Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Let’s finish the job.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

We still have time to mess this up!

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Cole is on a roll !

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Republicans in disarray!

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Biden: Oh no. We’ve upset Big Pharma again.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

It’s a new day. Light all those Biden polls of young people on fire and throw away the ashes.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War for Ukraine Day 883: Air Raid Alert for All of Ukraine Went Up an Hour Ago!!!

War for Ukraine Day 883: Air Raid Alert for All of Ukraine Went Up an Hour Ago!!!

by | 11 Comments

This post is in: , , , , , , ,

Painting by NEIVANMADE. It has a white background an in the center are Soldiers in green doing air defense by firing at incoming Russian missiles in the upper right. The missiles are red and yellow. In the upper left, written in green, is the text: "SAVE THE BRAVEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!" Below the Soldiers, also written in green, is "SUPPORT FOR KHARKIV"

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Quick housekeeping note: Rosie is still doing excellently three days out from her chemo treatment last Monday. Thank you all, again, for the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations.

A little over an hour ago, Ukrainian authorities raised the air raid alerts for the entire country. Which meant Russian air force is in the air in western Russia and missiles were likely inbound.

I’m looking at the air raid alert maps right now (7:03 PM EDT/2:03 AM local in Ukraine) and the alerts are only for north central and eastern Ukraine. There are also no indicators on the map that Russian aviation is up. I’ll keep an eye out.

We have more on the Russian drones that came down in Romania.

Politico EU has the details:

Russia launched 38 Shahed kamikaze drones at Ukraine overnight, three of which strayed into Romania’s airspace, Romanian and Ukrainian ministries have confirmed.

Ukraine’s air-defense systems managed to shoot down 25 of the drones, the Ukrainian air force said in a statement on Thursday. Three of the Shaheds crossed the border with Romania, bordering Ukraine’s Odesa region, which was heavily bombed overnight, the air force said.

“More heinous attacks have been perpetrated by Russia against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure,” Romanian Foreign Minister Luminiţa Odobescu said in a post on X. “Debris has been found on Romanian territory. We have informed and are coordinating with our Allies on this matter. Romania strongly condemns these irresponsible actions,” Odobescu said.

As the Russian drones were attacking ports in the Odesa region, residents of Romania’s Tulcea area heard multiple blasts and were warned by authorities that fragments of drones might fall to the ground, local media reported. The authorities asked the public not to panic, saying the Russian drones “were not specifically targeting Romania.”

Two Finnish Air Force F-18 jets were dispatched from a Romanian air base during the night to monitor the situation, Romania’s defense ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

“Teams of the Ministry of National Defense are currently conducting investigations in the field, to search for possible objects that fell on the national territory, as a result of the attacks conducted on the Ukrainian port infrastructure over the last two nights,” the statement said.

After the attack the previous night, the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs found the remains of a Geran-type drone of Russian origin in the vicinity of Plauru in Tulcea.

“Search will continue today to cover the entire area. We make it clear that all the locations identified as possible areas of incidence are outside the inhabited areas, not affecting the infrastructure element,” the defense ministry said.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

Foreign Funds Have Started to Work Noticeably and Effectively in Defense Production, and This Is a Great Achievement for Us – President’s Address

25 July 2024 – 20:18

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!

Today was an eventful day.

A report from Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko regarding the detention of the suspect in the murder of Iryna Farion. I have asked the minister to present all the necessary information to the public and journalists. Of course, procedural actions are still ongoing, and all the circumstances of this case are being clarified. There should be more public information tomorrow.

Secondly, I had a very detailed and long conversation with Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin. We analyzed the work of the ministry and the relevant enterprises in our defense sector—what has been achieved and what is planned. There are good results. Many different aspects were discussed, including our armored vehicles, drones, and artillery. I am grateful to everyone working at our defense enterprises, in our defense industry. It is evident that the sector is becoming entirely different—stronger and more efficient. It is crucial that foreign funds have finally started to work noticeably and effectively in defense production, which is a significant achievement for us. Not only the state budget funds but also partner investments in defense production in Ukraine. Today, we have also decided on the updated tasks for Ukroboronprom and our missile specialists. In many areas, we now have not just potential or some specific results but also supplies to meet the needs of the Defense and Security Forces – growing supplies. Additionally, we are preparing steps to increase the quantity and quality of our long-range drones. Ukraine will always be able to defend its interests.

