Live Conflict Ukraine-Russia War

[Fatman17]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2089010567478489291

 

[Soldier30]

The Russian army launched another missile strike on Kyiv on the night of August 20. The attack involved 13 Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles, 8 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 2 Kh-23 missiles, and presumably North Korean KN-23 missiles. It is worth noting that air defense systems in Kyiv are currently inactive due to the cessation of Patriot missile deliveries to Ukraine.

Targets hit in Kyiv on August 20:

1. The Fire Point LLC facility. It manufactures components for strike UAVs. Boosters used in Flamingo cruise missiles were also assembled and stored there.
2. The Ukrspecsystems commercial and warehouse complex, which handled the production of strike UAV components, the large-scale assembly of fixed-wing UAVs, and their storage.
3. The Antonov State Enterprise. It produces the long-range An-196 "Lyutyi" UAV and develops and manufactures various types of manned aircraft.
4. An ammunition depot containing M-900 thermobaric aerial bombs, anti-tank mines, and munitions for heavy drones such as the "Baba Yaga."

 

[Spitfire9]

Expert looks at the financial problems challenging the Russian government and the problems affecting the banking system. He notes the windfall provided to the government by the elevated price of crude due to the Iran situation.

What will Putin do to access funds if the Iran situation eases and the price of crude falls? The government faces very severe financial problems now even with the currently high price of crude.

 

[Spitfire9]

A Russian state TV host and one of Vladimir Putin's leading propagandist's has threatened that the UK will be "wiped off the face of the Earth".

Vladimir Solovyov, a Kremlin mouthpiece known for his wild rants, told viewers of his 'Full Contact' show this week: "This is a holy war and we must win."

MSN

Well, he wanted Russia to nuke London. As far as I can make out London has not been wiped off the face of the earth. Now he wants Russia to wipe the whole country off the face of the earth. I have to say that I'm not losing sleep worrying about that happening.

The man is a clown.

 

[Spitfire9]

Ukraine cannot stop Russian ballistic missiles in flight due to a lack of Patriot missiles. It could reduce the number launched if it had the means so to do.

Ukrainian officials are seeking approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against ballistic missile launchers, according to a report.

The war-hit nation will need approval from Starlink chief Elon Musk, the FT reported.

Ukraine war live: Kyiv seeks Musk’s permission to hit Putin’s missile launchers

Zelensky has urged Trump and other American officials to facilitate Ukraine's access to Musk's Starlink to strike deep inside Russia

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Fatman17]

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 21, 2026

North Korea deployed drone operators to Kursk Oblast, which will allow North Korean forces to gain valuable tactical skills.

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Key Takeaways​

1. North Korea reportedly deployed drone operators to Kursk Oblast to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, which will allow North Korean forces to gain valuable tactical and technological skills critical for contemporary warfare.
2. Ukrainian forces are adapting their tactics and domestically developing technological solutions to target Russia’s ballistic missile launchers and jet-powered drones in ways that circumvent the need for foreign materiel assistance amidst global air-defense interceptor shortages.
3. A senior Russian official reiterated the Kremlin’s continued unwillingness to engage in any meaningful negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
4. Ukrainian forces struck Russian military airfields and oil infrastructure. Russian forces launched 135 long-range strike drones against Ukraine.
5. Neither Russian nor Ukrainian forces made confirmed advances.

 

[Spitfire9]

President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian government on Wednesday to launch a program to rebuild commercial warehouses damaged or destroyed in Ukrainian drone attacks.

Ukraine has carried out drone strikes against at least two dozen warehouses of Russia's top online retailer Wildberries since mid-July, causing explosions and fires that have destroyed a large share of the company's storage capacity.

Putin Orders Government to Help Rebuild Warehouses Destroyed in Ukrainian Attacks - The Moscow Times

President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian government on Wednesday to launch a program to rebuild commercial warehouses damaged or destroyed in Ukrainian drone attacks.

www.themoscowtimes.com

I question the wisdom of investing in rebuilding assets partially at government cost without the government first investing in the air defences needed to protect them. Ukraine can be expected to destroy them all over again if the war continues.

It sounds like Putin is going to pour more money down the drain for no gain.

 

[Soldier30]

Footage from August showing Russian FPV drones in action in Ukraine and the Donbas. The combat operations employ models such as the VT-40, Knyaz Vandal Novgorodsky, Upyr, and Bumerang, including versions controlled via fiber-optic cable. The exact location of the filming is not disclosed. The video shows the drones striking various pieces of Ukrainian military hardware, including a T-64 tank, a Bohdana howitzer, an M1224 MaxxPro armored vehicle, a Humvee, an AS-90 self-propelled howitzer, a VAB armored personnel carrier, a Krab self-propelled howitzer, and other equipment.

