Bilateral attacks on fuel infrastructure. 1273rd Day of War
Ukrainian forces partially stabilised the situation in the breach area north of Pokrowska. They regained control of the village of Zołota Kołodiaź and placed the close Wedding and Hruźke, thus blocking the further movement of hostile subdivisions to the north. They besides strengthened the defence of the node Dobropol, displacing Russian diversional-opportunity groups from its perimeter. Most sites east of it are not presently controlled by either side, but the aggressor's troops have greater freedom of movement.
In order to halt the invaders from entering operational space, which threatened to flank Kramatorsk from the west, Ukrainian command drew considerable force, mostly from another sections of the front (according to DeepState, subdivisions from 10 brigades and regiments were involved). The invaders were not ready to usage their success, who utilized comparatively tiny forces to break the enemy's defence lines. The continued advancement of the aggressor has besides been hampered by the logistics situation – under Ukrainian control there is inactive a local Chess node, which is presently the main mark of hostile attacks in the area.
Russian diversionary-opportunity activities reached the east borders of Constantinówka. According to any sources, the aggressor occupied the Predteczyne bordering it southwest of Jaru Times. He besides made further advancement south of Constantinówka, south and west of Pokrovsk and on the border of the Donetsk and Djepropetrowski circuits. Under the supervision of the defenders, there is no uncertainty that only 1 border town on the first side of the mentioned circuits – Komyszuwacha. insignificant terrain changes in favour of the invaders besides occurred to the northeast of Siewiersk, north of Lyman and northwest of Kupansk.
North of Sum the Ukrainians regained further positions and pushed the enemy towards the Kursk circuit. As a consequence of the shelling of the Russian backdrop in the second mentioned circuits at night from 16 to 17 August close Rylsk, a deputy commander of the Siewier group was badly wounded, while deputy commander of Leningrad Military territory General Esedula Abachev was besides wounded.
On 19 August, the aggressor launched a massive attack on fuel-energy infrastructure in the Poltava region. NASA's FIRMS photos confirmed large fires in practically the full area of the Siliconchuk refinery. The objects were besides ignited in Łubnia, and part of the lubieński region was cut off from power supply. The harm to the ground infrastructure was confirmed by the Ukrainian energy ministry. According to the Ukraine Air Force Command, the invaders utilized 10 ballistic and maneuvering missiles and 270 impact drones and their atraps that night – mainly in the Poltava region. The defenders declared that six rockets were shot down and 230 unmanneds were neutralized. In addition to the Poltava circuit, hostile drones hit, among others, in the Chernihow region, where energy infrastructure was damaged and power supply was stopped.
On the evening of 17 August, Russian unmanned aircraft completely destroyed the fuel base of the Azerbaijani SOCAR company in the Odessa area. This was confirmed by sources in Baku (Ukrainians informed about the fuel and energy infrastructure facility). The drones damaged it on 8 August. The demolition of the base, as well as an earlier attack on the SOCAR petrol station, can be associated with the deterioration of relations on the Russia–Azerbeijan line observed in fresh months.
In the run-up to the gathering of US and Russian leaders in Alaska (see Alaska Summit: Putin's success, Trump's concessions) the aggressor halted the impact on Ukrainian cities. The first after the break was to fall on Pavlohrad on the evening of August 15, but its mark was most likely military. This city besides suffered from enemy ballistic missiles 2 days later. On 17 and 18 August, Russian rockets and drones hit the Kharkiv industrial area. In the second attack, 1 of the unmanned people hit a residential building – 7 people were killed and 24 people were injured (including 2 and six children respectively). On 18 August, the mark of the sparkers was critical infrastructure in Zaporozh. As a consequence of this attack, 3 were killed and 33 civilians were injured. Ballistic missiles besides hit Slavic (16 and 18 August) and Suma (17 and 18 August). A full of 746 strike drones and their atrap and 30 rockets, mostly Iskander-M ballistic missiles, were to be utilized from 12 August to 19 August. The defenders announced neutralizing 538 drones and shooting down 8 missiles.
Ukrainian unmanneds hit the oil pumping plant of the Russian company Transnieft, which resulted in the fuel being stopped by the Druzba pipeline.On the evening of August 12, the key distribution station of Uniecz in the Briansk Oblast was damaged, and on the night of August 18 – the Nikolask Oblast in the Tambov Oblast. Consequently, Russian oil has ceased to flow to Slovakia and Hungary (to the only EU countries that proceed to import natural material on this route). Budapest criticized the attacks, talks with Moscow about restoring supplies and threatens Kiev to halt supplying electricity.
As a consequence of Ukrainian attacks at night from 13 on 14 August, production in the Łukoil refinery in Volgograd was discontinued. According to Reuter Agency, 3 oil distillation installations were damaged, and resume work should be expected at the earliest in mid-September. This makes both attacks 1 of the most effective since those targeted at enemy fuel infrastructure facilities in the summertime of 2024. Another attack at the oil refinery in Volgograd took place on 19 August, but most likely did not origin crucial damage. Ukrainian unmanned aircraft besides attacked refineries in Sisran in the Samarski Oblast (15 August), where the fire occurred, and in Slavanská nad Kuban in the Krasnodarsk Country (13 August, most likely without results).
As a consequence of the massive attack on Belgorod on 14 August, among others, the building of local regional authorities suffered. On the same day 1 Ukrainian drone exploded in the centre of Rostov nad Don (Russian sources reported 13 injured residents). According to a message from the Ukrainian General Staff the following day in the port of Ola in the Astrachan Oblast, unmanned aircraft were to hit a ship with ammunition and components for Shahed drones from Iran. No another sources have confirmed it yet.