Today, I also held a meeting with those responsible for state-owned enterprises. Those that were once unprofitable or not always controlled by our state. Now they work exactly as they should. And they give money to the state budget. These are tens of billions of hryvnias that strengthen Ukraine.

And one more thing.

Today, I had a meeting with the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council about the decisions made by the NSDC and the Staff and the planning of new ones.

Thank you to everyone who is enhancing Ukraine’s capabilities – capabilities of our state, our industries, and our people. Thank you to everyone fighting for our independence.

Glory to Ukraine!

The cost:

Ukraine sent its smallest team ever to the Olympics. Hundreds of 🇺🇦 athletes were killed, others struggled to train amidst attacks and blackouts. Meanwhile, Russians perfected the art of killing Ukrainians, talking about a “great Russia” and a “never existed Ukraine.”

📷 Bomb shelter at the Olympic Sports Center in Kyiv

Poland:

The Kyiv Independent has the details:

Poland is providing Ukraine with its 45th military aid package since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s former Ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych, said on July 25 in an interview with Ukrinform.

Warsaw, a staunch supporter of Ukrainian defense against Russian aggression, has previously supplied Kyiv with 44 military aid packages, totaling over $4 billion.

“The 45th package is now in the process of being implemented, which includes, among other things, a significant amount of ammunition for Ukraine,” Zvarych told Ukrinform.

Zvarych served as Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland from February 2022 to June 2024, when President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed him ambassador to Czechia.

In addition to ammunition, Poland is also “working on the possibility of additional reinforcement of the Ukrainian Air Force with its aircraft,” namely MiG-29s, Zvarych said.

“We have an understanding of when and under what conditions this can happen, and we are working on this together with Poland and other NATO member states.”

Zelensky and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk signed a security agreement in Warsaw on July 8, agreeing to ongoing political, military, and economic cooperation. The document specifies that Warsaw will “consider the possibility of transferring a MiG-29 squadron without compromising Polish security.”

Poland has previously provided Ukraine with 10 MiG-29 aircraft, Zvarych said.

The US:

From The Kyiv Independent:

With U.S. President Joe Biden officially out of the running for re-election, Ukrainian soldiers, experts, and advocates have fresh hope that the 81-year-old with decades of transatlantic diplomacy experience will increase support for the country during his final months in office.

“​​We will keep rallying a coalition of proud nations to stop Putin from taking over Ukraine and doing more damage,” Biden said from the White House in a July 24 address.

“We’ll keep NATO stronger, and I will make it more powerful and more united than any time in all of our history.”

Doug Klain, a U.S.-based policy analyst at the nonprofit advocacy group Razom for Ukraine, spoke with the Kyiv Independent just hours before Biden’s speech, only his fourth from the Oval Office.

“This is his closing act, the significance (of this moment) is not lost on him,” Klain said.

Just this week, Klain noted, Biden delegated responsibilities to the Treasury Secretary and Secretary of State to oversee the possibility of seizing frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine using a law he signed in April.

Taras Berezovets, a Ukrainian army officer and political analyst, said he expects Biden to take more decisive, harsh action against Russia and President Vladimir Putin over the next few months, particularly with sanctions.

“He doesn’t need to think about a second presidential term,” Berezovets said, “and he can make some unpopular decisions in the international arena.”

“This war cannot be lost by Ukraine and by the West because the stakes are too high,” Berezovets said, adding: “It’s not about the survival of Ukraine, it’s about the survival of democratic values … Western values.”

Berezovets spoke with the Kyiv Independent after a July 25 funeral in Kyiv of an intelligence officer with whom he had served, who died a few days earlier after being severely injured on the battlefield.

How U.S. policy evolves over the next six months and during the next administration of Ukraine’s top ally and supplier of weaponry will shape Kyiv’s prospects on the battlefield. The outgunned and outmanned country, despite its strong defiance, continues to lose lives defending its territory and the right to exist as an independent nation in the face of what local leadership describes as a genocidal war.

Though Ukraine’s Western allies have provided Ukraine with massive amounts of weaponry since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, supplies have at times arrived with delays, triggering local officials to complain they were not being given enough swiftly to defeat Moscow on the battlefield decisively.

