Bob Homans August 26
20220826
Ukraine – 8/26 Sitrep
Compiled by: Robert Homans
Twitter: @rhomansjr
August 26, 2022
“Battle For Kyiv - Ukrainian Valor, Russian Blunders Combined to Save the Capitol” (Washington Post)
Once you start reading you won’t be able to put it down.
“Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics”
One of my favorite sayings, and it applies directly to what we’ve seen in Ukraine over the 8 years, but especially the last 6 months – too many statistics attempting to explain the human condition. How is it possible to use statistics to explain what the article in the Washington Post, above, describes, and the reasons why Ukraine defeated Russia around Kyiv? Pundits constantly cite their statistics, to show why Ukraine is going to collapse.
Here are a few examples, some by the pundits and others from friends:
· “Here They Come” – Repeated emails from a friend of mine, sent during the Spring of 2014. “They,” referring to the Russians.
· Squiggly Lines – Starting in 2014 with Stratfor (where are they?). Maps drawn by the pundits, showing the predicted Russian combined arms onslaught across Ukraine, from east to west. We’re still waiting.
· The Invincible Russian Army – Many pundits described how the Russians had modernized their armed forces since their 2008 invasion of Georgia. One example was a statement by Jennifer Griffen, Pentagon Correspondent for Fox News who pronounced, on Brett Baer’s news broadcast just prior to last February 24th, that she had personally observed how powerful the Russian Army was (probably in Syria) and that Ukraine had no chance against the Russian Army. Of course, there has been no walk-back. Another example include “experts” employed by the PBS “Newshour,” at least at the beginning of the war.
· The Economic and Financial Squiggly Lines – I see these daily, from outlets like BNE Intellinews (I’m having a running Twitter debate with BNE’s Editor). They show things like Ukraine’s foreign reserves, and other economic and financial indicators that purport to show how Ukraine cannot survive. I’m not questioning the validity of the statistics, but how do statistics like Ukraine’s Central Bank reserves conflate with what is described in the aforementioned Washington Post article? Answer – they’re irrelevant.
One of the few people who do “get it” is Lawrence Freedman, whose Substack piece I shared a couple of weeks ago. He’s a military expert. In Freedman’s posts he talks about leadership, initiative, morale. In other words, all of the things that cannot be explained by statistics.
The Latest Denys
In his latest video, Denys talks about Russia’s efforts to build a pontoon bridge across the Dnieper River, to replace the destroyed Antonivsky Bridge near Kherson. He also includes a real-time summary of Russian territorial gains, and losses (9:45 into the video). Denys’ tactical map shows, in green, the areas Ukraine has re-taken. The strategies use back then will be repeated, with equal success, in re-taking Kherson, yet many pundits, including Lord Richard Dannatt former Chief of the General Staff of the British Army, seem to think that Ukraine will attack using the same tactics that the Russians are using in Donbas, rather than the tactics Ukraine used in driving the Russians away from the approaches to Kyiv.
If there’s one thing on which everyone can agree, it’s that Kyiv doesn’t have the forces to launch a broad combined arms counterattack, so why do most pundits seem to believe this is what Ukraine will do?
8/28 Sitrep (my comments in bold face)
Russian Invasion of Ukraine 12:00 noon August 25 to 12:00 noon August 26, 2022
Abbreviations:
RMA = Regional Military Administration
MLRS = Multiple Launch Rocket System
AFU = Armed Forces of Ukraine
Rallies in support of Ukraine: Saarbrucken, Tallinn, Oslo, Trir, Dresden, Valencia, Munster, Amsterdam, Hentinhen, Leipzig, Alicante, Wroclaw, Geneva, Bergamo, Paris, Brussels, New York, Dublin, Engeffenden, Barcelona, Galway, Munich, Aachen, Myrtle Beach, Vilnius, Riga, Gandia, Jerusalem, Rome, Zurich, Grach, Perth, Linz, Brasov, Tel Aviv
INTERNATIONAL
August 26
11:52 : The presence of the IAEA mission at the Zaporizhzhia NPP may become permanent. This opinion was expressed by the head of the organization, Raphael Grossi. He expects that this will happen after the trip of the IAEA representatives to the station. "The trip of the IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia NPP may mark the beginning of the permanent presence of its experts at the station "- Grossi stated.
11:39 : The USA called on Russia to stop "filtering" and deporting Ukrainians. The report of the Conflict Observatory expert group documented evidence of the organization of "filtration camps" and the forced removal of Ukrainians to the territory of Russia.
