8/19/24-8/28/24 Ukrainian General Update LanguageLearner

8/17/24-8/28/24 Update, day 905-917 of Russian invasion.


Belarus/Western Border:

Polish soldiers are looking for signs of an RU drone which potentially overflew Poland and crashed, during the large scale attack on August 26th

Belarusian president Lukashenko congratulated Ukraine for UA independence day, saying belarus has "has always treated the cordial and hardworking people of Ukraine with special respect and warmth."

Belarusian troops massed on the border with UA, stating this was for scheduled drills. UA warned Belarus not to make any large mistakes under pressure from russia.

The murder weapon for the assassination of UA politician and demagogue Irina Farion has likely been found in Lviv.

An emergency Ukraine-NATO council was held regarding the recent large scale RU missile strikes against UA energy infrastructure.



Kyiv/Central Ukraine:

RU launched a massive missile strike on August 26th across UA, firing some 109 drones and 127 missiles. The estimated cost for this strike is about $1.26 billion USD, and UA intercepted about 84% of the munitions, at 102 missiles and 99 drones. A number of the cruise missiles were using cluster munitions.

7 people were killed, and 47 injured across the country.

UA intercepted 14/16 Shaheds and 0/2 ballistic missiles on Aug 23rd.

RU launched a large drone attack of over 81 shaheds, 4 ballistic missiles, and 6 cruise missiles across UA on the 27th, killing 4 and injuring 16 people.  UA intercepted 60/81 drones and 5/6 cruise missiles.

Blackouts continue across Ukraine following the RU missile strike, with 6 hours of power/18 hours of blackout currently in some regions of Kyiv.

Zelensky spoke on the newer jet drones developed by UA, reportedly with 1000+ km range. Polish President Duda arrived in Kyiv for UA independence day. RU has thus far launched over 10,000 missiles and more then 33,000 glide bombs across Ukraine since 2022.

Another nuclear reactor was reconnected to the UA energy grid ahead of schedule following planned repairs, adding another 1000 MW of power to the UA energy grid.

UA returned some 115 soldiers from captivity in a POW transfer, 82 of them from the defense of Mariupol and 6 from Chornobyl NPP defense.

UA CiC 3-star General Syrski was promoted to 4-star General.

Indian PM Modi met with Zelensky in Kyiv and reiterated support for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

UA held a large drone expo near St. Sophia's in Kyiv, highlighting a number of unmanned ground and air vehicles, including varying evacuation platforms from octo-copters to large APC sized vehicles.

The Ratel H drone which can carry up to 400kg, including on evac, is allegedly entering mass production. In principle it will likely be used for resupplying troops.

UA claims to have developed its own novel long range missile program for less than a million USD apiece.


Northeast Ukraine/Kharkiv city:

UA soldiers from the 3rd assault brigade have launched successful combat actions to the NE of Kharkiv, allegedly regaining several square KM. Otherwise, the frontline remains rather stable with no major changes.

UA drone strikes have ranged further into Belgorod oblast, targeting longe range MLRS launchers, and dropping a flag in an RU border village just NW of Kharkiv city.

RU attacked Sumy with missiles, and the region with glide bombs. Ballistic missile strikes on the city and outskirts have increased with the ongoing UA operation here.

RU attacked Kharkiv oblast with a Kalibr cruise missile containing a cluster munition, among other rockets on the 26th. There has been a noted increase in cluster munition usage in long range strikes on Kharkiv over the last month.

A number of RU soldiers remain encircled at the Vovchansk industrial plant, who are being resupplied by drones. UA is currently not assaulting due to a lack of desire to take heavy casualties vs waiting them out. There were 2 assault attempts over the last day, and RU is reportedly focusing on assaults here to try and unblock the Zavod Aggregate plant here.


Kursk offensive:

UA forces have continued to contest territory and advance to the W of the Kursk AO, pushing SW of Koronevo towards Komarovka, into the Glushkovo region where strikes on RU bridging ops have restricted RU ground movement and logistics.

UA drone strikes on both RU artillery and energy infrastructure here have led to some disorganized response on the ground here, with alleged deeper penetrations of UA drones towards Rylsk.

UA efforts to the N have continued to contest territory along the highway and rivers leading towards Lvov, with gains around the general Kromskie Buki area.

UA has additionally pushed along the NE R200 highway direction Martynovka

Zelensky spoke on the goals for the Kursk offensive, stating that it was principally meant to relieve pressure on Sumy oblast, gain more prisoners for future POW swaps, and show Putin's lack of control to his population. Zelensky denied claims this would be used as a negotiation prelude with RU.

US Glide bombs are being utilized in the ongoing UA offensive on RU point targets.

RU continues to rebuild pontoon bridges over the Seim river in the Kursk region, as they are either moved or otherwise destroyed by UA long range strikes.

RU is restricting entry to the town of Kurchatov surrounding the Kursk NPP, for anyone who is not a resident.

UA reportedly controls some 100 settlements and 1300 square km of territory in Kursk at this time. RU has reportedly transferred some 30,000 troops here.


Kupyansk/Lyman:

RU 17 attacks towards Kupyansk, and 8 towards Lyman.

RU shelled the Kupyansk city center, heavily damaging an administrative building and injuring 11 people.

RU has increasingly been using drones towards Kupyansk, apparently hitting civilians in the city outskirts.

RU shelled near Izyum, killing a couple. Another MLRS strike injured 12 people in Izyum proper.