Berezovets said troops he had contact with since Biden announced he would drop his candidacy last weekend were too busy to react to the news, adding: “Frankly speaking, everyone was actually too bothered with the situation on the frontline.”

Another potential change could be lifting restrictions on Ukrainian strikes inside Russia with American weapons, which Klain is optimistic could happen in the coming months.

Currently, U.S. policy does not allow Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike military targets deep inside Russia out of fear of escalation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly asked the U.S. to lift these restrictions. In June, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted that Washington was open to changing these restrictions in the future.

Such a change would be “one of the most practical and most important things” Biden could do over the next few months, said Danylo Lubkivsky, director of the Kyiv Security Forum, along with continuing to provide Ukraine with additional weaponry and equipment that the country needs to secure victories on the battlefield.

More at the link!

I agree with all the sentiments expressed here. However, I think there’s a lot of wishful thinking and hopium being expressed. Biden’s senior natsec team has not changed. They are still incredibly risk averse when it comes to Putin and Russia. Personnel is policy, and since Biden’s haven’t changed and almost all of them will stay in place through the end of his administration, I don’t expect we’ll see much change. I would very much like to be wrong in this assessment, but I’ve been watching these folks for a long time, I even know a few of them, and they haven’t changed since Sunday.

Spain:

Spain will supply another MIM-23 HAWK medium-range SAM battery to Ukraine this September.

This was announced by the Spanish Minister of Defense Margarita Robles during a video conversation with @rustem_umerov.

We are grateful to our Spanish friends for their important and staunch support. 🇺🇦🤝🇪🇸
@Defensagob

Holland and Denmark:

Britain:

Here are the details from The Financial Times:

The British army has three years to prepare for war, according to its new chief, as he announced an ambitious reform programme to get the force fighting fit for modern warfare.

General Sir Roly Walker said on Tuesday there was an urgent need to modernise the British army because of the “converging geopolitical threats” of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

“We are not on an inexorable path but what we do have is an absolute urgency to restore credible hard power in order to underwrite deterrence,” Walker said on the sidelines of a British army conference.

He called his reforms “a not-war plan” that would give the UK a military powerful enough to deter adversaries and make them think twice.

Walker said Russia would emerge from the war in Ukraine “very, very dangerous” and seeking revenge, however the conflict might eventually end.

“The lesson from history is the Russians don’t forget, and they will come back . . . wanting retribution for the support that was given to Ukraine,” he told reporters at the event hosted by the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London.

Walker, who became head of the British army in June, said the three-year timeline was based on a convergence of factors.

First was Russia’s ability to reconstitute its army, which western officials estimate could take between three and five years following any ceasefire in Ukraine.

The second was that China’s President Xi Jinping has stated he “wants a military option for Taiwan by 2027-28”, Walker said. The third is Iran’s ability to make nuclear weapons.

“That’s why you get to this middle point of 2027-28,” Walker added. “A problem in one [country] is likely to trigger a sympathetic detonation in another . . . It’s a global problem.”

Walker’s sober assessment of the threats facing western countries comes as the UK’s new government last week launched a review of the British military before committing to increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, from about 2.3 per cent now.

His comments also came after Britain’s defence secretary John Healey told the conference that the state of the UK armed forces was “much worse” than he had thought while in opposition.

Walker said under his reform plans, the British army would aim to double its “lethality” within three years and treble it by 2030.

To do that, he said the UK’s land force had to shed its “big army mindset” and embrace new technologies powered by artificial intelligence-driven software.

Walker said he wanted to create “an internet of military things” that would enable the British army to sense threats from “twice as far [away], decide in half the time, and deliver effects over double the distance with half as many munitions”.

He admitted there were “numerous challenges, which I don’t want to wish away”.

But Walker cited the example of Ukraine’s military, which has repelled far larger Russian forces with the help of western military aid and “smart software that is coming from British coders”.

“This is not science fiction,” he added. “If we can double then triple our fighting power, any British land force will be able to destroy a force at least three times its size and keep on doing that.”

The “AI” salespeople have got every senior military leader completely bamboozled. It will lead to some disastrously catastrophic results.

France:

The Insider has more on the Russian chef arrested on suspicion of being a Russian illegal assigned to disrupt the Paris Olympics.

