Date

Author

The Insider

Source

The Insider

Preserved copy

Internet Archive

Translated material

"Shaheds" attacked the Ukrainian port of Izmail on the Danube, Russian troops counterattacked on the Vremevsky salient. What's happening at the front

News

"Shaheds" attacked the Ukrainian port of Izmail on the Danube, Russian troops counterattacked on the Vremevsky salient. What's happening at the front

August 2, 2023

In today's summary:

In the Zaporizhzhya direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to bypass Rabotino from the east;
The RF Armed Forces are not abandoning attempts to return the abandoned Staromayorskoye under control;
The governors of the Kursk and Belgorod regions armed the defense with civilian Saiga carbines;
Kamikaze drones of the Shahed family attacked the Ukrainian port of Izmail on the Danube;
Reports of civilian ships breaking the Russian blockade in the Black Sea are untrue;
The Russian military duplicates reports about the loss of enemy equipment twice as often as the Ukrainian ones;
European officials never communicated to the United States a plan to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters;
Ukraine produces its own demining vehicles based on civilian tracked tractors.

Situation at the front

The WarGonzo project reports an unsuccessful attempt by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with artillery support, to advance east of Rabotino (south of Orekhov ) and reach the Novoprokopovka-Verbovoe line. The authors of the project note that “the intensity of Ukrainian attacks has noticeably decreased.”

Alexander Khodakovsky shares news from the village of Urozhainoye on the Vremevsky ledge . According to him, Russian servicemen stationed there have to “pee in a jar so as not to lean out of cover once again” due to the density of artillery fire.

Ukrainian military observer Konstantin Mashovets writes about attempts by Russian forces to counterattack in the direction of the previously abandoned village of Staromayorskoye (west of Urozhaynoye ) and the transfer closer to the line of combat contact of tactical groups from the 305th artillery brigade, armed with large-caliber artillery systems.

Mashovets claims that south of Bakhmut, units of the Russian Armed Forces retreated behind the railway line, leaving the villages of Andreevka and Kleshcheevka in the “gray zone”.

The governors of the Belgorod and Kursk regions announced that Russian vigilantes (territorial defense) received military weapons - primarily machine guns. As Rybar notes , it is impossible to simply extradite him to civilians, since such actions do not comply with Russian legislation. Based on the words of the Kursk governor Roman Starovoit, it can be assumed that the weapons will be stored in specially designated areas. But, as the authors of “Rybar” write, this creates a risk that at a crucial moment the storage room will be locked.

Oryx is a military-themed project based on open source intelligence (OSINT). Created by two Dutch analysts who previously collaborated with the Bellingcat investigative project. It is considered the most reliable and comprehensive aggregator of data on visually confirmed losses of weapons, military and special equipment during the war in Ukraine.

Storm Shadow - air-launched cruise missiles of the French-British design Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG ( Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée - Emploi Général ). The mass of the warhead is 450 kg, the range of the modifications transferred to Ukraine, apparently, does not exceed 300 km.

"Shahed" is the name of a family of Iranian kamikaze drones, specifically the Shahed-131 and Shahed-136. Localized Russian versions are called "Geran-1" and "Geran-2". The flight range of the Geran-2 drone is up to 2.5 thousand km, the weight of the warhead is 50 kg.

“Rybar” is a Telegram channel covering foreign policy issues and armed conflicts. One of the largest and most cited sources of information about the war with Ukraine in the Z-environment. Created by former employee of the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense Mikhail Zvinchuk (under EU sanctions).

Vremevsky ledge is the conventional name of the operational area south of Velikaya Novoselka . During the counter-offensive, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are completely occupied by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Ministry of Defense uses the term South Donetsk direction when describing the fighting in this area, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense uses the Berdyansk direction .

Alexander Khodakovsky is one of the separatist field commanders in Donbass in 2014. Now the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Guard for the “DPR”.

