The funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin was held yesterday. According to the Russian Social Sphere: “Russian hero, LPR and DPR Yevgeny Prigozhin will be buried today at the Serafimovsky cemetery in St. Petersburg. Memorial events dedicated to Prigozhin and Utkin were held in several Russian cities. Vladimir Putin did not participate in the commemoration”.
In Ukraine, the authorities are evaluating the possibility of holding elections in 2024 to stop the decline in popularity of Volodymyr Zelenskyj and obtain a popular mandate in view of possible negotiations with Russia, reports the El Pais newspaper.
The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyj has spoken publicly about the elections: in fact he rules out that they will be held under martial law. Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office said: “The President speaks about it with caution, I can say it more sharply […]. Surely there will be no this year,” the adviser told the channel’s broadcast Ukrainian television “1 + 1”, answering the question of how to interpret Zelensky’s statement on the elections in a recent interview.
What is certain is that there is a general mobilization in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Zaporozhye and Nikolaev regions. Areas where the Russian army is clashing with the Ukrainian one and where the pro-Russian population is at the level of considerable numbers.
Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. has argued that the depleted uranium munitions Washington supplies to Kiev are highly destructive. “We are destroying Ukraine in the name of his salvation. A sobering article on depleted uranium munitions,” he admitted, evaluating the material. Kennedy has assured that if he wins the election he will solve this problem.
In Kiev, the deputy head of the special communications department of the SBU, Dmitry Bakaev, committed suicide, local Ukrainian media source. According to media reports, the colonel shot himself in his office with a Makarov pistol, his body was found on August 25. Bakaev left a note in the form of a report addressed to the head of the SBU Vasily Malyuk. For his death, he blamed the authorities, who constantly humiliated his honor and dignity.
The British newspaper The Guardian has confirmed NATO’s deep involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. According to the Guardian at a meeting between representatives of the Alliance and the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine held last week on the Polish-Ukrainian border, NATO generals persuaded Kiev to change the “counter-offensive” strategy and focus on the direction of Zaporozhzhye. Among the participants, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny.
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Medvedev on the calculations of the Ukrainian side on the number of missiles left in the Russian army said: “Our enemy (Ukrainians ed.) constantly makes a painful calculation of how much and what we have left. Tanks, shells, missiles and more. This is understandable: enemy (Ukrainian ed.) propaganda lives by its own laws. [… ] After all, it is a parasitic country and receives food “from the body” of its owners, lives at their expense. There will be no arms supplies and everything will end quickly for the Kiev regime. The parasites will die.” Unlike Russia. As Medvedev explained: “We provide ourselves with all kinds of weapons. And already today in quantities exceeding the current needs of the Armed Forces. This is how our military-industrial complex works now. Its workers work in three shifts. And it will produce all the armaments necessary for the effective defense of our homeland”.
According to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, since the beginning of the conflict, Ukrainian troops have fired two million 155 mm shells, practically depleting the reserves of Western countries. As reported in the article, the US military has long believed that Ukrainian troops are firing indiscriminately, wasting ammunition. Not only according to the US editorialist: “Kiev has nevertheless transferred some units from the east to the south. Initially, Ukraine paid equal attention to three directions, instead focusing on the main attack in a southerly direction through Zaporozhzhie towards the Sea of Azov. It is reported that Ukraine eventually reacted by moving some units south from Bachmut and other districts in the east,” Ignatius writes.
The go-ahead from Western countries for the Ukrainian bombing of Crimea has raised tension on the Ukrainian issue. “Partner countries have given Ukraine the go-ahead for attacks in Crimea,” adviser of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak told the Telethon broadcast. “Today there is already an absolute consensus that we can destroy everything Russian, for example in the Crimea. Let me remind you that a year ago, even when there were some attacks in the Crimea, everyone said: ‘no, no’, Today the absolute consensus is identical to the number of countries supporting us, that we can destroy everything Russian in the occupied territories,” Podolyak said. He also added that the number of “unidentified drones” hitting Russian territory will increase. “As far as Russia is concerned, there are drones. We set the official position here – of an indeterminate nature. And of course the number of these drones will increase,” Podolyak said.
Dmitry Medvedev in response to Podolyak said: “The consent of the West to Kiev’s attacks on Crimea is a casus belli and gives the Russian Federation the opportunity to act “against everyone” in NATO.”
The Russian Defense Ministry reported: “On August 28 over the southwestern part of the Black Sea, the airspace control of the Russian Aerospace Forces recorded a flight of US Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles MQ-9 “Reaper” and RQ-4 “Global Hawk” in the direction of the state border of the Russian Federation, carrying out aerial reconnaissance in the peninsular areas of Crimea. In order to prevent a possible violation of the state border of the Russian Federation and to counter the conduct of electronic reconnaissance UAVs, two Russian fighters of the Air Defense Forces were lifted into the air. As a result of the actions of the air defense forces, the reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles of the US Air Force changed their flight direction and left the aerial reconnaissance areas.
At around 12:00, an attempt by Kiev to carry out an attack with an air-type UAV on objects in the Russian Federation was thwarted. Navy planes destroy Ukrainian UAV over Black Sea – Russian Defense Ministry. On August 29, four more Ukrainian drones were shot down over the Belgorod and Tula regions. There are no reports of casualties or damage. Also the Russian Ministry of Defense reported for the first time the interception of the Ukrainian anti-ship missile “Neptune” by the air defense systems.