NEW: @InsiderEng and its partners @lemondefr and @derspiegel have identified the French chef arrested on suspicion of working for Russian intelligence to disrupt the Paris Olympics. Meet Kirill Griaznov, a Cordon Bleu-trained chef, reality TV star and FSB officer. We have his emails. Oh, and he’s been to New York too! https://theins.press/en/politics/273350

Here are some excerpts:

A Russian lawyer-turned-chef who once appeared on a dating show back in his homeland was directed by the Kremlin’s intelligence services to stage “large-scale” acts of “destabilization” at the opening of the Olympic Games in France on July 26, The Insider has learned. The Insider can confirm that Kirill Griaznov, who revealed his plans in a drunken conversation over dinner on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, has extensive ties to FSB and GRU officers. Griaznov has been arrested by French security services, who found sufficient evidence to charge him with espionage.

Being trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Kirill Griaznov fondly recalled, was “not just learning gastronomy, but also art de vivre.”

Now this 40 year-old chef of haute cuisine, who legally resided in France for over a decade, faces a French judicial investigation into his alleged work on behalf of foreign intelligence, specifically the FSB, Russia’s domestic security service. His mission, according to the French investigators, was “to incite hostilities in France.” Instead, a drink-soaked attempt to brag about his important operation led to his unmasking.

Griaznov was arrested at his Paris home on July 19 with “diplomatic material,” according to the city’s prosecutor, and charged four days later. If convicted, he faces 30 years behind bars.

French authorities say he was planning a “large-scale” operation that might have had “serious” consequences.

His detention comes at an incredibly tense moment for French authorities, already dealing with a spate of provocations or abortive terrorist operations cooked up in Moscow. Most of these have been linked to France’s robust military and diplomatic support for Ukraine’s war effort. But on July 26, the Summer Olympics are set to begin in Paris and security measures have been enormous, with tens of thousands of police mobilized and a million people vetted for access to the games’ most well-guarded venues. According to the Associated Press, 5,000 people have already been barred from attending the Olympics, a fifth of them suspected “of foreign interference — we can say spying,” in the words of the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

The Olympics were indeed Griaznov’s target, according to a joint investigation by The Insider, Le Monde and Der Spiegel. “The French,” he told his FSB superior two months ago, “will have an opening ceremony like no other.”

For a highly trained Russian operative, possibly one looking to cause havoc at an international sporting event, Griaznov hardly looks the part. His Instagram is awash with food porn, selfies of him in tailored suits or fur coats, and trippy reels of him at work in the kitchen cooking Ramen and spoofing the Turkish cooking influencer Salt Bae.

He also published his haute cuisine recipes for a magazine affiliated with Lenta.com, a kind of Russian Wal-Mart. “The most unpleasant thing about working with cherries,” he observed, “is removing the pits.”

In his pudgier, bespectacled days, Griaznov even experimented with reality TV, starring in a Russian dating series called “Choose Me,” modeled on ABC’s The Bachelor, where he billed himself as a “successful businessman and restaurateur.”

That is more debatable than another characteristic. He’s an alcoholic and very indiscreet in his cups — or so say a succession of ex-girlfriends who terminated their relationship with him on that account, Griaznov’s leaked emails show. One of his former partners went as far as to caution him, upon breaking up, that “alcohol will get to you one day.” Loose-lipped inebriation, as it happens, is exactly how Griaznov was caught.

On May 7, he was in Russia and due to fly from Moscow to Istanbul, where he’d catch a connecting flight back to Paris the next day. Except he couldn’t. He got so fall-down drunk at Istanbul Airport that he was barred from boarding his plane. Instead Griaznov took a taxi to the Bulgarian border, where another car delivered him to St. Vlas, a resort town on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, where Griaznov owns property.

Griaznov stayed at his apartment for a few days before moving on to Varna, a Bulgarian city 60 miles north of St. Vlas. From there he flew on to Paris. During one of his beach-side dinners he got drunk again and let slip to the neighbors that he had a special assignment this summer in Paris to disrupt the opening ceremony of the Olympics. At first the neighbors were incredulous. That’s when Griaznov brandished his FSB ID, witnesses told The Insider. A few days later, Griaznov made his way to Varna and took a flight from there. Before flying to Paris, Griaznov made a call to his FSB boss and informed him that the operation was on track. Griaznov even said he’d recruited “one more Moldovan from Chisinau.”

