Tuesday, Aug 4
Early in the war, a retiree took on an entire Russian column with a stolen grenade launcher
🇺🇦 Pictured: Russia is building ghost bridges with radar reflectors.
🇺🇦 As the front lines have settled, more stories have started coming out about the beginning of the war. Here are two that came out in the past day:
(Pictured) The viral story making the rounds is about a pensioner (retiree) named Valentyn Didkovskiy who took on an entire Russian column with a grenade launcher given to him by a his buddies who stole it from a Russian personnel carrier. He’s being doing interviews and showing off the grenade launcher. After the column was defeated, he recorded a video walking around yelling obscenities at the destroyed column. This happened on Feb 27, back at the height of civilian resistance.
During the siege of Kyiv, during one of Russia’s last pushes to take the city, 7 Russian planes were shot down in 11 minutes. After that, the siege stopped.
🇺🇦 Russia will launch a spy satellite for Iran, but will use it against Ukraine first.
🇺🇦 The Iranian satellite called “Khayyam” will be used by Iran to spy on sensitive facilities in the Middle East. However, it is expected that in the first few months, Moscow will use the satellite for its own military interests in Ukraine to strengthen the surveillance potential.
🇺🇦 Russia appears to be “stealing” the satellite, in that they will launch it for Iran, but won’t hand it over until they’re done with it.
🇺🇦 Russia is deliberately hiding the death count from HIMARS by transporting bodies and wounded troops away from target sites in civilian cars
🇺🇦 Russia mined POW prisons to kill POWs instead of having to exchange them
🇺🇦 3 ships carrying grain will leave Ukrainian ports tomorrow. Overall, there are 10 ships loaded with grain and ready for shipment.
🇺🇦 UA authorities seized a collaborator’s assets worth $4 million. Collaborator Yevhen Balytsky's assets include four aircraft. In May Balytsky became the head of the occupation administration in Russian-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast and was charged with collaboration. Previously he was a member of Ukraine's parliament.
🇺🇦 Collaborator Balytsky helped facilitate $200 million grain theft from Ukraine to Russia
🇺🇦 US to provide WHO with $1.8 million to support healthcare in Ukraine.
🇺🇦 EU to allocate 16 million euros to help victims of sexual violence in Ukraine.
🇺🇦 Ukraine's attack on a Russian military echelon en route from Crimea severely damaged the rail link.
🇺🇦UA military destroyed 3 more ammunition depots since my last update. This includes 39 Russian troops and destroyed four S-300 missile systems, a radar station, a mortar, and 9 armored and military vehicles
🇺🇦The US says that 75,000 Russian troops have been either killed or injured. Though I’ve relayed numbers like this before, this one was the number given to US lawmakers by the Department of Defense. This is higher than the CIA estimate, which says 15,000 have been KIA and 45,000 WIA.
🇺🇦Canada to send up to 225 instructors to train Ukrainian troops in UK.
🇺🇦Ukraine is likely seizing the strategic initiative and forcing Russia to reallocate forces and reprioritize efforts in response to Ukrainian counteroffensive operations.
🇺🇦Institute for the Study of War: If Ukraine is able to press hard around Izyum as it continues rolling into the counteroffensive in Kherson, then Russian forces will begin confronting very difficult choices. They will need to either to abandon their westward positions around Izyum to defend their ground lines of communications or to commit more personnel and equipment to try to hold the current front line. Such forces would have to come from another axis, however, putting other Russian gains at risk.
🇺🇦Russians unsuccessfully tried to advance near Pisky, Donetsk Oblast.
🇺🇦Russian troops shelled Kharkiv with minimal human injuries.
🇺🇦Russian shelling hits bus stop in Donetsk Oblast, killing at least eight people.
🇺🇦Ukraine's military liberated the villages of Mazanivka and Dmytrivka over the week
🇺🇦Ukraine’s armed forces are only 20-40km away from Kherson’s Right Bank
🇺🇦Russian forces continued to transfer equipment and personnel to northeastern Kherson and western Zaporizhia Oblasts.
🇺🇦Since the end of June, Russia has increased the land they control in Ukraine by about 165 square kilometers.
🇺🇦About 19.4% of Ukraine is now occupied by Russia.
📢 Countries apply to be in NATO. NATO is a defense alliance that has never, and does not, consider offensive operations. Saying NATO is encroaching on Russia is Kremlin messaging. Russia has three primary propaganda efforts directed at the West, and that’s the first.
📢 Yes, Ukraine has a nazi problem, but it’s a very small percentage of the country, and not representative of the whole. Using a small group to smear the entire group is called “guilt by association.” Russia has three primary propaganda efforts directed at the West, and that’s the second.
📢 If you ever hear anyone say “What about this thing America did…” in an effort to redirect attention away from Ukraine and onto the west, that is called “Competitive victimhood” and the associated meme is *always* created by Russian-backed media. Russia has three primary propaganda efforts directed at the West, and that’s the third.
⚠️ Sorry about the typos or awkward sentences!!!! This is the inevitable result of putting out a finalized research product once every 24 hours, with no staff. If anyone feels like giving me staff, we can polish this b right up!
⚠️ I got lazy with my citations and I apologize. My top sources are: Current and former military planners, singularly-focused pundits, and all manner of vetted open-source intelligence. Top cited open source pundits and sources include: CP Scott, Institute for the Study of War, Kyiv Independent, and mainstream news with high levels of journalistic integrity and track records. Sadly I can’t source private individuals, of course.
⚠️ Speaking of sources, thanks to all of you who have forwarded me tips or given me data from the front line. You’re the private individuals I wish I could source publicly
⚠️ Though my awesome employer taught me everything I know about OSINT, these posts are not affiliated with my employer, nor done during my employer’s time. Every item I report is from my own research, my own opinion, and written during my own time.
⚠️ Note: War happens fast and even high fidelity news needs a ton of corrections after the dust settles.
🇺🇦 Sorry to my Substack readers who get this weird “ua” symbol instead of a flag emoji!
Tuesday, Aug 4
"Russia is building ghost bridges with radar reflectors. "
Maybe so the ghost of all their dead conscripts will be able to go home.