WarGonzo is a media project of “military correspondent” Semyon Pegov. Covers local military conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, from a pro-Russian position. According to its own statements, it exists at the expense of subscribers.

1/2

The Z-channel “Military Informant” identified the “machine guns” issued to Russian Teroborontsy. They turned out to be civilian Saiga hunting carbines, capable of firing only a single fire and not functioning when their butt is folded. Thus, it becomes clear how the governors solved the problems caused by the legislation - they handed over to the vigilantes weapons that were allowed for civilians, but practically useless in a real battle.

Mutual shelling and sabotage

The Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reports that on the night of August 2, 23 Shahed kamikaze drones were intercepted. The launch took place from three directions: from Kursk , Primorsko-Akhtarsk ( Krasnodar Territory ) and Cape Chauda ( Crimea ).

All ten Shaheds flying to Kiev , according to the head of the Kiev city military administration Sergei Popko, were shot down. Falls of UAV debris were recorded in Solomensky , Goloseevsky and Svyatoshinsky districts , there was damage to non-residential premises and road surfaces. There is no information about casualties. Political scientist Yuriy Romanenko claims that two drones, one after another, hit the house of Ukrainian businessman Yuriy Kosyuk in the Kiev region .

Alexander Khodakovsky is one of the separatist field commanders in Donbass in 2014. Now the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Guard for the “DPR”.

A house in the Buchansky district of the Kyiv region, which was hit by debris from a kamikaze drone

UAVs also attacked the infrastructure of the Ukrainian port of Izmail on the Danube . As a result, the port's operations were completely stopped. According to Russian sources, the targets were the buildings of the sea terminal, the Danube Shipping Company, as well as a grain and oil storage facility. The port of Izmail is the main alternative route for the export of Ukrainian grain after Russia withdraws from the “grain deal”.

Alexander Khodakovsky is one of the separatist field commanders in Donbass in 2014. Now the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Guard for the “DPR”.

1/5

On July 31, Forbes published an article claiming that three ships “managed to break the Russian naval blockade” and arrive at one of the Ukrainian ports on the Danube . Experts told The Insider that this is not true. Navigation in Romanian territorial waters, through which the route of bulk carriers transporting grain from Danube ports passes, did not stop. But these ports are not designed for significant cargo turnover, and large ships cannot enter the Danube Delta. Accordingly, the problem of transporting Ukrainian grain can only be solved by the safety of the route between the Bosporus and the main Black Sea ports of Ukraine - Odessa and Yuzhny .

Alexander Khodakovsky is one of the separatist field commanders in Donbass in 2014. Now the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Guard for the “DPR”.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported a new attempt to attack on the night of August 2 a Navy ship escorting a civilian ship in the southwestern part of the Black Sea using a naval kamikaze drone. According to the department, the drone was “timely detected and destroyed.”

On August 1, the Russian department already reported a similar attack. After this, “military correspondent” Vladimir Romanov wrote that one of the unmanned boats exploded near the tanker “Sparta” (according to some sources, it regularly transports military cargo from Syria, accompanied by patrol ships). Ukrainian sources published allegedly intercepted conversations between Russian helicopter pilots, allegedly discussing the hit of a sea drone in Sparta. This information was not confirmed - on August 2, Turkish maritime observer Yoruk Isik published a video of the tanker passing through the Bosphorus , in which it appears unharmed.

Alexander Khodakovsky is one of the separatist field commanders in Donbass in 2014. Now the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Guard for the “DPR”.

Passage of Spartak through the Bosphorus on August 2

An explosion was reported near the Gvardeyskoye airfield in Crimea . As Rybar writes , according to preliminary information, a rocket of an unknown type fell near a military base without damaging any objects on its territory. The authors of the channel suggest that the strike could have been carried out using a modified missile for the S-200 air defense system, or an OTRK Grom-2 missile. The use of a new type of drone, which has already been used to attack Razdolnoye, cannot be ruled out.