 

[Spitfire9]

Ukraine to Localise Gripen and Rafale Production

Ukraine’s contracts for Gripen and Rafale fighters include provisions to localise production and maintenance inside the country, its Air Force says.

migflug.com

Not a good idea while there is a war on but Ukraine recognises they can't be built there until security allows. I don't think Sweden or France would be too worried if Russia threatened to wipe them off the face of the earth. UK has been threatened with that for supplying drones to Ukraine but the UK seems to be here still.

 

[Spitfire9]

If true, this is curious...

MOSCOW, Aug 25 (Reuters) - A U.S. military transport plane landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on Tuesday, data from the flight tracking service Flightradar24 showed.

MSN

Do US diplomats/negotiators travel on airlifters? I cannot think of any other reason for a C-17 to be going to Moscow.

 

[MaciekRS]

It was a CIA director John Ratcliffe.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2092268483950112997

Whole world now know that russians are planning something soon so it was propably last warning.
Last warning didnt work in 2021 so propably it wont work this time.

 

[Soldier30]

The first instance of a Ukrainian FP-5 cruise missile being hit by machine-gun fire from the Russian mobile fire group "BARS-Kursk" has been recorded. The video was filmed in Russia's Kursk region. Analysis of the flight controller data revealed that the missile was launched from Ukraine's Sumy region and was targeting a strategic facility in the Tula region. The wreckage of the missile, bearing bullet holes, is shown at the end of the video.

 

[Bogeyman]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2092664605914837452

“Russia is currently considering intensifying its conventional ballistic missile attacks on infrastructure targets in Ukraine, including the city of Kyiv.

Putin may also consider using tactical nuclear weapons as a last resort.”

— Bloomberg

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2092701529668997513

CIA Director Ratcliffe had returned from Russia last night.

Just a short while ago, Secretary of War Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Caine, and CIA Director Ratcliffe met with President Trump at the White House.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2092737411436478527

MYSTERIOUS RADIO MESSAGE BROADCAST FROM RUSSIA BECOMES THE MAIN TOPIC OF DISCUSSION IN EASTERN EUROPE:

An amateur radio operator monitoring shortwave radio broadcasts in Europe recorded a rather unusual message on the evening of August 25th at 6:30 PM local time.

The message, broadcast on 5135 kHz, repeated several Russian names in sequence:

❝ Dmitry, Dmitry, Dmitry, Dmitry, Dmitry, Leonid, Ulyana, Konstantin, Konstantin, Grigory, Nikolay, Shura, Elena, Vasily, Konstantin, Konstantin, Heron, Pike, Nikolay ❞

While it is thought that the meaning of the phrases in the message can only be understood through their corresponding entries in a cryptographic ledger held by the person or persons to whom the broadcast was made, the fact that the broadcast occurred hours before CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow has given rise to numerous conspiracy theories.

WHAT COULD THE EXPRESSIONS READ IN THE MESSAGE MEAN?

According to the intelligence report analysts' assessment, the Russian phrases read were prepared using a system known as the "One-Time Pad," and it is almost impossible to crack them without intercepting the codes in the hands of the field agents.

In this system, the field agent has a small code notebook that is unique to them. This code notebook is actually a dictionary, and when the numbers transmitted on the radio are matched with this notebook, they point to a meaningful sentence. For example, instructions such as "Receive and deliver the envelope at point X" or "Evacuate agent number 8" could be transmitted this way.

Throughout the Cold War, both the CIA and the KGB frequently used this method in Europe, the Americas, and countries bordering Russia. It is known that allies, especially Britain, also frequently used this method.

The most famous example of this was the "Lincolnshire Poacher" station, broadcasting from England and opening with a five-note folk song. It is believed that this station, which was operational until 2008, was most likely used to transmit encrypted messages from British bases in Cyprus (particularly Akrotiri) to field agents in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2092734620093562966

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2092607239051690042

Tensions continue to rise along NATO's eastern flank. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered a rapid combat readiness inspection of the country's armed forces, specifically, the 51st Guards Artillery Brigade was placed on full alert. Furthermore, personnel have been recalled, and the unit is currently expected to leave its permanent base for unspecified tasks. It is not yet known what prompted Belarus to make this decision, but the timing is certainly noteworthy, given CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow yesterday. One possibility is that the Belarusian armed forces are preparing to enter the conflict in Ukraine, opening a new northern front alongside the Russian army, however, there is currently no confirmation of this.