RU set fire near Dibrova with shelling, and the forest fire is continuing to burn due to UXO presence making it difficult for firefighters to battle the blaze.


Kramatorsk/Chasiv Yar

UA repelled 8 assaults towards Siversk over the last day. This area is assessed as a lower priority, where RU is seeking to find opportunities to later exploit, rather then a major focus towards Slovyansk.

RU continues efforts to push on the N and S flanks of Chasiv Yar, primarily as infantry attacks without mechanized elements. RU attacks range from 5-15 per day and glide bomb/artillery attacks have decreased on this sector.

UA shot down an RU SU-25 near Chasiv Yar.

An RU missile strike on a hotel in Kramatorsk critically injured a Reuters journalist and killed a member of the team.

RU launched 9 attacks near Chasiv yar, with no confirmed gains across the canal proper. Drone strikes continue on both sides, with RU tanks and SPG's targeted in Bakhmut ruins.


Toretsk/Kostyantynivka:

RU launched 13 attacks towards Toretsk.

RU fired a missile into Kostyantynivka, killing 5 and injuring 5 more civilians at a market. There have been a rash of RU long range rocket strikes on market areas as of late in the city, and some 26,000 residents remain in the city down from a pre-war population of over 60,000.

RU forces attempted a cannonball run towards Kostyantynivka from the NE, losing a considerable amount of mechanized forces in the process.

UA will increase the curfew hours in Selydove and Kurakhiv, as well as the area around Kostyantynivka. Curfew will run from 1700-0900 in some of these close frontline regions, and the city itself will have a tightened curfew.


Pokrovsk:

RU continues to focus the bulk of its activity towards Pokrovsk, launching 34 assaults in the last day. About 23 of these assaults were near Lysivk and Delydove, to the SE of Pokrovsk.

UA has increased the number of trains leaving Pokrovsk for Dnipro, in light of evacuation concerns. Mandatory evacuation of families with children has been instituted.

A missile attack in Pokrovsk region killed two demining techs with the local police force.


Donetsk city/Occupied regions:

RU launched some 22 assaults to the SW of Marinka near Karlivka


Zaporizhia/Southern Axis:

Yesterday RU launched 205 strikes on 9 settlements in Zaporizhzhia, 117 times with drones and 82 times with artillery.

RU launched missiles into downtown Kryvi Rih, damaging over 230 vehicles and injuring 8 people. 4 people were killed in the August 27th strike, when a hotel was hit.

RU continues efforts to push around Robotyne, attacking 2 times. UA continues to launch deep strikes towards Tokmak.

RU has reduced its offensive activities on the Zaporizhia axis.


Kherson:

RU launched 8 assaults on UA positions on the Dnipro river islands. UA drone strikes across the river have apparently reduced, as RU MLRS fire continues sporadically along the river islands and riverside, causing civilian casualities. RU specifically targets the SW Korabel and Ostriv districts.

RU shelled the Kherson riverbank with Mortars, killing a woman at home. RU strikes continue to target emergency workers, injuring 3 paramedics helping civilians near the river.

Following RU shelling on the 22nds, Kherson has experienced blackouts and water shortages.

UA attacked an RU warehouse on the Kinburn spit.



Odessa/Black Sea/Crimea:

UA has identified the IRGC general responsible for leading instruction of RU soldiers in Shahed drones. Brigadier General Sharif Molaseri Abbas Musa was working in Crimea, and coordinated some 2 dozen strikes in 2022 during the initial period of Shahed-136 use.

UA partisans raised a UA flag for independence day near Simferopol.

Reportedly arrested people in Crimea are pressured to sign with the RU army in a way to generate soldiers without relying on mobilization.

UA attacked and destroyed one of the ferry's working across the Crimean peninsula, while it was at harbor in Krasnodar port at Kavkaz. Reportedly this is the 3rd of 3 ferries rendered unusable, which were primarily being used for fuel deliveries to Crimea (as there exists concern of damage to the bridge from heavy loads).

RU shelled Snake Island with 4 Kh-22 cruise missiles. UA reported intercepting some 5 RU Recon drones in the south overnight.

RU strikes targeted 3 oil drilling platforms east of Snake island that were

RU strikes on Odesa led to water restrictions in some parts of the city suburbs.

Currently there is 1 RU Missile carrier in the Black Sea.


Russia:

UA launched a drone strike on a warehouse in Voronezh, destroying up to 5000 tons of munitions.

UA drones hit munitions and fuel storage at the Marinivka airfield in Volgograd, RU.

UA attacked an oil depot in Kirov, some 1200km away from the UA border.


General:

Yesterday Ukrainian forces eliminated:

1090x soldiers (Total 611,190 day avg 1,169 last 7 days)
14x APC
5x Tank
28x Artillery (1xMLRS)
1x Air Defense
1x Aircraft
41x vehicles
94x UAV

estimated cost: $96.9 million USD

total estimated cost- $103.4 Million/day per last 30 days, $3.1 Billion USD over last 30 days.


Overseas:

Canada announced an additional $4.2 million USD in humanitarian aid to UA.

Several drones were spotted near the German NPP at Schleswig-Holstein.

By the end of 2024, the Netherlands will purchase and transfer to Ukraine 51 mobile air defense radars

Lithuania has committed to spending 0.25% of GDP on UA aid, annually. Lithuania also hopes to include 10 SHORAD systems and some 5000 drones by end of Autumn. Lithuanian NGO Blue/Yellow sent 22 anti-drone EW systems to Ukraine, bringing the total to over 1140.