Alexander Khodakovsky is one of the separatist field commanders in Donbass in 2014. Now the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Guard for the “DPR”.

The Telegram channel “Two Majors” publishes photographs and videos of the wreckage of the Storm Shadow missile in Crimea . This is the first more or less reliable confirmation of the use of ammunition of this type in the occupied peninsula (although it is difficult to unambiguously geolocate the shooting location). As the Military Informant channel notes , Russian officials are hiding attacks by missiles of this type and passing them off as attacks by certain “drones,” since the Russian Ministry of Defense promised to respond to such cases by destroying “decision-making centers.”

Alexander Khodakovsky is one of the separatist field commanders in Donbass in 2014. Now the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Guard for the “DPR”.

The War Monitor project has calculated that in July the Russian side fired 150 missiles and 265 Shahed kamikaze drones into Ukraine. In total, out of 415 air targets, 293 were neutralized - 71%. At the same time, Ukrainian air defense failed to shoot down a single Onyx or X-22 missile, which were used to strike Odessa . The Ukraine Battle Map resource, whose analysis we covered in the previous report , calls for increasing supplies to Ukraine of Patriot or SAMP-T systems capable of dealing with such missiles.

Losses

According to The Wall Street Journal, since the beginning of the conflict, between 20 and 50 thousand Ukrainians (both military and civilian) have lost at least one limb, which is comparable to the figures of the First World War. Noting that the real number of amputees may be even higher, the publication refers to the Kyiv charity Houp Foundation and the German manufacturer of prosthetics Ottobock.

Independent researcher Archie Irving analyzed the data collected by the OSINT resource Oryx on the losses of equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Russian Armed Forces in the war and confirmed their reliability. At the same time, it turned out that the share of duplicate Ukrainian losses is twice as large as Russian ones - the author of the Telegram channel Moscow Calling attributes this to the fact that Russian “military correspondents” often post the defeat of the same Ukrainian equipment “from 30 different angles.” Overall, Irving found no more than 2% duplicates in the Oryx database.

Weapons and military equipment

The United States has not yet approved a plan for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters, CNN reports . It was planned that training would begin in August, but first the Americans must approve the program that will be drawn up by their European partners. This has not yet been done. Also, European countries have not yet agreed on who will supply aircraft to Ukraine.

It is reported that the first demining vehicle manufactured in Ukraine has passed state certification. It can clear anti-personnel mines and find anti-tank mines. So far, Ukrainian manufacturers can assemble only two such cars per month. As you can see in the photo, they are made on the basis of a civilian tracked tractor equipped with improvised armor.

Alexander Khodakovsky is one of the separatist field commanders in Donbass in 2014. Now the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Guard for the “DPR”.

1/2

The United States will formalize military assistance to Ukraine and Taiwan under one law. This has given rise to speculation that the Taiwanese armed forces will receive funds originally intended for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but this is not the case, it’s just that their allocation as a whole will be spelled out in one legislative act.

About the main events of the war on August 1 - in the previous report: A “suppressed electronic warfare” drone landed in Moscow City again, Kadyrov’s men are fighting with bushes, a Blyatmobile was spotted near the Russian Armed Forces. What's happening at the front

Alexander Khodakovsky is one of the separatist field commanders in Donbass in 2014. Now the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Guard for the “DPR”.

"Shaheds" attacked the Ukrainian port of Izmail on the Danube, Russian troops counterattacked on the Vremevsky salient. What's happening at the front

"Shaheds" attacked the Ukrainian port of Izmail on the Danube, Russian troops counterattacked on the Vremevsky salient. What's happening at the front

In today's summary:

Situation at the front

Mutual shelling and sabotage

A house in the Buchansky district of the Kyiv region, which was hit by debris from a kamikaze drone

Passage of Spartak through the Bosphorus on August 2

Losses

Weapons and military equipment

Subscribe to our newsletter