This detail, too, will have caught the eye of French investigators.

In November, a Moldovan couple was arrested in Paris for stenciling or spray-painting Stars of David across the city, stoking fears of anti-Semitism in the midst of the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza. The couple was later linked to agents of the FSB’s Fifth Service, its foreign intelligence arm. They were paid between 300 and 500 euros for the operation. While there is no evidence connecting Griaznov to that or any prior Russian psychological or propaganda effort in France, one Western intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Insider that Moldovans are cheap and easy to recruit. “It’s one of the poorest countries in Europe and their ability to travel unimpeded from Moldova to anywhere else in Europe is a big boon for Russian spies who can’t,” the official said.

In the intervening period, other Russian plots and agents have been exposed in France. One involved the laying of coffins in front of the Eiffel Tower, draped in French flags that read “French soldiers of Ukraine” – a provocation seemingly in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial hypothetical scenario about eventually deploying French troops to Odesa. In June, Maxim Dvirnik, a 26-year-old Russo-Ukrainian, injured himself in the face and body while constructing an explosive in his hotel room near Charles de Gaulle airport. Dvirnik’s abortive mission was to place his homemade bomb at a Bricorama store, a famous French hardware and decoration chain. He was charged with “criminal terrorist association” and the “possession of substances or explosives with the intent to prepare destruction or harm to persons in relation to a terrorist enterprise.”

Griaznov’s background as a chef, an increasingly common cover identity or “legend” for Russian intelligence assets, also seems to have been carefully orchestrated, going back more than a decade. It seemingly appeared out of the blue following years spent in a more lucrative career.

According to Griaznov’s résumé, which The Insider obtained, in the early 2000s he attended law school in his hometown of Perm, Russia, and only learned to cook in 2010 at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, the celebrated French culinary academy. Three years earlier, Griaznov worked for Hoogewerf & CIE and OCRA Worldwide, two Luxembourg-based companies that provided legal and financial consulting services. In 2011 Griaznov relocated to Courchevel, a posh ski town in the French Alps, where he had an internship in the kitchen of K2, a Michelin-starred restaurant favored by Russian elites.

To his French friends, contacted by Le Monde, Griaznov never mentioned his previous career in finance in Moscow and Luxembourg. In a conversation with Le Monde, Victor, an old friend of Griaznov, said he was shocked: “I know his whole family and vice-versa. I went to his house in Moscow and Perm. He came to France because he hates Putin and does not want to go to the front [in Ukraine], lol”.

Six months later, on September 9, 2012, Griaznov received an email from Viviane H., the owner of the apartment he rented in the Second Arrondissement of Paris. She was checking in on him. In his response, he noted without elaborating that he’d gone back to Moscow to work as an “official” in the “Russian government.” Nowhere in Griaznov’s CV is any Russian government job listed.

His brother, Dmitri, with whom Griaznov owns the real estate in St. Vlas, does serve as chief of staff at the secretariat of the Belarus-Russia Union Assembly, a latent legislative body for the future Russian-Belarusian “union state” – Moscow’s de facto annexation of its neighbor – which the Kremlin has for years tried to implement. That body is typically staffed with FSB officers. Moreover, The Insider was able to establish based on phone records that Dmitri Griaznov shares a personal driver with Andrey Chekanov, an officer of the GRU, or Russia’s military intelligence agency. Chekanov lives in Moscow at Zorge 36, the same building where another GRU spy resides: Denis Sergeev, a top-ranking member of the assassination and sabotage squad known as Unit 29155. Sergeev was the operational commander overseeing the failed attempt to fatally poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England in 2018.

Much, much, much more at the link!

I’ll remind everyone that The Insider, working with Bellingcat and CBS News 60 Minutes, tied another Russian illegal, who was also a chef, to both GRU Unit 29155 and the Havana Syndrome cases.

Donetsk Oblast:

The Kyiv Independent has the details on these genocidal war crimes:

Since February, Russian forces have steadily advanced across multiple sectors of the front in Donetsk Oblast. They have occupied villages previously liberated by Ukraine, wiped out entire towns, and introduced new threats to the region’s overall defense.

