Ukraine Summer Offensive Update for Aug 31 (Europe Edition): ‘Opening the Way to Crimea’

An updated version of this article is avaialable here.

Overview

·      Foreign Minister says Robotyne breakthrough will lead to Crimean recapture

·      Pro-Ukrainian Russian group claims responsibility for earlier drone attacks in Kursk

·      Wagner Group tells troops to “look for work elsewhere”

·      Ukrainian forces slowly advance southward from Bakhmut

·      Fighting continues near the city of Donetsk, but no territory gains or losses

·      Russians set up barges in Kerch Strait to combat drone attacks

·      See footage of Ukrainian recon group behind enemy lines in the Dnipropetrovsk region

Foreign Ministry: Success in Robotyne opens doors to Crimea

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday that liberating the village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region this week was a strategic victory, paving the way for its forces to push southward towards Crimea.

The comments came as Kyiv announced two people had been killed in the “most powerful” aerial attack on the capital in weeks, just days after the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) announced they had pushed through key Russian lines with the capture of Robotyne this week.

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“Having entrenched on the flanks of Robotyne, we are opening the way to Tokmak and, eventually, Melitopol and the administrative border with Crimea,” Kuleba had said earlier, Agence France Presse reported.

Anti-Putin Russian guerillas claim responsibility for drone strike in Kursk region

The Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) guerilla group claimed responsibility on Telegram for a weekend drone on the Russian region of Kursk, saying that it worked in tandem with the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).

“Another maximally successful attack [was] carried out jointly with SBU military counterintelligence in the Kursk region,” the RDK said in its post. “Without hindrance, again passing through a porous border, on the night of Aug. 27, we hit a military facility with drones: an airfield with Putin’s vultures.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed it had destroyed the drones. The RDK has disputed this and accused both the Russian MoD and the Kursk governor of covering up that their own stray air defense missile hit a residential high-rise building.

Russians using barges to defend occupied Crimean shores

Aerial photography suggests the Russians are using barges by the bridge to Crimea to secure the Kerch Strait Bridge against maritime threats.

Satellite imagery dated August 29 and 30 shows that Russian forces have sunk barges presumably to prevent maritime drones from striking boats near the bridge or the bridge itself.

Operations – Bakhmut

Ukrainian military officials reported that Ukrainian forces are gradually advancing on Bakhmut’s southern flank. Colonel General Oleksandr Syrsky reported that Ukrainian forces are slowly repelling Russian counterattacks, with the most intense engagements near Bakhmut, Kurdyumivka (12 km southwest of Bakhmut), Yahidne (directly north of Bakhmut), and Andriivka (9 km southwest of Bakhmut).

Operations – Dnipropetrovsk Region

Ukrainian light infantry, most likely reconnaissance elements, infiltrated east of Russian field fortifications near Verbove. Footage published on Wednesday shows Ukrainian infantry on the northwestern outskirts of Verbove, suggesting that Russian defenses are weakening there.

The footage, however, does not indicate that Ukrainian forces established control over the area at this time, and Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces have not yet breached the defensive line around Verbove.

Operations – Zaporizhzhia Region

The Ukrainian General Staff reported on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces made successful advances on the Novodanylivka-Novopokropivka (4-15 km south of Orikhiv) and Mala Tokmachka-Verbove (7-18 km southeast of Orikhiv) lines. Footage published earlier in the week shows that Ukrainian forces marginally advanced south of Klishchiivka (6 km southwest of Bakhmut).

A Kremlin-affiliated milblogger conceded that Ukrainian forces advanced in the direction of Volodyne (13 km south of Velyka Novosilka) on the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia regional border and that Russian forces had to retreat from several heights in the area.

Operations – Donetsk and other regions

Russian forces continued attacks on the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line but did not make new territorial gains on Wednesday. A Kremlin-affiliated milblogger claimed that Russian forces resumed assaults on Marinka (directly west of Donetsk City), while he Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continued to repel Russian attacks on Marinka.

Yesterday’s Ukrainian General Staff post for day 553 of Russia’s full-scale invasion on its Facbook page shows recon group behind enemy lines in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Wagner prohibits its mercenaries from joining in invasion

The Russian MoD is reportedly banning Wagner Group soldiers from fighting in Ukraine. Media outlets obtained an audio message in which a Wagner representative encourages Wagner mercenaries to look for different work because Russia is not allowing Wagner forces to fight in Ukraine, citing recent events.