Interesting how we haven't heard much about the situation in Klishchiivka. Had either side secured full control of the town by now we would've heard of it, so for now it appears that the frontline hasn't changed much recently. Ukraine in all likelihood is still situated in the southern portion of the town and Russia in the north. The main Ukrainian attacks over the past week have been focused on Klishchiivka's southern flank, where they pushed through fields towards Kurdyumivka and Andriivka. Both towns are still under Russian control but Ukraine now has positions on some heights overlooking Klishchiivka from the south.

To the north of Klishchiivka Ukraine has recently attempted to enter the forested areas but have not secured any breakthroughs there yet. Their intention is to flank the Russian defenses along the rail line in order to continue putting pressure on Bakhmut's southern flank.

In recent days Ukraine's main attacks have been focused on Berkhivka where fighting has resumed. So far VDV is holding the line there. Ukraine's mechanized units are attacking from Orikhovo-Vasylivka towards Dubovo-Vasylivka through two roads. One runs directly into Dubovo and the other is the E-40 Highway which connects to Slavyansk and is a bit to the north of Dubovo. Ukraine's goal here is to threaten Bakhmut's northern flank which is now proteted by a 5km buffer before reaching the supply lines leading into Bakhmut from the north.

Meanwhile Russia continues increasing pressure on the Kupyansk front. RU's goal here is to secure the heights overlooking the Oskil River valley and its crossings.

Ukrainian-Russian war. Day 530:
Situation on northeastern front: During the last 3-4 days Russian Army managed to capture a large strip of territory in Kharkov oblast south of the towns of Pershotravneve/Першотравневе and Vil'shana/Вільшана.
Map: [ https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1V8NzjQkzMOhpuLhkktbiKgodOQ27X6IV&ll=49.75203827273501%2C37.81000195992568&z=12 ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ-sjkXatS0&t=4s WAR UPDATE: Russia ADVANCES 3km Towards Kupyansk

Unconfirmed reports of Russia securing Synkivka and capturing additional strong points north of Kupyansk and near Kyslivka. So far these are rumors so wait for more information to come out before coming to a conclusion.

Crazy how there are still 11,000 civilians (including 600 children) living in the settlements that are being evacuated. Some of these settlements are right on the frontlines and others are just a few kilometers from it. Let's hope they are all safe.

Thank you all for helping me reach 30,000, we're only getting started ❤️

Something I wonder about is the concentration of RU manpower and defenses in the frontline towns in between the Velyka Novosilka and Vuhledar fronts. This includes 3 settlements that are near the contact line. The front in this area (as indicated on the map) is separated by the extremely narrow Shaitanka River. RU have a large concentration of forces along the Mokri Yaly River valley, especially in Staromlynivka and nearby towns further to the south in RU's main defensive line in the region. Russia + DPR 1st Army Corps also has forces stationed in Pavlivka, Mykilske. So what's going on in the area in between?

Look at the fortifications map (in light green), there are barely any prepared defenses in Novodonetske, Novomaiorske, & Shevchenko. South of these 3 settlements you have a few other small settlements surrounded by fields, with a field local defenses. But you have to go 12-15km to the south before reaching the main defensive line.

So far we haven't seen any serious UA attempts at breaking through the line of contact across the river towards the main line. At the beginning of the counteroffensive in early June UA attempted to take over Novodonetske but were eventually pushed back. Around a month ago in late July there were UA probing attacks towards Mykilske but after a few days they died down and the front has become relatively silent.

The reason RU still holds on to these frontline towns is clear, it provides a massive buffer between the line of contact to RU's main defensive line. If you look at the map you'll see there's only one unified line in this area. This line is ~13km north of the rail line that runs from RU/Donetsk into Zaporizhzhia. This line was built in order to protect the north/west flanks of Volnovakha. This city is one of the larger settlements captured by RU since the beginning of the war. It's rail hub, road junction, & has large force/equipment concentration. This line is ~60km from the Sea of Azov.

RU is defending most active parts of the front like the Orikhiv and Velyka Novosilka axes, which probably explains their lack of focus on this region. But I'd keep an eye out for this region following the fall of Urozhaine. UA now has an oppurtunity to take up positions in the fields east of Urozhaine, which would allow them to flank west of Novodonetske without having to cross the river. So we'll have to wait and see if UA attacks in that direction with its 4 marine brigades in the future.

New video! Today I discuss the Ukrainian push into the northern outskirts of Robotyne and the Russian withdrawal to the southern parts of the settlement. I also talk about Russia's new gains to the east of Synkivka. https://youtu.be/zHiKan-XbxE

New video on the Prigozhin plane crash. I talk about the timeline leading up to the crash that occurred on the night of August 23rd. I also discuss the main theories that have been circulating as to what actually happened. https://youtu.be/tpJVLEAQ03M

The following Ukrainian units have been in the Battle of Robotyne and the wider Orikhiv axis.

33rd Mechanized Brigade
47th Mechanized Brigade
65th Mechanized Brigade
78th Hertz Regiment
73rd Naval Special Purpose Center
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10th Army Corps:
116th Mechanized Brigade
117th Mechanized Brigade
118th Mechanized Brigade
Skala Battalion
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Maroon Tactical Group:
132nd Reconnaissance Battalion
46th Air Assault Brigade
82nd Air Assault Brigade
71st Jaegar Brigade
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National Guard:
Spartan Brigade
14th Assault Brigade Chervona Kalyna
15th Kara-Dag Brigade

On paper this would be ~50k men but in reality most of these units are not at full strength. The number I've seen floating around which appears to be the most realistic is ~25-35k.

Having such a large troop concentration in a small sector (for context Robotyne is ~5km² and the entire Orikhiv sector stretches 38km, although most of the above units fought along a 16km front in/around Robotyne) allowed for regular troop rotations, which allowed the Ukrainians to continue attacks on the village throughout the 71 day battle.

But it's also a double edged sword, as many of the units involved in Robotyne could've been used elsewhere on the Zaporizhia front. But Ukraine preferred to concentrate a large chunk of their reserves committed for the counteroffensive in a singular region in order to increase the chance of a breakthrough past the line of contact and Russia's prepared defensive lines.

Now a lot of the brigades committed to the original attacks in early June have suffered significant casualties, which will decrease their effectiveness in future offensive activities. But units recently moved in such as the 82nd AA haven't incurred many casualties yet and can thus be used in attacks around the Novoprokopivka-Verbove area which is already manifesting.

But now Ukraine has very little units capable of offensive activities left in reserves. Of Ukraine's 43 mechanized brigades, 37 are committed in some capacity to the frontline. And of those 37, several new formations that could've been used around Robotyne have been moved to the Luhansk front.

Today Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried at the Porokhovskoe cemetery in St. Petersburg. The funeral took place in a closed format and Putin was not in attendance.

In today's video I discuss recent changes to the front over the past 3 days, including updates on the situation in Verbove and positional fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk https://youtu.be/mTaAYidWAkY?si=MCqZ3ddk6P9h6gOf