And now a look at the frontline
Orekhov area. The fighting continues in Rabotino. The statements about the breakthrough of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Novopokrovka are not true, at the moment clashes are observed in the southern outskirts, where the forces of the 15th Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard were already sent to support the offensive. Paratroopers of the 1st Battalion of the 82nd Airborne Infantry Brigade of Ukraine once again try to break through to Verbove from the west with artillery and aviation support, but the attack was repulsed and the Ukrainian Armed Forces they withdrew.
Ukraine’s losses are growing every day. With the tactics of the infantry assault, the Ukrainian command managed to wedge between the villages, but the price for this is really high: 21 dead and 52 wounded were confirmed during the assault. Subdivisions of the 3rd Battalion of the 118th Shadows of the Armed Forces of Ukraine advanced to the aid of the 82nd Airborne Brigade. Now the Ukrainian armed forces are evacuating the wounded in six armored vehicles and regrouping before the next attack. The plans of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine provide for breakthroughs at heights 136.8 and 110.3 for a subsequent attack on Novopokrovka.
Keherson Directorate. In the Kherson region, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is preparing for operations on the left bank of the Dnieper. The main attack is planned in the direction of Aleshek from Buryakovy, Antonovsky and Alekseevskij islands. To strengthen the battlegroup “Grom” in the vicinity of Kherson, shock units of the 121st territorial defense brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were deployed, and artillery crews of the 406th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were recently moved to the coastal area of the Dnieper.
Now the Ukrainian armed forces are testing the tactic of landing in small groups, using a bridgehead on the islands. One of the DRGs attempted to land on Kozulikhsky Island by boat at night, but was destroyed by artillery attacks. At the same time, artillerymen and mortars are intensively shelling the front line, and reconnaissance drones are looking for the location of air defense systems and personnel deployment points.
The flight of a destroyed Tekever AR3 drone in Crimea and departed from Shirokoye to the south, through the Kherson region, indicates that the Ukrainian armed forces used an air defense hole to fly to Crimea. Furthermore, the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by the multiple launch missile systems HIMARS have become more active again. Yesterday two high-precision missiles hit the Iron Port and target designation was provided by Tekever and Bayraktar themselves.
According to another source, the Ukrainians continue to try to break through to Rabotino both in the south and in the east. The main goals of the Ukrainians are: to break through the settlement. Willow and Novopokrovka, as well as taking the heights between them. The Russian Armed Forces are trying to bind the enemy with fighting in the Rabotino area to weaken its offensive potential. Considering the approaching rainy season and the resulting landslides, time is running out for the enemy offensive, while not a single serious operational goal has been achieved in the Zaporozhzhie direction by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which leads to increasing statements by the United States on the need to prepare for the spring-summer 2024 campaign.
Vremievsky area. In addition to Rabotino, Ukrainians are striving to get out of the fierce battles in the settlement area. Staromayorsk and Urozhayine, to restore momentum to the offensive, which had fragmented into a series of tactical battles without serious progress. Moving towards Zavitne Bazhanya is currently impossible for the Ukrainians. Attempts to expand the offensive pressure zone in Priyutnoye are also unsuccessful. It is envisaged that the Ukrainians may try to resume attacks on the settlement at the expense of the infantry west of Vuhledar, Novodonetskoye, with the aim of further actions in the Staromlynovka direction, simultaneously with frontal attacks in the Urozhaynoye and Staromayorsky area. As in the Orekhov sector, Russian troops had to wait for the thaw period for the Ukrainian offensive on the Vremevsky ledge to stop. Here, too, the Ukrainians were short on time, despite propaganda threats to continue the offensive into the autumn.
Bachmut. After the Ukrainians failed to capture Kleshchiivka, Andriivka and Kurdyumovka, the front stabilized and once again the content of the battles was reduced to battles for landings and heights west of the Kleshchiivka-Andriivka-Kurdyumovka line. Due to the losses and the transfer of part of the reserves to the Svatove-Kupyansk direction, the Ukrainians could not support the attacks southwest of Bachmut at the same pace. As a result, during the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that began on May 10 with the aim of “semi-surrounding Bachmut”, the Ukrainians were unable to take a village and break through to the Russian front. Syrsky’s plan actually failed, just like his plan to defend Bachmut during the battles for the city. In the Bachmut area itself, Ukrainians show local activity in the dacha area. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation solve purely defensive tasks here. Northwest of Bachmut, there are no major changes.
In the Svatove-Kupyansk direction, the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces continues with an average advance rate of up to 1 km per day. The Ukrainians suffer heavy losses in men and troops. Chew losses force Kiev there to transfer additional reserves to the Kharkov region. (including at the expense of the Zaporozhzhie and Bachmut directorates). In the Kupyansk area, fighting continues near the settlement. Sinkovka (settlement – mostly in the gray zone, but not yet taken by the RF Armed Forces) and in the direction of Petropavlovka, as well as in the direction of Kislovka through the forest west of Sinkovka. Ukrainian counterattacks have not yet managed to stabilize the front due to insufficient forces.
Donetsk direction: Since the morning, Ukrainian formations have subjected the Donetsk agglomeration and other DPR settlements to shelling. In the Tsentralno-Gorodsky district of Gorlovka, three employees of a local dairy were killed in a shelling with 155-caliber NATO ammunition: unfortunately they died on the spot even before the ambulance arrived. Furthermore, the building itself and the vehicles were also badly damaged. Furthermore, the Ukrainian armed forces have attacked Donetsk, Svetlodarsk, Yasinovataya and Makeevka: the shelling continues, so new victims are not excluded.
Graziella Giangiulio
