ISW reports Ukrainian making gains on most fronts.

Ukrainian forces also reportedly advanced in the #Bakhmut and #Kreminna directions over the past week and continue counteroffensive operations south and southeast of Velyka Novosilka in western #Donetsk and eastern #Zaporizhia oblasts. http://isw.pub/UkrWar082123

https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/16...2270852442?s=20

Russian media share "stories from the frontlines" that Ukrainian Armed Forces use "drones with claws to kidnap the wounded."

They write that the drones have special appliances installed on them that resemble claws. These "claws" pick a helpless person up and take him away.

Ukraine reportedly lost over 730 troops and launched 14 failed attacks on Russian troops. The Russian defence ministry stated that intense battles continued around Bakhmut, where paratroopers inflicted fire damage on advancing Ukrainian troops. A footage released by MoD Russia, shows the fighting with grenade launchers and machine guns. In another video, Ukrainian armoured vehicles turned into fireballs as Ka-52 helicopters launched missile strikes on them.
FeelsBadMan


Russia has released dramatic footage showing a Russian aircraft detecting and destroying a U.S.-made Willard Sea Force speedboat with an Armed Forces of Ukraine landing party on board in the Black Sea, east of Zmiinyi Island.

Shipmates o' mine, are you sleeping fair an' sound,
Mates fair an' foul, friend an' foe,
Lyin' where lost ships are, sunken deep an' drowned
In Davy Jones's locker down below?
In wide seas an' narrow, deep seas an' shoal,
There's no stone above you an' no bell to toil:
O rest for your body an' peace to your soul,
Shipmates a-sleepin' down below.

Morning briefing of the Ministry of Defense of Russia (August 22, 2023)
⚡️ Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation

(22 August 2023)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

▫️In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces repelled 5 attacks by assault detachments of 41st, 66th, 67th mechanised and 25th airborne brigades of the AFU close to Sinkovka (Kharkov region), Novosyolovskoye and Raigorodka (Lugansk People's Republic).

▫️The enemy losses were up to 65 Ukrainian servicemen, 4 infantry fighting vehicles, 2 motor vehicles, 1 D-20 howitzer, and 1 U.S.-manufactured AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar station.

▫️1 ammunition depot of the AFU 103rd Territorial Defence Brigade has been destroyed near Tabaevka (Kharkov region).

▫️In Zaporozhye direction, as a result of actions by units of the Russian grouping of troops, aviation and artillery, 4 attacks by units of 65th mechanised and 82nd airborne assault brigades of the AFU have been repelled near Uspenovka and Rabotino (Zaporozhye region).

▫️The enemy losses were up to 125 Ukrainian servicemen, 3 infantry fighting vehicles, 2 armoured fighting vehicles, and 9 motor vehicles.

▫️As a result of effective counter-battery warfare, 11 enemy guns and 4 mortars have been neutralised, including: 1 U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery systems, 3 U.S.-manufactured M119 towed howitzers, Polish-manufactured Krab and French-manufactured CAEZAR self-propelled artillery systems, as well as 1 UK-manufactured FH-70 gun.

▫️In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces, in cooperation with aviation and artillery, have successfully repelled 3 attacks by AFU assault groups close to Novomikhailovka and Avdeevka (Donetsk People's Republic).

▫️The enemy losses were up to 235 Ukrainian servicemen, 5 infantry fighting vehicles, 2 motor vehicles, 2 U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery systems, 1 Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system, 1 Msta-B howitzer, as well as 1 U.S.-manufactured AN/TPQ-36 counter-battery radar station.

▫️In Krasny Liman direction, as a result of coordinated actions by units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, Army Aviation, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems, 2 attacks by assault groups of the 63rd Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been repelled south of Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic).

▫️The enemy losses were up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen, 3 armoured fighting vehicles, as well as 2 D-30 howitzers.

▫️In South Donetsk direction, as a result of actions by aviation and artillery of the Vostok Group of Forces, 4 clusters of manpower and hardware of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been hit close to Makarovka, Staromayorskoye, and Urozhaynoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

▫️The enemy losses were up to 240 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, 2 armoured fighting vehicles, 1 U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery system, as well as 1 UK-manufactured FH-70 gun.

▫️In Kherson direction, the enemy losses were up to 15 Ukrainian servicemen, 2 motor vehicles, 2 U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery systems, as well as 1 D-30 howitzer.

▫️Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have neutralised manpower and military hardware in 139 areas.

▫️In addition, 1 command and observation post of a unit of the 46th Airmobile Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been hit near Orekhov (Zaporozhye region).

▫️1 ammunition depot of the AFU 1st Tank Brigade has been destroyed close to Vasilkovka (Dnepropetrovsk region).

▫️Air defence facilities have shot down 4 projectiles launched by HIMARS MLRS.

▫️In addition, 39 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been destroyed close to Nikolaevka, Zolotaryovka, Novozvanovka, Kremennaya (Lugansk People's Republic), Berestovoye, Kodyma, Aleksandrovka (Donetsk People's Republic), Novaya Kakhovka (Kherson region), Mirnoye and Trudovoye (Zaporozhye region).

📊In total, 462 airplanes, 246 helicopters, 5,952 unmanned aerial vehicles, 431 air defence missile systems, 11,445 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,144 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 5,996 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 12,372 special military motor vehicles have been destroyed during the special military operation.

