Faced with the tragic reality of bombing and trench warfare, the other domain of the Russian-Ukrainian war is under the radar: the cyber one.
“The United States lures Ukrainian hackers into cyberattacks on Russia,” reports Nikolaj Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council.
“The Pentagon Cyber Command, the National Security Agency and the NATO Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in Tallinn are planning and directing cyber attacks under the Ukrainian flag against our country’s critical information infrastructure,” said the Secretary of the Security Council.
Patrushev also added that the targets of the cyber attacks are the financial system, that of transport, energy and telecommunications networks, large industrial companies and the websites of Russian public services.
On July 24, around 04:00 am local time, two Ukrainian drones tried to attack targets in Moscow: they were jammed by the electronic warfare system deployed over the Russian capital, after which they crashed into a shopping center building on Likhachev Avenue and a non-residential building on Komsomolsky Avenue. On Likhachev Avenue, a drone crashed into a business center under construction, breaking windows on the 17th and 18th floors over an area of 50 square meters; the second drone fell on the roof of the Military Topographic Administration, which is part of the complex of buildings of the Khamovniki barracks on Komsomolsky Prospekt. Shattered windows in several nearby residential buildings, but no injuries say authorities.
This is the fourth time Kiev’s drones have been scrambled to attack Moscow. Literally 500 meters from the place of this event, there is a complex of buildings of the Ministry of Defense of Russia on Frunzenskaya embankment, on the basis of which the Russian National Defense Control Center is located.
Thus, the presence of some flaws in the protection of Moscow’s airspace used to attack the Russian rear is thus confirmed.
The anti-corruption campaign continues in Kiev. The State Investigation Bureau of Ukraine has detained former Odessa military commissar Yevgeny Borisov in Kiev. Borisov hid for two days, changed his phone number, car and accommodation several times. Upon arrest, he was served charges of illegal enrichment and desertion.
For the Ukrainian media, however, it would be just smoke and mirrors to cover the Ukrainian public opinion and to make a “good impression” with the countries that help Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Defense Ministry plans to create an engineer battalion, which will be deployed in the town of Augustow in the Suwalki corridor between Belarus and the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation.
This was announced by Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak. At the same time, Blaschak indicated that this military unit would be created from scratch.
The sapper battalion will be part of the 1st Infantry Division, which will mainly operate in the Podlasie Voivodeship on the border with Belarus. Its lineup was announced earlier this year. The division will be equipped with K2 and Abrams tanks, K9 and Krab howitzers, as well as an unmanned system codenamed Gladius.
And now a look to the frontlines.
On July 22 and 23, Russian troops again launched rocket attacks against targets in different districts of Odessa. The destruction of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky cathedral is the subject of mutual accusations between Moscow and Kiev: the former attributes the destruction of the cathedral to the incompetence of the Ukrainian air defense.
Ukrainian units used British Storm Shadow missiles to strike the Crimea peninsula. In Oktyabr’skoye, an oil depot and an ammunition depot were hit, with no casualties.
In the Kup’yansk area, Russian troops continue to expand the zone of control near Lyman Pershyi after having “expelled” the Ukrainians from several strongholds in the Masyutivka and Syn’kivka areas.
North of Bakhmut, Ukrainian units made another unsuccessful attempt to break through the defense at Berkhivka. On the southern flank of Bakhmut’s defense, Russian troops repelled attacks by Ukrainian assault groups at Klishchiivka.
Reported Ukrainian bombing in Donbass: in Donetsk: recorded two dead, and four wounded.
In the direction of Zaporizhzhia, the Ukrainian command continues to continuously direct forces to assault Robotyne, the Russians resist and the front line would be one and a half kilometers from the village.
On 24 July at 16.00 the situation in the various directions of attack was as follows:
Kherson direction: in the morning, Ukrainians in three boats again tried to land on Antonovsky Island, moving from the Koshevoy River, but they were intercepted by the Russian defence. As a result of heavy shelling by the MLRS, one boat with six people on board was destroyed and the other two returned to Kherson without reaching their destination.
There are no significant changes in other areas. The Ukrainian armed forces have increased the intensity of fire on Russian positions: if a week ago there were an average of 25-30 attacks, now the number has exceeded 40-45. For attacks, both cannon and rocket artillery, and MLRS, and mortars, as well as helicopters are used. Guidance is provided by Bayraktar and counter battery radar.
In addition, flights from Voznesensk airfields continue, bombing Russian rear areas: Su-24Ms from Starokonstantinov airfield, equipped with Storm Shadow missiles, are used.