Alongside Chasiv Yar, Niu York, and other towns, Russia aims to capture Toretsk, a city that lies in the path of its plan to reach the T0504 highway — a key logistics route for Ukrainian forces. As Russian troops have been getting closer from the east and south over the past weeks, Toretsk has come under increasingly heavy fire from glide bombs, artillery, and drones.”

“Almost all front-line towns are destroyed. Toretsk, for example, is 70%-destroyed,” said Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin.

Toretsk had a pre-war population of about 30,000 people. Like with many other cities in the east, most of its residents have fled to the safer areas. About 3,500, however, remain in the city, even as the prospect of Russian occupation is getting dangerously close.

Outside the city, amid fields pocked by craters and shrouded in smoke, Ukrainian soldiers are preparing new defense lines in case the city falls to Kremlin forces, while local farmers attempt to save their grain crops from fires.

The village of Nova Poltavka, on the T0504 road, is only about six kilometers from the advancing Russian troops. Attacks there have set fire to hundreds of hectares of wheat crops belonging to local farmers.

“In total, about 300 hectares burned yesterday, 17 of which were mine,” says one farmer, Yurii, whose name was changed upon his request. “First the weather was bad – everything froze – but now it’s burning,” he says.

In addition to the logistical problems caused by the Russian invasion, farmers are now fighting to save their crops and equipment from the flames caused by attacks.

Yurii thinks that if the Russians get closer, if they take the road, he will have to move further away. “(The Russians) will destroy everything here, burn it down, and there will be nothing left,” he says.

“If I could leave, I would have done it a long time ago. I have a lot of equipment here – combine harvesters. If the front line doesn’t move, I’ll continue to work.”

In the village of Ivanivka, just several kilometers from the current front line and directly in the advancing Russians’ path, Vitalii and his wife Vitalina are trying to decide what to do. Russian troops creep closer to the village every day.

Half an hour earlier, a drone hit the couple’s yard. The situation is changing rapidly, and it worsened significantly when the front-line town of Avdiivka was finally occupied by the Russians in February.

“While for the last two years I’ve been able to work in the fields, now I can’t,” Vitalii says. “We’ve been hearing explosions since 2014, but they were far away. Now we hear cluster bombs and mortars (close by).”

It’s time to harvest the crops, but because of the constant threat of shelling, it is very risky to go to the fields with machinery, Vitalii says. “Yesterday, while I was working on a combine harvester, a shell hit a hundred meters away from me.”

Even if local farmers manage to harvest the grain, there is nowhere to store it, as all the grain warehouses are damaged or have burned to the ground. The grain has to be taken to Odesa, but farmers have to take it there themselves – nobody will risk coming this close to the front to pick it up.

“I’m heartbroken,” says Vitalii. “I worked and worked. And now everything is ruined – I keep going only for the sake of my children.” Vitalii has two teenage children who study in Kyiv. Their parents try not to tell them about the situation in Ivanivka so that they don’t worry and can focus on their studies.

The couple is hesitating to evacuate: “The people who are leaving, the IDPs (internally displaced persons): If you’re with your husband, the locals immediately say, ‘Why isn’t he at war?’ And then they go to the police,” says Vitalina.

“It’s a hopeless situation. It’s dangerous to stay here, and if we leave, my husband will be taken to the front.”

“If necessary, we’ll leave, but before that, we will burn down our house,” says Vitalii.

Russian forces have got within five kilometers of the T0504road – a key logistics route for Ukrainian forces. If it is taken, it will open up more opportunities for the Russians to move equipment, bypass minefields, and advance both eastward to Kostiantynivka and westward to Pokrovsk.

For three weeks, soldiers from the 31st Separate Mechanized Brigade have been repulsing Russian attacks in the area of the village of Novooleksandrivka. The unit is armed with a Soviet D30 122-mm howitzer made in the 1960s, and its main task is to deter enemy attacks and provide fire cover for infantry.

When fighting is the fiercest, they fire up to 60 shells, but usually, they ration them because of shell supply problems. In the meantime, the enemy over the past week has increased the number of its drone, artillery, and infantry attacks in this area. The unit is preparing backup positions in case they have to withdraw quickly.

