Ukrainian forces continued to make advances in and around #Robotyne in western #Zaporizhia Oblast as of August 22 amid indications that Russian forces likely have a limited presence in the settlement.

more info in continuing ISW tweet.

https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/16...3675609538?s=20

Russia Ukraine war news update. Ex-CIA Ray McGovern and Stephen Gardner discuss the collapse of Ukraine. The propaganda being put out by the New York Times to cover for Biden's failings. The worry around using a small tactile nuke in Russia. The real number of deaths in Ukraine and in Russia. Pentagon worried over the possibility of being dragged into the Russian conflict. f-16 jets won't save Ukraine, won't be delivered for a year and Abram tanks are still not delivered to Ukraine. We are witnessing a humanitarian crisis. This is your Russia Ukraine war news update.

🔥 The Russian S-400 complex was destroyed in the occupied Crimea

💥 On August 23, 2023, around 10:00 a.m., an explosion occurred near the village of Olenivka on Cape Tarkhankut in the temporarily occupied Crimea, which destroyed the Russian S-400 "Triumph" Air defense System

https://twitter.com/UKikaski/status/1694290991845347756?s=20

Missile attack on Cape Tarkhankut

On the morning of August 23, Ukrainian formations again attacked the Crimean peninsula. Cape Tarkhankut, where several military facilities are located, and which the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been actively monitoring for several weeks, including with the help of NATO satellites, came under attack.

❗️Only this time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine changed tactics: first, two drones, probably Mugin-5, which took off from Kryvyi Rih, approached a distance of 30-40 km to the peninsula and caused air defense fire.

The drones were shot down, but almost immediately after the launch of anti-aircraft missiles from the sea, three Ukrainian missiles were fired.

📌 Just yesterday, 40 km from Tarkhankut, a group of boats operated with scouts of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, who, probably, conducted visual observation of objects near the Crimea.

Yes, our pilots destroyed one of the boats, as well as two more near Snake Island, but the rest, operating 5-10 km away, left. Their activity there was unique, but today's attack shows that it is not accidental.

🔻 The strike itself, presumably, was inflicted by anti-ship missiles. It can be both "Harpoons" and "Neptunes". And here it is worth adding that for two weeks Ukrainian sailors have been actively transporting unidentified weapons to Snake Island and an empty gas production plant to the east of it.

And the threat from boats cannot be written off. They at least have man-portable anti-aircraft missile and anti-tank systems, including RBS-17, armed with Hellfires

❗️As was to be expected: the Ukrainian side published footage of the strike on the air defense positional area at Cape Tarkhankut. Only the S-300 air defense system, not the S-400, as well as the fuel tanker, came under attack, but the fact that the destruction of the air defense system fell on the UAV camera is also interesting.

Judging by the footage, the drone was located northwest of the impact site, that is, in the Black Sea somewhere south of the Tendra Spit. I immediately recall how a month and a half ago, the Armed Forces of Ukraine began testing the Tekever AR5 UAV together with the V-BAT, including for reconnaissance of the situation on the Kinburn Peninsula.

Considering that the Portuguese drone is equipped with the latest technology, it was not difficult to capture the moment of arrival while over the Black Sea. And with a high degree of probability, he took off from Vilkovo or Odessa, which again raises the issue of strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure along the coast.

📌 As for the impact itself, the arrival power is not too high. This casts doubt on the version with an anti-ship missile - the main part of the explosion was caused by the secondary detonation of ammunition.

Taking into account the activity of Ukrainian boats, which were picked up even at 30 km, it is quite possible that the ship's version of the high-precision Brimstone II missile was used in the attack. Its range makes it possible to hit from such a distance, and the power of the warhead is relatively small.

🔻And again the question arises why Ukrainian boats come so close to the shores of Crimea. They did this more than once, practicing such tactics, and only yesterday some countermeasures were taken. But this is not enough: we need a systematic defeat of the entire Ukrainian fleet, and this requires changes in the organization of the Russian Navy.

It's time to release the Varshavyanka.

🇺🇦Ukrainian soldiers from the 44th separate artillery brigade fire 155-mm cluster munitions at 🇷🇺Russian infantry, south of the village of Pyatikhatka, Zaporizhzhia region.

https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/...4945363031?s=20

🤣🤣🤣

🙅‍♂️ How do you explain to your boss that a drone was flying over your "super high tech air defense system", filming it as it was hit by a missile it's supposed to be able to shoot down?

This post has been edited by chaosneo: Aug 23 2023, 10:55 PM

that is a huge payload there...

https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1694272062628532292?s=20

Oh Lord! Stuck in Robotyne again...
FeelsBadMan

Really satisfying to see cluster munitions used on Russians.

Putin must be so mad with Biden for sending these to keep taking out his Russian boys.

Morning briefing of the Ministry of Defense of Russia (August 23, 2023)
⚡️ Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation

(23 August 2023)

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

▫️ In the Kupyansk direction, the assault detachments of the Zapad Group of Forces carried out offensive actions in the assigned areas of responsibility and improved the tactical situation.

▫️ With the support of aviation, artillery fire, and heavy flamethrowers, four attacks by assault groups of the 67th, Mechanised, 68th Jaeger, 25th Airborne, and 95th Air Assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were repelled close to Sinkovka (Kharkov region), Novoyegorovka, and Novosyolovskoye (Lugansk People's Republic).

▫️ The enemy's losses in this direction during the day amounted to up to 170 Ukrainian troops, one tank, five armoured fighting vehicles, three pick-up trucks, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, as well as one D-20 howitzer.