● The US State Department reacted and noted that with such actions Russia violates the Geneva Convention and commits a war crime. The report of the Conflict Observatory states that 21 places associated with "filtration" activities were recorded in Donetsk region alone.
11:16 : On the day of Shoigu's speech, a Russian SS-26 Iskander short-range ballistic missile hit a train in the town of Chaplino, killing at least two children.
● This, analysts say, underscores Russia's readiness to inflict indirect damage when it believes that missile or artillery strikes have a military advantage.
11:12 : Putin and Shoigu fired at least 6 generals for slow progress in the war against Ukraine, - British intelligence.
● It is noted that Russia's progress has stalled because of bad military actions and fierce fighting on the part of Ukraine, and not because the Russian Federation supposedly cares about citizens and thus "tries to reduce civilian casualties."
11:06 Spiegel: The left wing of the Scholz party demands to stop providing Ukraine with weapons and start negotiations with the Russian Federation. For an excellent analysis of the seismic shift that has taken place in Germany since the start of the war, read Wall Street Journal’s Joseph Sternberg’s excellent Op-Ed, entitled “How the Ukraine War is Transforming Germany,” here. Perhaps the left wing of Scholz’s Party should do what my old boarding school dorm prefect once told me, “Homans, it is time to come in out of the rain.”
10:34 Minister of Foreign Affairs: Belgium will provide non-lethal aid for the Ukrainian military for 8 million euros
● This assistance will come through the NATO Trust Fund and will include first aid equipment, including first aid kits, winter clothing, pharmaceuticals, and night vision devices
08:55 : Germany will not supply Ukraine with weapons that can be used to strike Russia.
● The head of the German government noted that the goal of Germany is to prevent Putin from winning the war, “so that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is preserved.” Germany will act so that this war does not turn from a Ukrainian-Russian war into “an entirely different war,” he said.
08:08 Bild: Taiwan transferred 800 Revolver 860 short-range bombers to Ukraine. The drone is capable of carrying up to eight mortar charges and dropping them one by one on command. The range of this UAV is about 20 km, a distance it can cover in 40 minutes when fully loaded
August 25
23:30 Ministry of Internal Affairs: Unknown people covered the monument to the fallen Soviet soldiers with paint in the Lithuanian city of Tytuvenai.
21:33 Bloomberg - Prime Minister of Kosovo: Kosovo will not delay again the decision on the mandatory change of car number plates for Serbs living in the territory of the partially recognized state. It was this that led to the escalation on the border with Serbia.
● According to him, the new decision will enter into force on September 1 - on a "normal, calm day". In the event of another escalation, the police and 3,800 peacekeepers will help to resolve the tense situation.
21:13 'Odesa Journal': The Main Council of the Association of Polish Journalists proposes to try "propagandists of the Kremlin regime" who called for the "demolition" of Odesa and Mykolaiv for crimes against the civilian population of Ukraine.
● "Manipulation, disinformation, and most importantly, incitement of hatred and calls to kill innocent people in an independent country will never be considered journalism, and the centres of Russian propaganda will never become mass media".
21:02 Wall Street Journal: The Pentagon announces that all US efforts in the field of military aid to Ukraine will be combined into a single mission and a person responsible, a 2 or 3 star general, will be appointed to head the American program for training the Ukrainian military and providing assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
21:00 Spiegel: The head of the European People's Party (the largest faction in the European Parliament) Manfred Weber supported the ban on issuing tourist visas for citizens of the Russian Federation.
● "It's hard for me to imagine that we have refugees from Ukraine and Russians enjoying life here at the same time", – Weber says.
20:46 Press secretary of the White House: Biden confirmed the continuation of US support for Ukraine in a telephone conversation with Zelensky.
19:56 Forbes: The US plans to convince Cyprus to give its old air defense systems to the Ukrainian army, after the purchase of "Iron Dome" from Israel.
● Currently, the air defense structure of Cyprus consists of short-range 9K330 "Tor" and medium-range 9K37 "Buk".
● To replace these systems, Nicosia plans to purchase the Iron Dome air defense system from Israel. For this, the US must approve this decision since it embargoed the sale of arms to Cyprus more than 35 years ago.
19:41 CBC News: The aviation unit of the Canadian Forces in the Middle East, which supported anti-terrorist operations and UN peacekeeping missions in Africa, is being redeployed to Great Britain to support Ukraine.