“Their strategy is simple: to throw dozens, hundreds, thousands of vehicles, tanks, soldiers – manpower,” says Nazar, the unit’s battery commander.

“They want to cross the main highway that goes to Pokrovsk, I think this is their main goal because all our movements go through this highway. They also want to reach Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk in order to take over the whole of Donetsk Oblast in the future.”

More at the link including all the pictures.

Also in Donetsk Oblast:

“I was lying there for 15 days, eating nothing. Russian shells were flying endlessly. Houses were smashed around me.”

Residents of Donetsk region were evacuated to Dnipro from the constant shelling of Russian troops. These are people who have been displaced for the second time. For example, they moved a little further from Avdiivka and Bakhmut and now have to move again.

📹: Suspilne

Kherson Oblast:

Also from The Kyiv Independent:

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal carried out an inspection of the construction of fortifications in Kherson Oblast, he said on July 25.

“In Kherson Oblast, the construction works are complete at 97%,” Shmyhal said on his Telegram channel.

The authorities have long been criticized for slow progress in building up fortifications along the front lines. The criticism only grew stronger after Russian forces broke into the northern part of Kharkiv Oblast in May.

“Building fortifications is a priority for the leader of every front-line oblast. This year, the government allocated Hr 2 billion (around $50 million) to Kherson Oblast for this task,” Shmyhal said.

Ukraine pushed Russian forces from the west-bank side of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast in late 2022, but Moscow continues to occupy the east bank.

Reports emerged last week that Ukraine was forced to withdraw from Krynky, a key beachhead on the east bank it had held for months.

The government came under renewed pressure over the supposedly poor progress on fortifications after Russia crossed the border into Kharkiv Oblast in May.

Though the advance was eventually halted, many have asked how Russian forces managed to cross into Ukraine so easily.

One of the commanders in the sector, General Artur Hrobenko, complained in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda that the fortifications on the second defensive line, constructed by the regional authorities, were in poor condition and not properly maintained.

The general also said that building proper defenses on the first line was almost impossible due to constant Russian aerial strikes and shelling.

The Russians chose to come back for more in Novomykhailivka:

After the Russian attack of 57 units of AFVs, Russians went on the attack again — they threw 3 tanks and 13 APCs with infantry.

Today soldiers of the 79th Brigade knocked out 1 tank and 1 APC and another enemy BMP was destroyed.

23 Russians were killed. Another 29 received injuries of varying severity.

https://t.me/odshbr79/245

They chose poorly.

We have new/more footage from Ukraine’s takedown of the Su-25 in Donetsk Oblast the other day:

Russian occupied Luhansk Oblast:

If you’re wondering what war looks like. I rarely post videos like this, but it’s worth watching.

This is an episode of small arms battle in the Luhansk region.

A Ukrainian soldier of the Burevii Brigade’s Khoryv Operations Battalion with the call sign “Hunter” got wounds in both legs during the close combat, but he continued the battle, pulling a seriously wounded brother-in-arms for 7 kilometers, who, thanks to “Hunter,” survived.

Russia:

Tatarigami and his Frontelligence Insight team have a new assessment regarding Russia’s relocation of its aviation assets to (try to) move them where Ukraine can’t get to them.

Russia is Relocating Its Valuable Military Assets Deeper into Its Territory. Frontelligence Insight has conducted research and released a special report for subscribers, detailing how the Russian army has moved further critical assets, including bomber jets and helicopters. 🧵:Image
2/ Based on a comprehensive geospatial analysis of thousands of square kilometers, our team has concluded that between the second half of June and mid-July, Russian forces relocated many valuable assets away from the Ukrainian border. 

3/ This includes valuable assets such as jets, attack helicopters, and their associated logistics.

This is likely a preemptive measure designed to mitigate potential ATACMS strikes or other Western long-range weaponry. 

4/ While it may have some short-term drawbacks, the Su-34/35 jets travel fast enough, thus adding 100-200 km to the frontline is unlikely to significantly affect their operations. Since they primarily launch bombs at static targets, this change is unlikely to make a difference 

5/ 4/ For more details, please refer to the report available on our website. (Note: The link to the website is listed in the bio, as posting it directly on X significantly reduces post visibility.)

Don’t forget to like and share the first message to help with thread visibility. 