 

[Fatman17]

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 26, 2026

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Major General Drapatyi proposed a headquarters restructuring to support the Ukrainian defense in Donetsk Oblast.

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​

Key Takeaways​

1. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi proposed a headquarters restructuring to support the Ukrainian defense in Donetsk Oblast during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on August 26.
2. Russian forces are conducting two main efforts, attacking the northern and southern tips of Ukraine’s Fortress Belt in Donetsk Oblast — Russia’s primary objective in its Spring-Summer 2026 offensive.
3. Russian forces continue to infiltrate into and around Kostyantynivka as part of the broader campaign to seize Ukraine’s Fortress Belt and all of Donetsk Oblast, while Ukrainian forces continue holding positions in northern and northwestern parts of the city.
4. Russian forces are meanwhile intensifying their battlefield air interdiction (BAI) campaign against Slovyansk that aims to disrupt Ukrainian logistics and set conditions for Russian ground offensive operations against Slovyansk.
5. The United Russia Party is reportedly planning to increase its control over State Duma committees to establish United Russia as the dominant force in Russian domestic politics.
6. Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Dobropillya and Kupyansk directions.
7. Ukrainian forces continued their long-range strike campaign against Russian oil and dual-use logistics infrastructure and Russian military assets. Russia launched 162 drones against Ukraine overnight.

 

[Spitfire9]

Andy Burnham has chosen to stand up to Vladimir Putin. And Putin is already plotting his revenge.

'The chatter we've been picking up over the past two weeks indicates the Russians are preparing for something,' a senior security source revealed to me. 'They're planning some sort of action against UK interests. They're going to test Burnham.'

MSN

I am sure Putin will try to create problems for the UK. It is obviously unacceptable to Putin and perhaps to most Russians for the UK to come to the aid a country attacked by a neighbouring state intent on ending its existence. Such is the measure of Russian hubris.

I wait to see what Putin will do but I do not foresee action against the UK benefitting Russia. I think the consequences of any actions will weaken Russia, already considerably weakened by invading Ukraine.

 

[Fatman17]

MSN

I am sure Putin will try to create problems for the UK. It is obviously unacceptable to Putin and perhaps to most Russians for the UK to come to the aid a country attacked by a neighbouring state intent on ending its existence. Such is the measure of Russian hubris.

I wait to see what Putin will do but I do not foresee action against the UK benefitting Russia. I think the consequences of any actions will weaken Russia, already considerably weakened by invading Ukraine.

USA has already warned Russia against any action towards Nato members during the CIA director's visit to Moscow

 

[Spitfire9]

USA has already warned Russia against any action towards Nato members during the CIA director's visit to Moscow

I doubt any military action will be involved. More likely to me are deniable sabotage, damage to undersea cable links to the UK, more novachok nerve agent poisonings, seizure of UK-registered shipping etc. Not really things that would fall under the NATO defence blanket.

I wonder if the BBC's Russia correspondent, Steve Rosenburg, will be expelled. He has a habit of posing awkward questions to Putin in press conferences.

 

[Soldier30]

Footage has been released showing the destruction of a Ukrainian FP-1 drone by the 30mm GSh-30-1 cannon of a Russian fighter jet, presumably a Su-30SM. The location of the filming is not disclosed.

 

[Fatman17]

https://share.google/cqmJmjoz43gt6y9Hs

John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, made a secretive visit to Moscow this week to privately share his bleak assessment of the state of the Russian war against Ukraine, and to urge the Russians to cut a deal before their military and economic situation gets worse, current and former officials said.

 

[Bogeyman]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2093149204726067622

Trump’s war with Iran has depleted U.S. Patriot interceptor stocks in Europe to “beyond critical” levels, a U.S. defense official and a NATO official told The Associated Press, as European forces use the same air-defense system to protect Gulf oil infrastructure.

On Thursday, Greek troops operating a Patriot battery in Saudi Arabia fired three missiles at a swarm of drones near Yanbu, home to major oil refineries, Reuters reported. The drones’ origin was not disclosed. It was the battery’s third combat use since the U.S.-Israeli war began.

The Iran war has consumed roughly 1,500 of America’s 2,330 Patriot interceptors, or 65% of the stockpile, according to a CSIS estimate. U.S. missiles assigned to Europe have been diverted to the Middle East, where American and Gulf forces are using them against Iranian attacks.

A U.S. official said Europe lacks enough Patriots to stop a sustained ballistic-missile attack and has “very limited” capacity against even one strike, warning NATO could be forced to “take punch after punch in the mouth.” The Pentagon and NATO deny that stocks are critically low.