● Canada's Department of National Defense has called the redeployment of two C-130J transport aircraft and their associated ground support crew necessary considering ongoing efforts to supply Ukraine with weapons and ammunition.
19:39 US Deputy Secretary of State: The United States and Russia may resume negotiations on conducting inspections within the framework of the Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty (ARM),.
● "I think we all realize that discussions between the US and Russia about the next steps in relation to the SNO-III treaty are not happening right now because of the situation we're dealing with. And these talks will continue in the future when the situation is for that's right", – Jenkins says.
19:33 Bloomberg: Electricity prices in Germany and France are breaking records.
● Thus, the cost of electricity in Germany increased by 13% to 725 euros per megawatt-hour. French electricity rose 12% to €880 over the same period, roughly 10 times the year-ago level.
● The newspaper reports that the increase in tariffs is caused by a reduction in gas supplies from Russia, which leads to an increase in the price of gas used by EU power plants.
21:07 UN Secretary General: "All parties to the conflict in Ukraine must ensure the safety of the civilian population and infrastructure.
19:07 US Deputy Secretary of State: Russia's actions at the Zaporizhzhia NPP create the risk of a nuclear incident and radiation leak, which may pose a danger not only to Ukraine, but also to neighboring countries and the entire international community. The only way to solve this problem is to return control over the ZNPP to Ukraine and withdraw the Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine.
19:00 London ICE exchange: Gas prices in Europe exceeded $3,300 per thousand cubic meters for the first time since March 7.
● According to its data, the cost of September futures at the TTF hub in the Netherlands increased to $3,313 per thousand cubic meters, or €321 per megawatt-hour.
18:54 Bloomberg: The Czech side will offer an alternative to a complete visa ban for citizens of the Russian Federation at the meeting of foreign ministers of the European Union.
● According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Jan Lipavsky, will propose to completely suspend the simplified visa regime with Russia and Belarus. This will be discussed at a meeting in Prague next week.
● This step does not involve a visa ban for Russian tourists, which is insisted on, for example, by Estonia and other countries. But it will increase visa processing time, require more documentation and raise costs from 35 to 80 euros.
18:08: A monument to the Soviet army was also decommunized in the Polish city of Brzeg.
18:02 : A monument to Soviet liberators, which is perceived by many as a symbol of the occupation of Latvia by the Soviet Union, was decommunized in Riga.
17:46 Estonian Foreign Ministry: Estonia will increase efforts to isolate Russia, in particular its exclusion from international organizations.
16:40 Bild: Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, visited Ukrainian troops at a training site in Germany and promised more weapons.
14:10 El Pais and Infodefense: Spain is preparing a new aid package for Ukraine. It will include:
● 20 armored vehicles;
● a full battery of anti-aircraft defense;
● 75 pallets with ammunition for field artillery;
● 1,000 tons of diesel worth approximately 2.5 million euros;
● armored vehicles;
● 30 thousand units of military uniform for the winter.
● Spain will train the Ukrainian military in the operation of the anti-aircraft battery, and will also conduct training for the personnel of the Air Force of Ukraine.
NATIONAL
August 26
11:43: The Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced that there are currently 3 carriers of Russian "Caliber" cruise missiles on combat duty in the Black Sea, the total salvo is 18 missiles. There are 5 "Caliber" cruise missile carriers in the Mediterranean Sea.
10:09: On Independence Day, the Ukrainian military shot down the Russian Federation KA-52 Alligator helicopter for $16 million.
09:14 Minister of Foreign Affairs: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Apostolic Nuncio because of the Pope's reaction to Dugina's death.
● "Visvaldas Kulbokas was informed that Ukraine is deeply disappointed by the pontiff's words, which unfairly equate the aggressor and the victim. At the same time, the decision of Pope Francis to mention in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war the death of a Russian citizen on the territory of Russia, with which Ukraine has nothing to do, causes misunderstanding".
07:45 Operational report of the General Staff of the AFU:
● In the Bakhmut direction, near Soledar, Bakhmut and Kodema, the Russians conducted an offensive but had no success.
● In the Donetsk direction, the Russians do not abandon attempts to conduct assault and offensive actions. They continue to focus their efforts on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions.
● In the Sloviansk direction, the Russians were fighting to hold the previously occupied frontiers and prevent the advance of units of the Defense Forces.
● They continued to shell from tanks, barrel artillery and MLSR near Nortsivka, Dmytrivka, Dolyna, Mazanivka and Bohorodnyche.