The Russians have desecrated the remains of Ukrainian POWs, which is a war crime.

From United24 Media:

The bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war are being returned to Ukraine without internal organs. This suggests that they could be used for organ transplants in Russia.

This was discussed at a meeting in Ankara between representatives of the families of prisoners of war and the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar, according to Ukrinform.

“Today, it is clear that we receive not only the bodies of tortured prisoners of war during exchanges but also bodies that are unfortunately missing internal organs. This confirms that the black market for organ transplantation in the Russian Federation is active and, regrettably, involves our prisoners of war. Therefore, I believe this information must be shared with the entire world to halt this crime.”” said the wife of one of the prisoners of war, a defender of Mariupol.

“I would also like to ask Turkey, as the patron country in resolving all humanitarian issues related to the exchange of prisoners of war, to speak out,” added the wife of the prisoner of war. She stressed that Russia refuses to return and include the prisoners of war of the Mariupol garrison on the exchange lists.

“This is a real pain that motivates us to work faster and stimulate our international partners to take certain actions. One of the main demands is to create an international medical commission that would investigate the conditions of our prisoners of war and help them fight health problems… And this is one of the messages that was conveyed to the Turkish side,” Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar stated.

While in Ankara, representatives of the families of prisoners of war of Mariupol met with Chief Advisor to the President of Turkey Yalçın Topçu and Chief Ombudsman of Turkey Şeref Malkoç.

The return of POW bodies without internal organs is not just a humanitarian issue but constitutes a war crime under international law. The act of removing organs from POWs violates the Geneva Conventions, which protect the dignity and rights of prisoners of war. Such actions, if confirmed, could be subject to international prosecution and sanctions.

Kaluga Russia:

/2. Details about Mi-28 crash in Kaluga region of Russia:

“The Mi-28 that crashed in the Kaluga region was a “UAV hunter”. Before the crash, the crew was just returning from a combat mission on the border with the Bryansk region.

As the Ministry of Defense reported, the cause of the emergency was a technical malfunction on board. According to Russian media, during the flight to the deployment point, the crew discovered a fire in the cabin. According to one version, it was due to a malfunction in the engine. The pilot took the helicopter to a deserted place, and it fell near the village of Klenki. Therefore, there are no casualties or destruction on earth.

The crew – two people – died.”

A map with an approximate area of crash near the Klenki village.

Ryazan Oblast, Russia:

Apparently they knew someone who wanted to buy a bridge.

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

A new video from Patron’s official TikTok.

@patron__dsns

У такому чудовому кафе був!🐶🐾✨🦮 #песпатрон

♬ original sound – Cpt. Levi – Cpt. Levi

Here’s the machine translation of the caption:

I was in such a wonderful cafe! 🐶🐾✨🦮 #песпатрон

The cuteness, it burns!!!

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

11Comments

  1. 1.

    hrprogressive

    Any thoughts on the headlines regarding Russian-Chinese military flights near US Airspace up north?

    I can’t imagine it’s the sort of thing we should be “Worried About”, but of course people are going to try and get clicks over it.

  7. 7.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @hrprogressive:

    Considering how frequently USN & USAF ELINT planes fly up & down the Chinese coast, w/in the PRC’s unilaterally imposed ADIZ, these flights are par for the course.

    What is interesting is that the H-6K bombers do not have the range to take off from a PRC airbase and make it as far as the US ADIZ off Alaska. So they must have taken off from airbases in Russia, or alternatively took off from somewhere in upper Manchuria, traversed Russian airspace & were aerially refueled by PLAAF or RuAF tankers, & in either case it would be something new.

  8. 8.

    Carlo Graziani

    @YY_Sima Qian: Yeah, theatre. They were equally-theatrically “escorted” by USAF and Canadian interceptors at a polite distance. The whole thing was clearly designed to be an event in the media, to elicit a little public political theatre criticism.

  11. 11.

    wjca

    Thank you, Adam

     

    Personnel is policy, and since Biden’s haven’t changed and almost all of them will stay in place through the end of his administration, I don’t expect we’ll see much change. I would very much like to be wrong in this assessment, but I’ve been watching these folks for a long time, I even know a few of them

    Do you happen to know if Harris has (or is likely to have) a different national security team? If so, are they likely to have a different approach?

Comments are closed.