Daily Briefing From Ukraine

Headlines

1.     Ukraine claimed to have hit and damaged two key bridges in occupied Crimea. The Chonhar and Henichesk road bridges, which are used by the Russian army as communication and logistics routes, were damaged, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). TASS released the below image of the Chonhar bridge, and Russian sources said that Storm Shadow missiles were used.

2. Russia attacked Ukraine with one of its largest cruise missile and Shahed drone attacks. Ukrainian Air Defense Forces said they destroyed 13 incoming Kalibr cruise missiles, 17 Kh-101/Kh-555 and 27 Shahed-136/131 combat drones. In total, the Russians used 70 projectiles in the air attack, according to Ukrainian military officials. The Russian military claimed to have struck Ukrainian military airbases around the settlements of Starokostiantyniv in the Khmelnytsky region and Dubno in the Rivne region.

3.     A website with the details of all Moscow property owners was hacked by pro-Ukraine operatives. As reported by Astra Telegram channel, the following message was then left on the Moscow City Bureau of Technical Inventory site: “We have all the data on the places of residence and property of the inhabitants of the capital of the damned aggressor country, which unleashed an invasion on a peaceful state. Information about civil servants, politicians, military and intelligence officials who support the war on Ukraine has been transferred to the Ukrainian Defense Forces.”

Other Topics of Interest

Zaporizhzhia Under Threat? Ukraine Braces for Imminent Russian Assault in Region

Ukrainian military analysts suggest that the Russians likely see Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House as a game-changer and will escalate in the Zaporizhzhia sector to apply pressure.

4.     China took an active part in Ukraine-organized peace talks in Saudia Arabia and sent a "positive" signal about holding similar meetings in the future, Spiegel reported. With more than 30 countries participating, the purpose of the meeting in Jeddah was to consolidate various peace plans, such as those of China, Africa and Brazil, with the “peace formula” of Ukraine, AFP reported. An agreement was reached on the main points of a peaceful solution, such as the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

5.     Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said that it did not support a post-warn ban on international travel by Ukrainian men. It made the clarification after a former advisor called for a three-year ban.

6.     A former People’s Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada died fighting in Ukraine’s defense. Serhiy Slabenko, a former Ukrainian national parliamentarian, died in the Zaporizhzhia region on August 4, it was announced. He served as an MP from 2002 and 2006 and was 57 years old.

7.     Almost a third of Americans would support sending US troops to war in Ukraine, according to a survey reported on by Voice of America. A quarter of respondents would not support such an idea, but they do not oppose it either. 34 percent were against. Almost every tenth respondent did not know what to answer.

President Zelensky’s Message

Ukraine Summer Offensive Summary

Snapshot

Ukraine and Russia traded blows using missiles and airstrikes with the former hitting bridges in occupied and the latter hitting airbases in western Ukraine.

General Developments

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said that “for the enemy, the eastern front remains the epicenter of hostilities. These are the strategic priorities of his offensive. The enemy believes that by striking in the East, they will be able to turn the tide of the situation at the front. Therefore, the greatest efforts are currently being made precisely in the East.”

Prior to Saturday’s attack, during the past week, Russian forces used 65 missiles of various types, as well as 178 attack drones, of which 87 were Iranian-provided Shahed, against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky in his nightly address.

Ukrainian officials stated that Ukrainian air defenses have destroyed 3,500 aerial targets since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, ISW reported. Ukrainian Air Force Command Spokesperson Colonel Yuriy Ihnat stated on August 6 that Ukrainian air defenses have intercepted and destroyed 3,500 aerial targets, including 350 Russian fixed and rotary wing aircraft, 1,200 cruise missiles, including 13 hypersonic Russian Kinzhal Kh-47M2 missiles, and 24 ballistic missiles.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces launched 30 missiles 52 airstrikes, and 75 attacks from MLRS rocket systems, according to Ukraine’s General Staff report.

Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian air defense forces have flown 14 airstrikes, according to the General Staff.

Over the past 24 hours, 129 Ukrainian population settlements and 81 infrastructure objects across 11 regions were attacked from various types of weapons, including artillery shelling and mortar fire, according to the General Staff.

Russia plans to produce about 18,000 large and medium-sized drones in 2024, said its first vice-premier, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Also, according to the Pentagon, the Russians have completed the construction of a factory to produce Shaheds and will fully launch it in 2024.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defenses had destroyed a drone nearing the capital yesterday.

Operational Aspects on the Northern Front

“Yesterday and today, our troops are completely repelling enemy attacks in the Kupyansk, Lyman and Svativsk axes. The number of enemy shelling has increased. Heavy fighting is going on. The enemy’s goal is to draw our forces away from the offensive area and break through our defenses in these sectors,” Malyar said.

Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces had taken “full control of Novoselivske” near Svativsk but this was unconfirmed.

In the Kharkiv region, a 58-year-old woman was killed as a result of shelling in the village of Podoly near Kupyansk.

Operational Aspects on the Eastern Front

“The enemy is trying to stubbornly push, even break us psychologically, using the most modern types of weapons, taking advantage of technological superiority,” a prominent pro-Russian milblogger wrote about fighting around Bakhmut.

Malyar said the following: “The situation in the Bakhmut direction is also difficult. On the southern flank, our troops are gradually going through heavy artillery fire and mine fields but continue to move forward. The enemy is attacking on the northern flank – we are repelling the attacks. Here, too, the enemy wants to regain lost positions.”

ISW reported that Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR) Head Major General Kyrylo Budanov stated in an interview published on August 5 that Ukrainian forces are advancing faster around Bakhmut than in southern Ukraine. Budanov also stated that Russian forces have built stationary, fully equipped, concrete-filled defense posts in southern Ukraine, making the Ukrainian offensive there difficult.

Two people were killed and two others injured in Russian attacks against the Donetsk region over the past 24 hours, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported.

Operational Aspects on the Southern Front

In terms of Ukraine’s destruction of bridges in Crimea, ISW said: “Ukrainian strikes on bridges along critical Russian ‘ground lines of communication’ are a part of the Ukrainian interdiction campaign focused on setting conditions for future decisive counteroffensive operations.”

In the Zaporizhzhia-Donetsk regional border area, Ukrainian troops managed to advance near Staromaiorske, according to a prominent pro-Russian milblogger.

In the western Zaporizhzhia area, pro-Russian milbloggers said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine continued attacks near the village of Robotyne.

Malyar said: “The enemy is fiercely resisting. In addition to continuous mining, the enemy equipped protected concrete engineering fortifications on key commanding heights. In such difficult conditions, our troops are moving forward gradually, but very persistently.”

On the Donetsk front, the Russian Armed Forces again conducted assault operations in Maryinka and Pervomaisk, according to pro-Russian milbloggers.

Pro-Russian milbloggers again reported firefights on islands along the Dnipro River.

Infographic of the Day