moscow's Red Square earlier today, according to reports by the Russian publications Mash and Moskovsky Komsomolets. The Insider reports.
On Friday afternoon, the 74-year-old man walked up to the Lenin Mausoleum in the centre of Red Square and set himself on fire after dousing himself with flammable liquid. “Police officers quickly intervened, throwing him to the ground and extinguishing the flames,” Mash wrote.
The man, later identified as Arsenyev, was reportedly unharmed. He suffered “minor burns,” as per Moskovsky Komsomolets, and was subsequently taken in for questioning.
According to reporting by the independent investigative outlet Important Stories, Russia’s Rostec State Corporation accused Arsenyev of disrupting a state defence order related to the war against Ukraine in 2023. The prosecution alleged that Arsenyev had stolen paperwork related to another company's developments.
However, a Federal Security Service (FSB) investigation did not turn up any wrongdoing at Volna, as per Moskovsky Komsomolets. The publication added that Arsenyev had filed a retaliatory lawsuit defending his “honour and dignity,” which is now being considered by a Moscow court.
It remains unclear whether Arsenyev’s attempted self-immolation was an act of protest or self-harm.
NEWS WORLDWIDE
German government responds to Putin's threats over deployment of Tomahawk missiles
Berlin has responded to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's statements about the deployment of US Tomahawk missiles in Germany.
Putin said that if the US Tomahawk missiles are deployed in Germany, Russia will abandon its "unilateral moratorium" on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles in Europe.
The German government says that Russia's threats regarding the planned deployment of Tomahawk long-range weapons in Germany will not change its course.
"We will not be intimidated by such statements," said a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry.
The ministry noted that Russia has been arming itself for years and waging a war of aggression in Europe against Ukraine, and Germany must respond to this.
Vandals attack French telecoms lines days after rail sabotage
Vandals attacked telecoms lines in parts of France overnight, disrupting some fixed and mobile services, the junior minister for digital matters, Marina Ferrari, said on X on Monday. Reuters reports.
A police source said it was too early to tell if there was any link to sabotage on the high-speed rail network, which caused travel chaos hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Ferrari called the vandalism "cowardly and irresponsible" and said work was underway to get services back up and running.
A spokesman for telecoms operator SFR said vandals had made cuts to its long-distance network in five different parts of France in the early hours of Monday.
The impact on clients was minimal because the network was designed to reroute traffic, he said.
Le Parisien newspaper reported earlier that cables in electrical cabinets had been cut in southern France, and that installations in the Meuse region near Luxembourg and the Oise area near Paris had been vandalised, affecting mainly fixed-line services.
Hungary’s stance irritates and isolates it within EU, says Polish FM
Budapest is experiencing growing isolation within the European Union and its position is causing irritation among other member states, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview with the Visegrad Insight media platform published on July 29. NV reports.
The Hungarians “look isolated when they are the ones asking for solidarity with Europe on the issue of oil supplies. They don’t get this solidarity because it’s hard to make friends when someone radiates selfishness,” he said, commenting on the lack of support for Budapest during the recent EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting.
There was also a discussion about where to hold one of the foreign ministers’ meetings during the Hungarian presidency, either in Budapest or in Brussels. As a compromise, Sikorski suggested Ukraine as a possible location, specifically Lviv or Mukachevo, which was initially met with enthusiasm by the Hungarian foreign minister.
“During our meeting, however, the Hungarian minister seemed to have received different instructions from the capital and was eventually forced to veto the proposal. He was left alone. So I don’t see how this Hungarian symmetry - being between Moscow and Brussels - increases Hungary’s leverage. Instead, it irritates everyone else,” Sikorski said, echoing his deputy Teofil Bartoszewski’s suggestion that Budapest should leave the EU and ally with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and other authoritarian regimes.
“I don’t really understand why Hungary wants to remain a member of organisations that it dislikes so much and which allegedly treat it badly,” he said in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s recent anti-Western speech.
“Why doesn’t he (Orban) form an alliance with Putin and other authoritarian states of this kind? If you don’t want to be a member of a club, you can always leave. This is definitely an anti-European, anti-Ukrainian and anti-Polish policy at the moment”.