07:41 Institute for the Study of War:
● Russia is responsible for the kinetic attacks on and around the seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, although it tries to blame Ukraine.
● The Russian Federation has militarized the nuclear plant, although the nuclear power plant is far from the front line.
● The Russians’ failure to provide unequivocal evidence of the extensive shelling they accuse Ukraine of conducting is more noteworthy, however, because Russia controls the ground and could provide more conclusive evidence far more easily than Ukraine could.
● Putin remains determined to avoid full mobilization.
● Analysts are skeptical about attracting 2,04 million men to the Russian Armed Forces.
● Since it had only about 850,000 active-duty military personnel in 2022 before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, for example, well shy of its nominal end strength target of over one million.
● Russia may use the fall conscription cycle in October 2022, which should bring in about 130,000 men, to replenish Russian losses.
07:17 Operational Command “Pivden” (South): The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed two ammunition depots, one base and two command posts of the Russian Federation.
● Ukrainian aviation has struck the Russians in Arkhanhelsk and Burkhanivka and their air defence in Kherson, Novovoskresenske and Chkalovo.
● Stormy weather in the Black Sea forced the Russians to reduce the number of launchers to surface and underwater ones. The number of cruise missiles "Calibr" has also decreased to 12, but the threat of strikes against Ukrainian cities remains.
● Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian military destroyed 20 Russian invaders, two ammunition depots, and a communication center of the 98th Guards Airborne Division of the Russian army.
00:24 President's Office: There is no point to expect a significant facilitation of the departure of men abroad.
● "All sailors and "salaried workers" should not expect special concessions until the end of the war - we need all of them here for economic and military defense.
● There will be some concessions for certain categories, the trend will continue, but it will not be as broad as everyone expects", – he says.
00:12 People's deputy of Ukraine: Since the beginning of the war, more than 10,000 displaced persons have found work under the state program.
● According to him, a little more than half of the funds allocated for the program were used – 110 million hryvnias (about $2.98 million).
● There were 10,716 immigrants who got a job under this program, of which 1,750 were added in the last month.
● "Employers are not in a hurry. Only 6,437 applied for compensation. Approximately +1,080 employers were added during the month", – the report says.
August 25
23:47 President's Office: "From June 28 to August 23, the Armed Forces destroyed 154 munitions warehouses, 91 weapons and military equipment storage bases, 4 barracks with personnel, 4 oil depots, 8 command posts and 5 higher-level headquarters".
18:35 Operational information from the General Staff of the Armed Forces:
● In the Kharkiv direction, the Russian troops made an unsuccessful attempt to attack near Petrivka, suffered losses and retreated. They support the high intensity of UAV reconnaissance.
● In the Kramatorsk direction, the areas of Spirne, Zvanivka, Siversk and Pryshyb were shelled by the Russian Federation. The Russians made an attempt to improve their tactical position near Staryi Karavan, but were unsuccessful and retreated.
● The Russian troops tried to advance near Kodema and Bakhmutske with offensive and assault actions, they suffered losses and retreated.
● They tried to carry out combat reconnaissance around the settlement of Blahodatne, suffered losses and retreated. The attempted offensive of the Russian Federation in the Tavriiskyi district under the fire of Ukrainian soldiers failed and the Russians retreated.
17:34 Minister of Health: Some of the hospitals in the temporarily occupied territory (in particular, the Kherson and part of the Zaporizhzhia regions) were left without power supply due to the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
17:20 : Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov believes that all civil servants, including elected officials, must undergo military training before starting work.
● The Minister believes it is necessary to analyze all spheres of life in Ukraine and find out which professions should be prepared for defense.
● He even came up with a term for the process: "clever militarization”. He asked not to confuse it with militarization in Russia, because "militarization in Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, and militarization in Russia and North Korea are fundamentally different".
15:16 Air Force Command of the AFU: Russia has pulled about 400 combat aircraft and 360 helicopters to the borders with Ukraine, of which more than 150 are attack aircraft.
15:08 : The SBU neutralized a Russian intelligence network, which in the first days of the war coordinated the offensive of Russian troops on Kyiv.
● The participants of the group were Kyiv residents aged 35-45. The "main manager" was a woman from Kyiv who was recruited by the special services of the Russian Federation during trips to Russia.
