Ukrainian troops in the counter-offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine, August 25, 2023


Monday’s Coverage: Zelenskiy — Military Liberation of East and South, Political Liberation of Crimea


Map: Institute for Study of War


UPDATE 1722 GMT:

A “farewell ceremony” behind closed doors has been held for Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed and possibly assassinated in a jet crash last Wednesday.

A statement said those who wanted to mourn should go to the Porokhovskoye cemetery in his hometown of St. Petersburg. The cemetery later said that the arrangements were in accordance with the family’s wishes.

A cemetery employee said:

There were 20 to 30 people. Only relatives, I know them. The ceremony went on for 40 minutes. All were in civilian clothes. I did not see the military.


UPDATE 1430 GMT:

The funeral of Valery Chekalov, the mercenary Wagner Group’s head of logistics and one of 10 victims in a jet crash north of Moscow last Wednesday, has been held in St. Petersburg’s Severnoye cemetery.

The crash also killed Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin and its military command Dmitry Utkin.

See also EA on Times Radio: Putin, Prigozhin, and Trump

Chekalov’s family were joined by dozens of mourners, including Wagner mercenaries.

UPDATE 1131 GMT:

A 45-year-old man has been killed by Russian shelling of Kupyansk in northeast Ukraine, near the frontline.

The victim worked as a security guard at a meat processing plant was damaged. A 67-year-old man was wounded, as an apartment building and a private house were struck.


UPDATE 1111 GMT:

Russian State TV hosts and commentators are attacking military observers — “milbloggers” — who are posting about the heavy losses suffered by Moscow’s forces, lacking ammunition and artillery support, as they face Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the south.

Propagandist Boris Yakemenko said, “Parasites have to be gotten rid of!” Olga Kurlaeva complained, “This is an information war which you bitches are blowing!”

State TV’s flagship program complemented the denunciations with faked video from the Russian Defense Ministry “proving” that all is well in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

In fact, the footage was shot in the middle of a training ground, with the cameraman standing in the open as five troops stood in a dugout in the middle of a meadow.


UPDATE 0925 GMT:

A Moscow court has sentenced Ruslan Leviev, the founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team, and journalist Michael Naki in absentia to 11 years in prison.

Prosecutors charged Leviev and Naka over a YouTube video last March in which they summarized the ninth day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They are accused of spreading “fakes” about the Russian military.

Naki left Russia in summer 2021 and Leviev after the start of the invasion. Both have been designated as “foreign agents”, and the Conflict Intelligence Team is an “undesirable organization”.


UPDATE 0841 GMT:

Ukraine’s military says its counter-offensive is advancing farther in the Zaporizhzhia region after last weekend’s liberation of the village of Robotyne.

Spokesperson Andriy Kovalyov said, “Ukrainian forces had successes in the direction of Novodanylivka to Verbove.” Troops are holding liberated territory and attacking Russian artillery.

Robotyne is 10 km (6.2 miles) south of Ukranian-held Orikhiv, in the direction of the port city of Melitopol. Novodanylivka and Verbove are 13 km and 18 km, respectively, to the south of Orkihiv.


UPDATE 0659 GMT:

Facing international sanctions and an arrest warrant, Vladimir Putin will not attend the G20 summit in India in early September, instead sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Speaking by phone with Putin on Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “expressed an understanding” for the decision.

Modi and Putin discussed “issues of mutual concern”, including last week’s BRICS summit in South Africa, which Putin addressed via video link.

The South African Government urged Putin not to attend in person, citing the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant over Russia’s deportations of Ukrainian children.


UPDATE 0656 GMT:

South Korea has announced a financial aid package of ₩52 billion ($394 million) for Ukraine next year, a 700% increase from 2022.

The package includes funds for reconstruction and humanitarian aid.


UPDATE 0633 GMT:

Russian attacks killed at least five civilians and wounded four in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine on Monday.

Two people were slain in the village of Dalne, and one each in the areas of Toretsk, Lyman, and Velyka Novosilka.

In the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, one civilian was killed and four wounded in attacks on residential areas and preschool buildings.


UPDATE 0631 GMT:

The Russian Defense Ministry claims air defenses destroyed two Ukrainian drones in the Tula region south of Moscow early Tuesday.

The Ministry said another drone was downed over the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine at 11 p.m. on Monday.


ORIGINAL ENTRY: Several of Russia’s leading military observers say Russian troops, lacking artillery and ammunition, are suffering heavy losses and losing territory to the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south of the country.

Roman Saponkov, a “milblogger” with more than 70,000 subscribers, wrote last Friday that troops in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine had spoken with him: “The brigade commander and the chief of the reconnaissance battalion are sending our guys in without artillery support, without drones — poor guys are being killed in packs.”

Visioner’s Channel echoed on Sunday that Russia’s 205th brigade is facing “an alarming signal of crisis in the army and the country”.

Echoing the complaints of Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin — killed and possibly assassinated last week in a jet crash — the channel said that “the main problem of the Russian Ministry of Defense is well known” over insufficient ammunition.

After the disaster with Prigozhin, there was confidence that now, at any rate, things would start to move forward and that changes would begin. But the third month has gone by, yet there is still nothing.

The Republic channel discussed “the growing problems in the Russian army” on the southern front on Monday.

The 205th [Separate Motorized Rifle] Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces that is fighting in the Kherson region was ordered to occupy islands on the Dnipro River; the servicemen responded by saying that they lacked ammunition, food, artillery support and reconnaissance.

Another observer said outrage over the treatment of the 205th Brigade had divided milbloggers over the Russian Defense Ministry. One said he is refraining from sharing 90% of his information on Russian military failures, since officials would perceive that as a personal attack on them instead of considering how to improve conditions for troops.

Russian fortifications, prepared for months with minefields, wire, and trenches, initially held up the Ukrainian counter-offensive launched in early June.

However, in recent days the Ukrainians have made a significant advance in the southern front in the Zaporizhzhia region, in the direction towards the port city of Melitopol.

Over the weekend, troops completed the liberation of the village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region. They are advancing southeast towards the settlements of Novodanylivka, Novoprokopivka, and Ocheretuvate.

Significantly, the lead Ukrainian units appear to have passed the first line of Russian fortifications.