5th Indian citizen killed fighting for Russia in war against Ukraine
Ravi Moun, who hailed from Haryana,India lost his life while fighting for the Russian forces against Ukraine in the ongoing war. The 22-year-old’s relatives have said he went to Moscow in January after being ‘hired’ for a transportation job but was inducted into the military. Firstpost reported.
The Indian embassy in Moscow confirmed the death of Ravi Moun, who hailed from Haryana, his brother Ajay Moun said.
He went to Russia on January 13 after being “hired” for a transportation job but was inducted into the military, his brother Ajay Moun claimed.
Ajay alleged that the Russian Army asked his brother to go to the frontline to fight against Ukrainian forces or face 10 years in jail.
He was trained to dig trenches and later sent to the frontline, according to Ajay. “We remained in touch with him till March 12 and he was quite upset,” he said.
Several men and their families have contacted the Indian foreign ministry over the last few months, saying they were duped into travelling to Russia with the promise of jobs or education only to be forcibly recruited into its army, Reuters quoted officials at the ministry as saying.
At least four other people have been killed in the fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
MILITARY & TECH
Ukraine develops a pylon to deploy US small diameter bombs from Mig-29s
A picture offering the best look to date at U.S.-made GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) loaded on a Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter, seen at the top of this story and below, has emerged. The image also shows the use of a special pylon with what may be a white-colored antenna or sensor, which might be tied to an electronic countermeasures system, to hang the four-bomb SDB racks under the MiG-29’s wing. The Warzone reports.
When or where the picture of the GBU-39/B-armed MiG-29 was taken is unknown. Three SDBs are visible loaded on a standard BRU-61/A rack, which is designed to hold up to four of these 250-pound-class weapons. The image looks to have been first posted online earlier today by a user with the handle @air_winged on the Telegram social media network.
The Ukrainian military first disclosed it had begun employing air-launched SDBs in May. Prior to that, Ukraine was only known to have received Ground Launched SDBs (GLSDB). That weapon system appears to have performed poorly in combat, at least initially, and it is not clear to what extent it remains in service. Air-launched SDBs have been previously observed under the wings of MiG-29s. There have been claims that Ukraine’s Su-27 Flankers are also carrying these bombs, but, while plausible, pictures claiming to show this are at best unclear.
Based on the paint scheme worn by the jet in the newly emerged picture, it appears to be one of the 13 Fulcrums Ukraine received from Slovakia last year. In the mid-2000s. the Russian Aircraft Corporation-MiG (RAC MiG), in cooperation with Rockwell Collins and BAE Systems in the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively, integrated a unique upgrade package onto these jets that included enhanced avionics, communications gear, navigation systems, and more.
Ukraine targets Russia’s Central Bank in major DDoS attack
Ukraine’s Main Directorate of intelligence (HUR) has launched a large-scale denial-of-service (DDoS) attack against Russia’s Central Bank, severely disrupting its operations, according to a security source cited by Liga.
The attack, part of a broader cyber offensive, has been ongoing for nearly a week and is the most extensive against Russian internet infrastructure to date.
The Central Bank of Russia, crucial in financing Russia’s military actions against Ukraine, has reportedly experienced significant operational disruptions. The attack has also impacted other major financial institutions like Zenit Bank and Gazprombank, whose online services are currently inaccessible to users, according to the source.
Additionally, the attack has reportedly caused widespread internet connectivity issues, with major Russian telecom providers like MTS experiencing sustained disruptions, affecting users’ access to services for the third day.
Ukrainian Defense Industry Unveils Innovative Mobile Repair Solution
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has approved a cutting-edge mobile repair workshop, enhancing the capabilities of the Armed Forces with its advanced features and adaptability, Defense Express reports.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has officially approved the deployment of a new mobile auto repair workshop. Developed by specialists from Ukrainian Defense Industry, this workshop is designed to meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This new mobile workshop stands out for its compactness and superior maneuverability compared to the existing models based on the outdated Soviet ZIL-131 trucks. It can be mounted on the chassis of various pickup truck models from global manufacturers.
The workshop is equipped to perform tire fitting, welding and automotive locksmith work. It can also charge car batteries and conduct computer diagnostics. Additionally, it features a crane with a lifting capacity of 500 kilograms and a winch with a pulling force of 5 tons.
Several of these mobile workshops, mounted on pickup chassis, have already been delivered to combat units.
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