14:02 Prosecutor General's Office: The court handed over UAH 300 million of seized funds of PJSC "All-Ukrainian Development Bank" of the fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych's son. The son in question, Oleksandr Yanukovich, went from a dental student in 2010, at the time of his Father’s inauguration as President of Ukraine, to being worth over $200 million in 2014 at the time of his Father’s removal because of the Revolution of Dignity. I was told by someone who at the time worked for the Kyiv office of one of the “Big 4” accounting firms, that the Kyiv offices of all the “Big 4” accounting firms were falling over themselves, to obtain audit engagements with businesses owned or controlled by Oleksandr Yanukovich, all of which had been stolen. He needed “Big 4” audits, to make it all look legitimate, and the Big 4 firms seemed all too willing to accommodate him.
13:57 SBU (State Intelligence - ed.): The SBU laid treason charges against five former law enforcement officers of the Kharkiv region, who cooperate with the Russians in the temporarily occupied territories.
● All five traitors were notified of suspicion of treason committed under martial law (Part 2, Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
12:42 Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: On the Independence Day of Ukraine, Russian combat aircraft made approximately 200 sorties.
● That's why there were so many air alarms, as Russia did a lot of "simulated missile launches". Planes took off, made maneuvers in the air, simulating an impact - in Ukraine, an air alarm was activated. A total of 8 Kh-22 missiles flew over the regions.
● The command stated that the Russians' plan was to "give nightmares" to Ukrainians and keep them in suspense on Independence Day."
MORDOR (Russia)
August 26
08:52 : "The Ukrainian language has become the image of Russophobia", - Mikhalkov openly discusses why the Ukrainian language should be eradicated
08:50 Reuters: The Russians have created 21 filtration camps in the occupied territories
● Russia, involving soldiers from the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions, has set up 21 filtration camps in the occupied territories in Ukraine, which it uses to detain and interrogate Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians. A whole filtration system has been created to "sort" people in areas of occupation like fascist.
August 25
17:08 WSJ: Citigroup Inc. will wind down its Russian consumer bank – Finally!!!!
● The company says it will begin phasing out retail and commercial customer service operations in the current quarter. Citi will close 15 branches and reduce approximately 2,300 employees.
16:51 Bloomberg: Russian coal exports were effectively halted by European Union sanctions.
● The agency found that Suek JSC, Russia’s largest thermal coal miner, was unable to ship the fuel since mid-August.
16:35 Reuters : On August 27, Belarus will hold military training for reservists and conscripts.
16:20 : FSB of the Russian Federation announces the detention of a "supporter" of the "Azov" regiment, who is planning terrorist attacks in the Kaliningrad region.
● The FSB claims the Russian citizen, planned to organize an attack on the facilities of the Baltic Fleet and at the airport "Khrabrovo" in the Kaliningrad region. At home, the detainee was found to have a bomb with a capacity of about five kilograms of TNT, propaganda literature and the symbols of the "Azov" regiment.
15:29 : Hackers congratulated the residents of occupied Crimea and Donetsk, as well as some Russian cities, on the Independence Day of Ukraine.
● The network published a video of how surveillance cameras with built-in speakers performed the national anthem of Ukraine and Ukrainian songs in unison.
15:01 : Putin issued a decree to increase the number of personnel of the Armed Forces of Russia from 1.9 million to 2.04 million people from January 1, 2023.
13:48 Reuters: Putin hopes that his so-called "special operation" in Ukraine will be saved by a cold winter. The harsh winter climate has already helped Russia achieve military goals - for example, during the war with Napoleon or in the confrontation with Hitler.
● Now the bloody dictator is counting on expensive electricity and a lack of resources this winter to force the EU to pressure Ukraine to conclude a truce with the Russian Federation on terms favorable to the Kremlin.
● This strategy was confirmed to Reuters by two anonymous Kremlin sources who also said it would be difficult for Russia to continue the war beyond the winter.
● On early March 2006, during a driving blizzard, I went to a “Spring Festival” at Pyrogovo, a theme park outside of Kyiv. No matter – people were out having picnics and taking rides in troikas. Based on this experience, I’m convinced that Ukraine has its own “General Winter,” and he or she outranks Russia’s. I’m sorry I couldn’t find any pictures of Pyrogovo in the Winter.
KHARKIV
August 26
11:34 : Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov fired the director of the Department of Land Management "for behavior incompatible in wartime with the status of a person in the civil service".
● "This will happen to anyone who allows himself something like this," - Terekhov said. We will remind the official rests abroad and share joyful photos from there."
09:43 Regional Prosecutor's Office: As a result of a night rocket attack by the Russian Armed Forces on the city of Derhachi, civilians were injured.
