The Russian army creates a breach north of Pokrovsk. 1266th Day of War

In the Pokrovsk region, crucial advancement was made by the Russian army, which interrupted the Ukrainian line of defence to the northeast of the Pokrovsk–Myrnohrad agglomeration, entering the north with a wedge and approaching the village of Hruźke. In just 3 days, the Russians had travelled a distance of nearly 10 km, occupying the towns of Kuczeriw Jar and Zołoty Kołodiaź located to the east of the key for Ukrainian logistics of the village of Dobropole. The enemy increased its immediate threat by continuing to attack and occupying fresh Chess, Vilnius, Rubinne and Biłyćke. According to any sources, Russian diversional and investigative groups are to operate in the suburbs of Dobropol.

The abrupt advancement of the aggressor is the consequence of a crucial grouping of Russian troops focusing on this direction – The spokesperson for the operational-strategic group of the “Dnipro” troops informed on 9 August about 100,000 soldiers fighting in this direction – and the tactics of constant harassment of defenders against several-man militant groups. Their goal was to find the weak points of defence and make the breach. The invaders succeeded in this maneuver due to deficiency of personnel in Ukrainian defence. As a result, the further defence of Pokrovska is even more difficult, and the Russians are besides approaching the surroundings of Constantinówka from the west.

The Russian Army has besides made advancement in the Shaman direction, taking over the east part of the erstwhile Serebrian Forest Reserve and preparing to cross the Black Ribbæć River. Taking over Zariczne will facilitate Jampil's surroundings from the north and approaching from the east to Lyman at a distance allowing constant harassment of the city by drones.

The invader does not halt trying to grow his conquests north of Kupańsk, where he managed to grow the wedge towards the village of Hołubiwka – Radkiwka. Further advancement and seizure of the towns of Myrowe (until June this year – Moscow) and Sobolivka will enable the occupier to cut off the way leading to Kupuńsk from Czuhujew and importantly impede the logistics activities of Ukrainians.

The defenders have comparatively succeeded in stabilising the situation in the Summary direction. Ukrainian forces took over Bezsalivka and besides drove out the aggressor from Stepny and Novocostinywki.

The Russians proceed massive rocket and drone attacks, destroying civilian infrastructure facilities. In fresh days, Zaporozhye became their target: on 6 August, air bombs hit the resort, resulting in 2 deaths, and respective (including children) were injured. On August 10, respective twelve kamikaze drones Shahed hit residential buildings, bus station and medical clinic – at least 23 people were injured. On the same day, the Emergency Center of the Zaporoska atomic Power Plant was besides damaged.

On 6 August, Nikopol was besides chosen for the mark of the Shahed drone attack – 3 people were killed, six injured. The impact on the city was repeated on 10 August – 12 people were injured. On 7 August, Russian drones attacked in Kharkiv, where industrial facilities were damaged, on 8 August in Buczy – respective twelve private buildings, kindergarten and church were destroyed, on 9 August they hit industrial plants in Dnieper, and on 10 August – a building of peripheral administration in Sumach (for the second time in 2 weeks).

On the night of 6 to 7 August, Russian drones attacked a gas pumping station in Orliwka close the Ukrainian-Romanian border in the Ode region. The station was utilized to import natural material by trans-Balcan pipeline from Azerbaijan. On 28 July, the Blue Fuel investigating Agreement was signed by the gas companies Naftohaz and SOCAR. Then, on the night of 8 August, the Russian “shahedy” hit the fuel base of this Azerbaijani company in the Odyssk Odyssk region. The attacks became the subject of a telephone conversation between Presidents Volodymyr Zelenski and Ilham Aliyev, who assessed them as a deliberate act of Russia to prevent the transport of Azerbaijan's gas to Ukraine and another European countries. On 11 August, Azerbaijani authorities notified Kiev of the transfer of $2 million of humanitarian aid for the acquisition of electrical equipment.

On the night of 11 to 12 August, Russian troops carried out a rocket attack on 1 of the training bases, resulting in 1 soldier being killed and 11 wounded. On August 12, the fresh York Times reported that at least 12 abroad volunteers were killed as a consequence of the Russian attack on the military training center in Kropywnicki on July 21 and over 100 another members of the global Legion were injured.

During the last week, units of Ukrainian military intelligence and Unmanned Systems Force have made a massive attack on fuel infrastructure facilities in Russia, leading to a halt to the work of at least 1 of the Russian refineries. On 7 August, Ukrainian drones hit the Afip refinery in the Krasnodar Region, resulting in a fire which according to local authorities was to be rapidly extinguished. On August 10, Ukrainian kamikaze drones hit a refinery in Saratov and caused damage, which most likely resulted in halting the plant's work. On the same day, an detonation occurred as a consequence of an attack by unmanned workers on oil processing plants in Uchota, Komi Republic (about 1,700 km from the border with Ukraine). On the another hand, at night from 11 to 12 there was an impact on the facilities of the Monocrystal plant in Stavropol producing optoelectronic devices for military purposes. The effects of possible harm stay unknown so far.

