Ukrainian forces are reinforcing their defense in the eastern Donetsk region as Russian troops attempt to seize the city of Sloviansk. Sloviansk, along with Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostiantynivka, is a key part of Ukraine's "fortress belt" of cities.
Meanwhile, Britain and France have made a crucial decision to transfer Storm Shadow cruise missile technology to Kyiv. Ukraine is shifting its air defense strategy to destroying Russia's means of ballistic missile production and launch, rather than intercepting the missiles individually.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi made his first major decision on August 26 to reinforce two units defending Sloviansk. Russian forces have also been infiltrating the fortress city of Kostiantynivka to the south of Sloviansk, but do not control it.
Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets said Kyiv still maintains positions in central and northern Kostiantynivka. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 70-80 percent of Russian casualties are taking place on the Kostiantynivka front. He estimated Russian losses this year at 267,000, including at least 155,000 killed.
Russian Commander-in-Chief Valery Gerasimov claimed on Thursday that his troops were within four kilometers of Sloviansk. However, maps published by Deep State and the Institute for the Study of War show Russian troops are between 12 and 16 kilometers from Sloviansk.
Ukraine is pressing a campaign to hobble the supply of Russian men, munitions, and fuel to the front line by targeting storages, airfields, and transport routes. The ISW estimated Russia has lost 27 square kilometers in August and at least 233 square kilometers this year.
On August 20, Ukraine destroyed 18 buildings storing aerial drones at the Primorsko-Akhtarsk airfield in Krasnodar Krai, and a Sukhoi-24 fighter at the Saky airfield in Crimea. Two days later, Ukrainian drones destroyed a Sukhoi-33 and a MiG-29 fighter at the Vityazevo airfield in Krasnodar, along with an Orion strike drone.
On August 24, Ukraine destroyed another MiG-29 at Millerovo airfield in Rostov. It has also targeted ballistic missile launchers and radar complexes. Ukraine has hit a dozen Russian military supply vessels, bringing the total number of disabled ships to 242.
In Crimea, Ukraine has struck 267 power stations and substations in six weeks, resulting in a near-blackout across the peninsula. Russia-installed head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov acknowledged "objective difficulties that cannot be resolved in the short term." Ukraine's Commander of Unmanned Systems Forces Robert Brovdi suggested Crimean households have electricity for about an hour a day on average.
Ukraine's long-range strikes have hit Russian refineries 31 times since the beginning of June. Since August 20, it has struck the Akhtubinsk refinery, the Astrakhan gas processing plant, Lukoil refineries in Perm and Nizhny Novgorod, the Novokuybyshevsk refinery, and the Afipsky refinery. Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs President Alexander Shokhin reportedly said Ukrainian drone strikes have removed 25-30 percent of Russian oil refining capacity.
This economic warfare has also incinerated 15 of the largest distribution centers of Russia's largest online retailer, Wildberries, causing an estimated three trillion rubles ($35 billion) in damage. On August 24, Ukraine also struck Ozon, Russia's second-largest online retailer, for the first time.
Russia has been hitting Ukraine's cities in what it claims are reciprocal strikes. Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "The Kyiv regime has set out to damage our economy. What has it done? It's opened Pandora's box itself." Russia has also launched economic warfare against Ukraine, recently striking its main grain exporting ports of Odesa and Chernomorsk.
Many Russian strikes have also hit residential and civilian sites. On August 21, Russian drones killed 16 people and injured 130 in Kryvyi Rih. On August 27, several people were injured after residential buildings in the Poltava, Sumy, and Kherson regions were hit.
Ukraine is increasingly targeting Russian aerospace industries. On August 24, it struck the Kamensk-Shakhtinsk factory manufacturing solid rocket fuel. Ukraine is working on putting its own ballistic missiles into scaled production by next year.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham handed Zelenskyy the blueprints to build Storm Shadow missiles during his visit to Kyiv on Independence Day, August 24 — a move that infuriated Russia.
Source: www.aljazeera.com