● Previously, the Russians hit the city with missiles of the S-300 type from the territory of the Bilgorod region of the Russian Federation.
09:20 RMA: At night, a rocket attack was carried out on the city of Chuhuiv, an infrastructure object was damaged. Previously, there were no casualties.
● The Russians also attacked the town of Derhach, destroying an educational institution. Unfortunately, a 50-year-old woman died, a 59-year-old man was injured.
LUHANSK
August 26
09:54 RMA: Over the past night, the Russians fired 4 artillery shells, 8 rocket launchers were used, and another 8 were mortars
● On August 25, the Russians carried out airstrikes near four populated areas. Attacks of the Russian Federation were repeatedly repelled from four directions.
● In the occupied territories, Russians pay for attending school. However, even among those who remained, not all of them want to study according to the program of the Russian Federation.
● But 10 thousand rubles in the absence of work play their role. They also encourage the population to attend a pseudo-referendum, the military to identify parents who can be mobilized. And it should not be forgotten that eleventh-graders will soon be of conscription age. Support for the war is decreasing - people are not going to fight.
DONETSK
August 26
11:25 National Police: As a result of Russian strikes, 10 settlements of Donetsk region were affected, 2 civilians died, 6 more people were injured.
● The Russian army attacked the cities of Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, Siversk, Krasnohorivka, Avdiivka, the villages of Zelenopillia, Andriivka, Kurdyumivka, Katerynivka, Maksimilianivka.
10:20 : In Donetsk, local residents are independently "clearing" the petal mines that were scattered by the Russians.
08:32 RMA: On August 25, Russians killed two civilians in Donbas: in Siversk and Zelenopillia. Six people were injured.09:05
● The Chemical-Mechanical College in Sloviansk and Mykolaiv Secondary School were shelled yesterday.
August 25
19:23 : On the night of August 24, the fighters of the 503rd separate battalion of marines covered several kilometers and came close to the Russians, where they raised the flag of the marines on the administrative building of the former mine destroyed by the Russians.
19:18 : Local residents publish a video on social networks of the fire at the 'Styrol' plant after shelling in the occupied city of Horlivka, the Donetsk region.
● It is reported that the transformer substation and the roof of the administrative building are on fire.
17:04 Fontanka: The authorities of Saint Petersburg will establish an illuminated monument to Alexander Nevsky in temporarily occupied Mariupol.
● In addition to the monument, Petersburg specialists want to build a drama theatre in the city and restore the Park of the Victory, hotel and residential buildings. Also, by September 1, they are going to complete three schools and three kindergartens in the city.
16:49 Deputy prime minister: The evacuation of residents from the Donetsk region was stopped due to the Russian strike on the Chaplyne Station in the Donetsk region.
● According to her, it is unknown how long the repair of the railway will continue and how long the evacuation trains will not be able to take people out of the Donetsk region.
● The damage is still being repaired. In total, as of today, 10,554 people were evacuated from Donetsk region, including 2,181 children.
16:00 Mass media: In temporarily occupied Mariupol, the fire in the Eastern neighborhood and at the "Satellite" plant is not abating.
● The so-called Ministry of Emergency Situations says that there is no water to extinguish fires. The fire began to approach the houses. As a result, the house at 90 Zhukova Street and school No. 69 have already been damaged. People complain about a lot of smoke.
12:36 City Council: Mariupol residents are forced to leave the city for basic medical services, the Mariupol .
● "In order to simply submit samples for medical tests, one has to go through the "circles of hell". People are no longer just sent from one medical facility to another, but to another settlement," the city council emphasizes.
ZAPORIZHYA
August 26
09:32 Energoatom: All power units of the Zaporizhzhia NPP are disconnected from the power grid,
● The station's own needs for power supply are currently provided through a repaired line from the energy system of Ukraine.
● There are no comments on the operation of equipment and security systems.
August 25
22:23 : The head of the Nikopol District Military Administration, Yevhen Yevtushenko, warns the residents of the settlements located on the banks of the Kakhovske Reservoir about the threat of Russian shelling.
21:39 IAEA : The connection to the energy system of Ukraine at the Zaporizhzhia NPP has been restored, but six power units remain disconnected.
21:24 CNN : Satellite images from Planet Labs and the European Space Agency showing fires and smoke in the vicinity of the Zaporizhya NPP.
● Three images taken on August 24 at 10:39, 11:30 and 11:35 a.m. local time (GMT+3) show the fire growing south of the station and smoke rising from an ash tray to the north.