Ukrainian Military Intelligence (HUR) conducted an effective cyber attack on the infrastructure of 1 of the largest Russian net and hosting companies for the Russian Federation force sector – Filanco on 11 August. As a result, 11 servers were destroyed and about 17 TB of data was erased, and funds of around $1.3 million were besides stolen from her accounts.

Denmark, Norway and Sweden announced on August 5 that they would fund a US-conquered ammunition package (mainly for Patriot systems) and military equipment with a full value of $500 million. Stockholm has pledged to donate $275 million, Oslo – 135 million dollars and Copenhagen – 90 million dollars. At the same time, it was announced that the fresh aid mechanics for Kiev, according to which European countries buy arms and military equipment in the United States, is named the precedence List of Needs for Ukraine (PURL).

5 August The U.S. State Department issued 2 export approvals for Ukraine with a full value of $203.5 million. These include spare parts as well as repair and service services of a 155 mm M777 towed caliber ($104 million), as well as transport services for the supply of arms and military equipment and another related logistics components ($99,5 million).

On 6 August, in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” of Major General Maik Keller, Deputy Commander of the NSATU (NATO safety Assistance and Training for Ukraine), he admitted that respective months ago the Russians severely damaged 1 of the Patriot batteries supplied by Germany. The fire-control radar required repairs in Germany, which had been carried out, and the battery had already returned to the front in July. Thus, from publically available information it is known that At least 2 of the 5 Patriot batteries passed to Kiev were effectively electrocuted by the Russians and were temporarily excluded from the activities.

Since the beginning of this year, almost 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers, who voluntarily left the units, returned to service in the Armed Forces. As stressed by the State Bureau of Investigation on 5 August, for those who have committed desertion, this solution constitutes an chance to return to the army without being held criminally liable – if the court so decides.

6 August Head of the Defence Ministry Denys Szmyhal reported that the government supported a bill aimed at strengthening the protection of whistleblowers – soldiers reporting cases of corruption in defence structures. It provides, among another things, the right to study corruption suspicions, including to the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP), as well as the abolition of the work to inform the immediate commander of specified situations.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasil Bodnar handed over on 6 August that the 5th group of volunteers from the Ukrainian Legion in Poland will sign contracts with the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the recruitment center in Lublin. He pointed out that it allows Ukrainians abroad to undergo first training, return to their homeland and join the army in an orderly and safe manner. Poland provides equipment, weapons and infrastructure for training, while Ukraine is liable for equipping volunteers with uniforms and medical means. The Kiev authorities do not disclose the number of contracts signed.

On 7 August, the non-governmental Anti-corruption Center revealed that the Defence Procurement Agency (AZO) provided only 23% of the drones covered by contracts to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2025. AZO is the largest buyer of drones for the army, in this year she concluded contracts for the sum of 102 billion hryvnia (about $2.5 billion). A day earlier, the Chamber of Auditors began controlling orders for unmanned systems. It will cover the full process – from planning, contracting, to monitoring their implementation. The audit should identify irregularities in this respect and propose corrective measures.

5 August Head of the Office of the president of Ukraine Andrij Jermak reported that in shot down Russian shock drones Shahed 136 found components produced by Indian companies Vishay Intertechnology and Aura Semiconductor. He stressed the request to prevent Russia from accessing abroad dual-use goods. He besides pointed out that Kiev had formally raised this issue in talks with the Government of India and the EU.

5 August Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Alexander Syrski indicated that in connection with Russia's plan to make by the end of this year 10 fresh divisions (two have already been formed), Kiev has no choice but to proceed mobilization, make combat training and strengthen the component of the unmanned army. In his opinion, Russian losses in July amounted to over 33.2 1000 people – 800 more than a period earlier. At the same time, the opponent increases the number of his forces by about 9,000 soldiers per month.

11 August The State Border Service of Ukraine has notified the arrival of respective 100 Russian soldiers and the location of respective twelve military equipment in the territory of Belarus. Soldiers are to participate in joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises “Zapad 2025” planned for September. At the same time, any Belarusian forces were sent to Russia, where exercises are besides to take place. It has been noted that Kiev is constantly monitoring the situation, especially in view of the anticipation of further spread of Russian units to Belarus and possible threat to Ukraine, and that the current Russian army in Belarus is not a serious threat. At the same time, the hazard of provocation or escalation in the border area during the exercise was not excluded.

On 7 August, on the website of the alleged Ministry of Education and discipline of the Lugansk People's Republic, the business authorities listed Ukrainian children from the Lugansk region with a detailed description of their character, interests and even appearance. They can be “filtered” by gender, eye colour and hair. This is akin to the slave catalogue – they are described as “peaceful”, “obedient”, “easy in contact”. Most children before the Russian business had Ukrainian citizenship. any of them lost their parents as a consequence of war, while others were forced to give Russian documents, legalising their kidnapping. In Russia and occupied territories – according to the data of a squad of experts from Yale University – there may be about 35 1000 Ukrainian children found missing. any of them were forced to be adopted, and any went to children's homes or military centers.