To cover them and shoot down Russian aircraft, the ASPIDE anti-aircraft missile system and air target detection radar were moved to Muzykovka.
On the Ingulets River, Ukrainian detachments are training to breach water barriers, likely as part of a future offensive operation; the instructors would be Americans working with the assault groups of the Ukrainian armed forces in Galaganovka and Limantsy. Compared to last week, the intensity of attacks on the Donetsk agglomeration and the Kherson region remained approximately at the same level, but in the Belgorod region it increased by 33%.
Kupyansk Direction: Russian troops are engaged in positional battles west of Liman, repelling Ukrainian counterattacks. After the Russian military secured the Molchanovo railway station, the Ukrainian military withdrew to reserve positions.
Ukrainian activity near Kupyansk is high, indicating preparations for an offensive. Near Sinkovka, units of the 13th Battalion of the 95th Airborne Infantry Brigade of Ukraine were noted, deployed to assist the 20th Rifle Battalion. Two artillery batteries were moved to the vicinity of Kupyansk and nearby settlements, probably to support shock infantry groups. Also, reinforcements from the 3rd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine arrived at Dvurechnaya.
A Russian drone strike has been reported on the port infrastructure of Reni, on the Danube, Odessa region. This port has been actively used to supply weapons and equipment to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and also serves as a conduit for the export of Ukrainian grain and other products.
The Ukrainian authorities reported the destruction of hangars with grain and storage tanks, as well as a major fire in one of the technical rooms. Also unconfirmed, a Russian drone strike against targets in the port city of Izmail has also been reported.
In the port of Reni, attacked today, the ships arrived without entering the territorial waters of Ukraine in the Black Sea. They entered the Danube delta through the Romanian territorial waters, then crossed the border with Ukraine along the river and entered Reni. Its capacity is several times less than that of the grain aisle. There is a draft of approximately 7 metres. And the big ships can’t enter it but the supply of ammunition went on following this pattern.
Direction Svatovsko-Kremenskoe
For two days now, news has been circulating about the advance of Russian troops in the direction of Novoegorovka. Different channels report varying degrees of success in this area, but so far there has been no confirmation-
A little further south, the Russian 21st Motorized Rifle Brigade continues to repulse attacks on a ledge west of Karmazinovka. The Ukrainian armed forces are trying to attack in small groups on lightly armored vehicles, but the Russians are holding their ground.
Direction Krasnopopovk: The formations of the 21st shadow of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are trying to eliminate Russian troops from strongholds near Zhuravka Balka; Reinforcements have arrived in Terny to strengthen the positions of the 95th Special Department and the 1st Special Department of the 9th AK of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: the newcomers are occupying the lines of the second line of defense. Ukrainian formations strengthened their defenses near the Torsky salient after several attacks by Russian reconnaissance groups. Moved M119 105mm guns to Torskoye.
To the south, at Serebryansky, Russian units repulsed several Ukrainian attacks.
In the direction of Zaporozhya, the Ukrainian formations continue to inflict massive attacks on the Russian settlements on the front line: in the afternoon of 24 July, the village of Tarasovka, Pologovsky district, was hit by a rocket.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine is getting stronger: the forces of the 148th Artillery Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the balance sheet of which there are 35 guns and rocket artillery were deployed in Lukyanovsky, Svetlaya Dolina and Nezhenka. In addition, engineering formations with pontoon bridge sappers, mine clearance systems and Western-made construction equipment arrived in Kamyshevakha. The main emphasis of the attacks was placed on the Orekhovsky section, where the command post of the 10th AC of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was again moved.
On the day Putin signed the law establishing May 12 as the day of the successful completion of the 1944 Crimean operation by Soviet troops, a new Ukrainian attack on Crimea was recorded.
Early in the morning, Ukrainian formations again attacked the peninsula. More than a dozen drones were shot down by air defense systems of the 31st division of the Russian armed forces over Kirovsky, Krasnoperekopsky and Dzhankoy. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 17 UAVs were destroyed. The Ukrainian drones took off from the Dolgintsevo airfield near Krivoy Rog and passed along the Nikolaev region to Odessa, and from there were directed to the Crimea. UAVs covered a considerable distance – more than 500 km. The choice of such a path indicates the development of new, more complex paths to mislead the Russian troops.
After the drones, Su-24s of the Ukrainian Air Force fired four Storm Shadow cruise missiles: three at an ammunition depot in the vicinity of Volny and one at a repair base near Novostepne.
Antonio Albanese