19:11 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in the temporarily occupied Enerhodar of the Zaporizhya region.
18:27 RMA: The local authorities of Zaporizhya held a meeting regarding evacuation preparations in case of an explosion at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Details related to the organization of public notification and collection points in the event of evacuation were discussed.
● According to the head of the region Oleksandr Starukh, a system of urgent notification of the population about the procedure and specific type of danger has already been developed using available methods and on all available information resources.
● Several plans designed for temporarily occupied and controlled territories have also been developed. This allows you to calculate all the possibilities and obstacles for the evacuation of civilians.
16:55 Energoatom: For the first time in history, there was a complete disconnection of the Zaporizhya NPP from the power grid.
● The fourth line of communication between the Zaporizhzhia Power Plant and Ukraine's power system was shut down twice due to fires in the ash dumps of the plant. Three other lines of communication were previously damaged.
● The start-up operations to connect one of the power units to the grid are underway.
16:46 Bloomberg : The IAEA plans to agree to visit the Zaporizhzhia NPP by September 5.
● Members of the mission will also include security experts who are not normally involved in such visits. Both nuclear specialists and safety and security specialists are planning to come to the station.
16:03 Zaporizhya RMA: The Russians staged another massive shelling in the city of Orihiv and surrounding settlements.
● A 17-year-old boy died because of the shelling. He was seriously injured and died on the way to the hospital. Another 66-year-old woman from the village of Preobrazhenka was seriously injured. Dozens of private houses were destroyed.
14:33 Mayor: Thanks to the workers of communal enterprises and specialists of the Zaporizhzhіa NPP, the restoration of electricity supply has begun in Energodar.
● "After the completion of this process, the connection of the sewage pumping station will begin. And the next step will be the restoration of wells at the drinking water intake," he noted.
13:41 Nikopol RMA: More than 150 Russians were destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the banks of the Energodar.
● According to his data, several enemy firing positions, 2 officers, howitzers and an anti-tank rifle were destroyed.
● At the same time, the number of wounded is even greater than the number of those killed.
13:25 Mayor of Melitopol: Today, the Russians turned off the electricity in almost all captured settlements of the Zaporizhia region.
● And this means that the civilian population is left not only without electricity, but also without water. Communication is also almost blocked. There has been no gas for a month.
● Tonight, resistance forces blew up the headquarters of the Russians in the village of Pryazovske, Melitopol district.
● According to him, it was there that Russians prepared for the "voting" and issued Russian passports.
12:03 British intelligence.: The Russians are placing military equipment 60 meters from the reactor at the ZANP
● New satellite images from August 21 showed that Russia deployed armored personnel carriers 60 meters from reactor No. 5. Russian troops tried to hide their vehicles by parking them under suspended pipes and metal structures.
DNIPRO
August 26
08:35 RMA: The Russian army shelled the Nikopol district from Grad MRL and heavy artillery 5 times a night.
● Five shells from Grad MRL were fired at Marhanets community, and ten shells from heavy artillery were fired at Chervonohruhorivka territorial community. - No casualties.
● there was a rocket attack on two communities in the Synelnykove district.
● The enemy hit the Zelenodolsk and Shyroke communities in the Kryvyi Rih district. There is destruction, no casualties.
August 25
23:12 Kirovohrad District Military Administration: Instructed law enforcement agencies and local self-government bodies to check access to shelters.
● "Those who don't understand - order will be strictly enforced. If they don't listen to me, we will cut the locks with a grinder. And I don't care who is the owner if people can't get to the shelter. There will be criminal cases, but people will have the opportunity to go to the shelters", – he says during the evening briefing.
● Around two o'clock in the morning (GMT+3), the Russians attacked the Metalurhiinyi district of Kryvyi Rih with a 'Tornado-S' surface-to-air missile.
● A residential building, the Ice Arena, administrative buildings, and vehicles were damaged.
● Also, as a result of the night shelling, one of the traction substations of the high-speed tram on "Kiltseva" was de-energized, but thanks to the promptly carried out works, the power supply was restored by 4 o'clock in the morning.
13:26 : The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation officially took responsibility for the the terrorist rocket attack in Chaplyny in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
● The Russian version was that they allegedly destroyed "200 Ukrainian servicemen".
● In fact, 25 civilians were killed, including 6- and 11-year-old children.