▫️ In Zaporozhye direction, four attacks of the AFU 65th Mechanised Brigade near Rabotino (Zaporozhye region) were repelled by competent actions of the Russian units, air strikes, and artillery fire during the day.

▫️ Up to 80 Ukrainian servicemen, four motor vehicles, Polish-made Krab and German-made Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery systems, one D-30 gun, three U.S.-made M119 howitzer, and one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-48 counter-battery radiation station have been neutralised.

▫️ In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces, in close co-operation with aviation and artillery, repelled three attacks by Ukrainian Armed Forces near Nevelskoye, Mayorsk, and Kurdyumovka (Donetsk People's Republic). The enemy has suffered losses of up to 180 Ukrainian troops, three armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, one Gvozdika and one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery systems, and D-30 and D-20 howitzers in this direction in the past 24 hours.

◽️ In Krasny Liman direction, the Tsentr Group of Forces' units, aviation, artillery, and heavy flamethrower systems inflicted losses on the units of AFU 21st Mechanised Brigade and 5th National Guard Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Yampolovka (Donetsk People's Republic) and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic). During the day in this direction, the enemy suffered losses of up to 60 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, two pick-up trucks, and one D-30 howitzer.

◽️ In South Donetsk direction, aviation and artillery of the Vostok Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on clusters of AFU manpower and hardware close to Staromayorskoye and Urozhaynoye (Donetsk People's Republic). In addition, two AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups were disabled near Rovnopol (Donetsk People's Republic).

◽️ The enemy's losses amounted to up to 145 Ukrainian troops killed and wounded, one tank, as well as one American-made M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery system during the day.

◽️ In Kherson direction, up to 20 Ukrainian troops, three motor vehicles, and one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer were destroyed by enemy fire.

▫️ Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged AFU manpower and hardware in 143 areas during the day. One P-18 radar for detecting and tracking air targets was neutralised near Zaporozhye.

▫️ Two command posts of the AFU 67th Mechanised and 81st Airmobile brigades was eliminated close to Serebryanka and Dronovka (Donetsk People's Republic).

▫️ Russian air defence forces have intercepted one HIMARS MLRS projectile during the day.

◽️ Moreover, 18 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down close to Shipilovka, Privolye, Makeyevka (Lugansk People's Republic), Berestovoye, Kurdyumovka (Donetsk People's Republic), Chistopolye, Lyubimovka, Mirnoye, and Inzhenernoye (Zaporozhye region).

📊 In total, 462 airplanes and 246 helicopters, 5,970 unmanned aerial vehicles, 431 air defence missile systems, 11,457 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,144 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,011 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 12,390 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is believed to be dead in a plane crash in Russia. Prigozhin was on the passenger list of a business jet that crashed enroute from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Ten people are reported dead in the crash and it is unclear if Prigozhin had boarded the aircraft. The crash comes months after he rebelled against Russian president Vladimir Putin. Watch.


Wagner Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list of the plane that crashed in Russia, but it wasn't immediately clear if he was on board. A plane carrying three pilots and seven passengers that was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg went down more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the capital, according to officials cited by Russia’s state news agency Tass.


A purported video sourced by Associated Press shows a plane believed to be Wagner Aircraft crashing somewhere in Russia. The plane is said to be the same aircraft in which Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is reported dead. The crash occurred in the north of Russian capital Moscow and 10 people are confirmed killed. It is unclear whether Prigozhin was onm board the aircraft.


U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he was not surprised by reports that Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin may have died in a plane crash, adding that not much happens in the country that President Vladimir Putin is not behind.


Russian Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board, according to Russia’s civil aviation agency. The crash also comes after Russian media reported that a top general linked to Prigozhin was dismissed from his position as commander of the air force. Russia’s civilian aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, quickly reported that he was on the manifest and later said that, according to the airline, he was indeed on board.

RIP

i wonder what aircraft was shot down?

💥 The security and defense forces of Ukraine struck an enemy plane in the Black Sea
☑️ A collision between a Russian military aircraft and Ukrainian warships took place in the territorial waters of Ukraine near Zmiiny Island.

https://twitter.com/DI_Ukraine/status/16943...0188973535?s=20

TLDR:
russian heli pilot defected. made a good choice.

-----

Fighrerbomber tells a story about a Russian Mi-8 helicopter that got lost and apparently landed on the Ukrainian airfield in Poltava a few weeks back. Once they tried to take off again, they were shot.

A Russian pilot of a Mi-8 AMTSH defected with his helicopter to Ukraine few weeks ago. The chopper was transporting spare parts for Su-27 and Su-30M fighter jets. The operation was coordinated with the Ukrainian intelligence. The other 2 crew members of the Mi-8 were killed after the chopper landed somewhere in Kharkiv. The family of the Russian pilot was brought to safety.

Chopper and spare parts now in possession of the Ukrainian forces.

There was a similar story circulating today where a Russian pilot "accidentally" flew to Poltava. Since I found this story rather unlikely (Poltava is too far away from Russia) I ignored it, but this fits and is backed by statements of Ukrainian officials.

I have also to correct my initial post. The operation was ongoing for 6 months but the defection took place recently and not a "few weeks ago". Likely within the last 48h.

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/16...1274089629?s=20

Tldw: SU-30. Maybe not shot down but sent away with its tail behind its back.
The same Ukrainian boats were likely responsible for destroying the S400 installation in Crimea. Talk about value for money.

Prigozhin Did Not Die, He Landed In Hell To Win There Too. Military Summary And Analysis 2023.08.24