12 August Head of the safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) Vasil Maluk stated that the aggressor operation under the code name ‘Diversity noise’ is effectively neutralised by local services.The plan was to be approved by Putin in late 2023, and assumes attacks throughout Ukraine – from the arson of average vehicles to the usage of improvised explosives. According to Maluk 80% of attempts to sabotage and terrorist attacks were thwarted in advance. A double agent, controlled by SBU “agents” the enemy considers to be theirs, plays a key function in their fight. The head of the SBU recalled that since the beginning of full-scale aggression counterintelligence had liquidated 118 Russian agent networks, 3.5 1000 people were charged with treason and over 1,000 prison sentences were issued for many years – from 12 years to life.
Under the alleged precedence list of needs for Ukraine (Priorised Ukraine Requirements List, PURL) Germany will spend $500 million on US military weapons and equipment for this countryWhat NATO reported on 13 August. Latvia will besides join the initiative, which announced that €2 million would be purchased in the US. On 14 August, president Volodymyr Zelenski concluded that under PURL, European countries had already raised $1.5 billion (previously, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden announced their contributions). During talks in Washington, D.C., on August 18, the Ukrainian leader expressed his willingness to purchase, at the expense of European states, US arms for $90 billion. It would form part of the safety warrant for Kiev.
As part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (SHU), the Board of Assault Forces was established, headed by Colonel Walentyn Manko, erstwhile commander of the 33rd Independent Assault Regiment (psz). On 18 August, General Alexander Syrski informed the army chief commander in a press interview, but he did not specify the tasks of the fresh structure. He treated Manka's appointment as a step to motivate and inspire fresh volunteers. As an example, he besides identified 2 another regimental commanders – Oleh Szyriayev of 225 spsz and Yuri Harkawa of 425 spsz “Skała” – and the commander of the Unmanned Systems Force Robert Browdi, Pseudod. Madiar, who had previously been civilian businessmen.
Mr Syrski stressed that in the face of a crucial demographic imbalance in the mobilisation of Ukraine and Russia (2–5 million to 20–25 million people), the army focused on compensating staff shortages with modern combat technologies that do not require direct participation of soldiers and improving the quality of military training. He besides added that the time of this primary was extended from 30 to 51 days, and the adaptation before being assigned to the unit takes 15 days.
On 14 August, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence announced that 50 companies received support for a full amount of 2.7 billion hryvnia (more than $65) under the state-run programme for granting preferential loans to producers of the defence and industrial complex since December.. This kind of debt is sought mainly by manufacturers of unmanned aircraft and their components. Private sector companies that deficiency working capital to improve and increase their production capacity can receive up to 100 million hryvnia (about $2.5 million) for up to 3 years and up to 500 million hryvnia (about $12 million) for up to 5 years for investment projects.
18 August A programme of actions was published setting out key policy lines for government from 2025 to 2026.. The safety and Defence Point announced an increase in national arms production, highlighted the continuation of the global partnership for financial support for arms production, including by extending the alleged Danish model(see besides A proven ally? engagement of Denmark in assistance to Ukraine), and the creation of joint ventures with companies specified as Rheinmetall, BAE Systems and Thales. It was stated that the full transition to the body strategy would take place by the end of 2026, and by the end of this year fresh contract terms for soldiers would be developed, taking into account additional financial and incentive incentives for military personnel.
The head of the Defence Ministry of Denys Shmyhal declared that the Ukrainian army's numbers would not be drastically reduced after the war ended. This process is to be gradual, "planned and calculated" due to the continuing threat from the FR. The Minister stated that even after the hypothetical end of the ongoing conflict Russia would stay an existential threat to Ukraine. He revealed that talks were underway with global partners about the postwar form of the SZU. It is planned to keep the professional and contractual character of the army without abrupt demobilization of large forces. It is considered maintaining a population of between 800,000 and 1 million people.
According to information provided on 13 August by Ukrainian Military Intelligence (HUR) The Russian army maintains a advanced completion of military units, and 98% of officers' posts are filled.The aggressor recruits about 30–35 1000 people per month, which is adequate to replenish losses. About 25% of fresh soldiers are exempt from criminal establishments or are subject to criminal proceedings. By early August 2025, invaders had already incarnated over 290 1000 of the planned 343 1000 people. At the same time, HUR states that due to the expanding deficit of the Russian national budget and financial problems in regions in many parts of the country, payments to fresh recruits have been reduced. For example, in Bashkiria, the amount of “premium” fell from 1.6 million rubles (about $20,000) to 1 million (about $12.5 thousand).
HUR stresses that the enemy's weapons manufacture continues to make intensively the production of unmanned aircraft,including Shahed assault drones, which are expected to be 79,000 by the end of the year. For this purpose, Russia has launched additional production lines, including in plants in Izhevsk and Jełabudze. At the same time, it strives for complete independency from import of components – airframes, engines and navigation systems (except microelectronics) are already produced locally. According to HUR, self-sufficiency in this area poses a serious challenge for Ukraine, which plans to counter it through rocket strikes and sabotage.
According to Chief HUR North Korea intends to send Russia another 6,000 soldiers and 50 to 100 military equipment, including M-2010 tanks (Cheonma-D) and BTR-80 armoured transporters.Some of them are to be utilized for engineering work. According to Kyryl Budanov, about 11,000 DPRK troops are already stationed in Russia, and this number is expected to emergence to 17,000. any of the military may be active in demining or building fortifications, but it is not certain that their tasks will be limited only to engineering activities.