KHERSON
August 26
09:10 AFU: The Russians' attempts to "replace" bridges in the Kherson region are under fire control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
● The Russians are trying to set up new transport arteries in the Kherson region. They pull up barges, pontoons, try to establish ferry crossings there.
● According to Denys, ferries are loaded with civilian traffic along the sides and military equipment in the middle. It’s another example of Russia’s use of “human shields.”
August 25
22:53 National Police: Russian soldiers continue to settle in abandoned homes in Kherson.
● There have been recorded cases of arbitrarily seizing homes of Kherson residents on Molodizhna and Medova streets.
18:30 National Police: The Russian military abducted a couple for their pro-Ukrainian position in the village of Nova Maiachka, the Kherson region, and a local resident in Kherson.
15:38 Social network video: In the temporarily occupied Kherson Region, the Russians are pulling barges under the Antoniv bridge. They are putting them in one line, trying to make an alternative crossing.
15:03 Operational command Pivden "South": On the morning of August 25, the Armed Forces of Ukraine once again struck the Antoniv bridge in the Kherson region.
MYKOLAIV
August 26
10:06 RMA : On the night of August 26, around 03:30, there were explosions in Mykolaiv. The information is being clarified.
● The villages of Luparevo, Shyroke, and Chervona Dolyna were also shelled during the day. Shelling of the territory and nearby settlements of the Berezneguvat community continues. No casualties
August 25
21:52 AP: Six months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian goods continue to arrive in the United States. Moscow earns more than 1 billion dollars from trade every month.
● According to AP, Russia has delivered more than 3,600 shipments of wood, metals, rubber, and other goods to the United States over the past six months. However, this is a significant decrease from the same period in 2021, when there were around 6,000 deliveries.
22:03 PETA Deutschland: The PETA organization, which fights for animal rights, saved the dogs that were in the Mykolaiv shelter when it was hit by Russian shelling.
Animal rights activists note that the animals were quite weak and frightened by the sounds of constant explosions.
14:57 : A forest is burning in the village of Andriivka in the Mykolaiv Oblast. The strong wind makes extinguishing the fire difficult, local media reports.
● It is known in advance that a fire broke out in one of the houses due to a short circuit, which spread to the territory of the forest.
● Firefighters and local residents are extinguishing the fire. The strong wind prevents the fire from being extinguished quickly.
OTHER REGIONS
August 26
10:45 RMA: The night passed quietly in Sumy region, but in the morning the Russians began shelling the communities of the region.
● In the morning, the Russians fired from a grenade launcher on the territory of the Bilopol community. 5 arrivals were recorded.
● They also hit the Velykopysariv community with mortars (6 hits) and "Grad" (40 hits). Now there is also unrest in the Shalyginsk community.
August 25
23:54 Sumy RMA: During the day, the Russians released more than 100 different types of ammunition from their territories into the communities of the region.
● The territories of Shalyhyne, Khotin, Seredyna-Buda, Bilopillia, Velykopysarivka communities were fired upon.
● The houses and farm buildings were destroyed. There were no casualties among the civilian population.
23:01 Ternopil RMA: Almost 5,000 believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate go to the Pochaiv Lavra in the Ternopil region despite the ban and the threat of missile attacks.
● They tried to stop the movement in some cities, but the believers broke through. The leadership of the region regards this as a provocation because the church hierarchs did not bless this move.
17:00 Odesa RMA: A dust storm covered the Odesa region.
● "Our environmentalists say there is nothing terrible. Of course, such unconventional, rare phenomenon occur, however, it is dust that carries from the respective territories of our planet,".
15:52 Sumy RMA: As a result of one of the shellings of the Velykopysariv community from the territory of the Russian Federation, the houses of civilians and commercial buildings caught fire.
13:03 Kyiv RMA: Commented on the explosions in Buchansk and Vyshgorod districts :
● Disposal of the remains of explosive objects is ongoing. The measures are related to the elimination of the consequences of night shelling. Therefore, the explosions are controlled and do not pose a threat to people.
12:37 National Police: In Vinnytsia, four objects of civilian infrastructure are being checked for landmines - several shopping centers and a railway station.
Comparing Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to Russian invasion of Ukraine using Wikipedia and Ukraine Ministry of Defense Daily Bulletins. Soviet and Russian military losses not including captured equipment.
SOURCES
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/
https://euromaidanpress.com/
https://invite.viber.com/?g2=AQBD3wxTrZ6XUU7IdXeHUfjVCydekezQCCGuwYnT6qPd1r7n1aVbFIewa6ng6Lis