Bradleys supporting UA infantry in Robotyne.

https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1693919146138833405?s=20

Two Russian MT-LB armoured vehicles were destroyed by the Ukrainian 44th Artillery Brigade after the targets were discovered by a recon unit of the 65th Mechanized Brigade in the vicinity of Robotyne, #Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/169403...6137125034?s=20

Ukrainian drone drops an M67 hand grenade on a Russian field ammunition stockpile.

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1...1195997435?s=20

Ukrainian lightweight buggy armed with a roof-mounted US-supplied Mk 19 40mm automatic grenade launcher in service with the 36th Marine Brigade.

The marines reportedly use it as a highly mobile indirect fire platform.

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1...7376578948?s=20

A Marder 1A3 of the 82nd mechanized got stuck in a trench.

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1694...6239038604?s=20

Summer Operations | KA-52 Is The Destroyer Of Ukrainian Hopes. Military Summary For 2023.08.22

A Russian marine, suffering from concussion, hearing loss and shell shock, says he was sent to Robotyne to be "disposed of".

https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1694...6861584497?s=20

3/ In R.K.'s case, he "wrote a report that he could not fight due to his moral and psychological state." He says in a subsequent audio recording that he is "just having a lot of panic attacks" following two earlier concussions which likely caused traumatic brain injuries.

4/ "I can't act, I try to pull myself together, but I can't act adequately make spontaneous actions. I just have panic attacks. I try to restrain myself. Well, it's impossible. And then I have a panic attack, I'm shaking all over. I just don't understand what's going on ...

5/ "I'm shaking all over. I don't know what's going on. I have a premonition that something bad is about to happen. That's why I'm having these panic attacks.

6/ "I want to be checked by a psychiatrist for sanity, because I have inadequate behaviour and I act spontaneously, and I understand that I am doing something wrong.

7/ "I tell the command about it, I wanted them to give me the opportunity to get to a psychiatrist, so that he could look at me and conclude that I need hospitalisation, a psychiatric ward. That's what I want, to stop having these panic attacks.

8/ "I realise that I can't perform a combat mission, that's why I can have a panic attack during, for example, an attack, I let the guys down, they can die because of me, or I could shoot at them in such a state."

9/ Instead of being given medical assistance, however, R.K. was imprisoned in a punishment cell on 2 August. He was forced to pay a bribe of 50,000 rubles ($530), which was transferred by his wife, to avoid being beaten and to receive drinking water.

10/ "In the punishment cell we were not taken to the toilet. We were not given food. We were just locked up and that was it. We slept on the floor. Instead of pillows there were plastic bottles," R.K. says in a recording made on 8 August.

13/ Blokhin was killed in Robotyne a few days later by a Ukrainian kamikaze drone. R.K. was left alone as the sole occupier of the village school, facing heavy artillery attacks. He was abandoned by the 1st company but was helped to evacuate by soldiers from the 3rd company.

14/ R.K. believes he was "deliberately left under fire and without instructions" to "re-educate" or "dispose of" him. He says the marines took "very heavy losses" during the battle at Robotyne. He was concussed a third time, causing vomiting, hearing loss and severe headaches.

15/ After being rescued, R.K. managed to get to Melitopol, but has still not had any medical care. He has lost contact with his unit and his documents were taken away when he was sent to the punishment cell, blocking him from receiving any medical assistance.

16/ Now, his wife says, his "eyesight has deteriorated. He is mentally unprepared for anything. His hands are shaking, he stutters. He is tired, no help is given to him. There are no documents at the moment."

New footage from the partially western-equipped Ukrainian 82nd Air Assault Brigade, showing some of their equipment during training activities over the past few months.

The brigade is now reportedly in combat around Robotyne.

Equipment seen-
Challenger 2 MBT
Marder-3 IFV
M1224 MaxxPro MRAP
M58 MICLIC
105mm L118 light gun
UAR-10/15
2B14 Podnos
Mi-8MT
AGS-17
RPG-7
Various Stryker variants

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1...0278608370?s=20

Sos: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/u...-officials-say/

Wrong strategy all along, no wonder no breakthrough

Indian students in Ukraine face harassment over New Delhi's ties with Moscow. Medical students studying in Ukraine say they have been told to leave the country. Antagonism towards Indian students has reportedly intensified since June, coinciding with the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces. Watch this report to know what Indians are facing in Ukraine and what forced them to return to the embattled nation.
அய்யய்யோ அட கடவுளே


Ukraine has rejected western criticism of its counteroffensive against Russia, saying the fightback is not too slow as is being suggested and that despite limited weapons, Kyiv's men are advancing on the battlefield to free their land from Russian occupiers. Ukraine's deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said Ukraine has proved it can push back a better-armed and numerically superior enemy, Reuters reported.

🇺🇦Ukrainian military personnel from the 92nd brigade near Bakhmut found and destroyed 🇷🇺Russian 152-mm 2S3 "Akatsiya" self-propelled howitzer and 240-mm 2S4 "Tyulpan" self-propelled mortar.

https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/...3017241821?s=20

Stryker APC burns well

i wonder if this is related to the Ukraine head of GUR mention...
looks like something big exploded in Crimea.

Attempts To Push Through The Russian Defense Were Unsuccessful. Military Summary For 2023.08.23 😵