‍(Intro by Tom Cooper)

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Hello everybody!

After 2,5 weeks in India, I’m back home - right on time to help roll out the next issue of Don’s Weekly. I’m going to take some time to catch with developments in the Ukraine War, thus will abstain commenting much. Lets go straight to Don and check what’s up.

Kupiansk

Russia slowly advances towards Pishchane.

The short and long version of the 33rd Brigade clearing the substation on the eastern side of Kivsharivka. Various Russian targets are attacked behind Russian lines southeast of Kupiansk.

A Ukrainian towed 152 mm gun is damaged.

45 km east of Kupiansk, a Lasar’s Group drone attacked a counter-battery radar. The drone ran out of ammo and the damaged radar was moved 13 km. The drone without ammo rode the vehicle until another drone arrived to complete the job.

Lyman

Izium spent the first six months of the war under Russian occupation. They are now about 27 km from the front and the town decided early to protect the streets and some buildings with drone nets.

Sloviansk

The Russian advance was slow and focused on the organizational boundary between XI Corps and the Operational Tactical Group Soledar.

A Russian throws a bomb in a house in Nykyforivka.

A Russian ammo truck is destroyed east of Siversk. A Ukrainian truck with a cage is attacked.

Yevgeny Nikolaev, the commander of a drone unit and the person behind the Wargonzo propaganda site, was killed by a drone while trying to evacuate Russians who never should have come to Ukraine.

Kostiantynivka

Twenty months ago Ukraine conducted a unit rotation on this axis and Russia took advantage and began a slow advance towards Kostiantynivka - which, back then, was 21 km away. Russia is continuing that slow advance.

A T-80 tank that was in an open field on a cloudless day was somehow detected and attacked.

A rocket attack in Kostiantynivka.

A couple weeks ago, a 100th Brigade ground drone just delivered supplies to a front line position, and on the return trip saw troops from another brigade trying to evacuate one of their own on a hand cart. After communicating through a speaker, the wounded soldier was transferred to the ground drone and brought to the rear.

Another drone evacuates a wounded soldier and a dead soldier. Two FPVs hit the ground drone on the way to the front line. On the way back, the drone hits a mine and the wounded soldier is thrown off the drone. He’s loaded back on and the drone is able to keep moving.

A Ukrainian ground drone is destroyed in Kostiantynivka. While unfortunate, it is much preferred over destroying a pickup truck with a human driver.

Pokrovsk

The sector through Rodynske is porous, but infiltrators are still tracked down 7 km away and eliminated. One reason why Russia is pushing so hard through Hryshyne to Novooleksandrivka and Myrne is because the trees and buildings provide cover on this route.

A Ukrainian rocket attack hits western Pokrovsk.

The 25th Airborne ground drones deliver supplies, evacuate wounded, survive drones and are recovered when damaged.

Two Russian trucks were transferring ammo when an MLRS strike hit the adjacent building. Some personnel dropped and others walked away.

Novopavlivka

Russia advanced 1-2 km in parts of this sector.

Russia shells Novopavlivka.

Huliaipole

The Russians are concentrating more forces in Huliaipole and have increased their assaults in the sector. A tank, an armored vehicle and two quad bikes were destroyed in Huliaipole and the infantry that dismounted was attacked.

There was fighting in Novohryhorivka. Russians are attacked south of Novohryhorivka.

The 225th stopped a Russian assault in Sviatopetrivka.

The 92nd Brigade evacuates two wounded soldiers by ground drone.

Zaporizhzhia

Ukraine clears Prymorske and continues to press south.

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Occupied Territories

Three Pantsirs are among the targets hit in Crimea. Five radars were hit. An Iskander launcher was attacked.

A Lasar Group drone attacked and damaged a counterbattery radar in Luhansk. The crew lowered the radar and drove away. Out of ammo, the drone landed on the vehicle and provided the location of the target while a new drone arrived to finish the job.

There have been so many losses of radars and air defense systems in Crimea that Russia is considering changing the leadership of the 31st Air Defense Division.

Two locomotives on a train were attacked near Tokmak. SBU also hit 19 air defense elements, an ammo depot, warehouses, four drone workshops and other targets.

In August 2024, Ukrainian forces were fighting outside Female Correctional Colony No. 11 in Mala Loknia, Kursk.

Russia held Ukrainian female prisoners in Correctional Colony No. 11 in Mala Loknia in Kursk until the Ukrainian invasion forced an evacuation. The women had to undress and sing the Russian national anthem, learn poems about the USSR and sing songs from WW2. Guards would use stun guns and dogs, and the female guards were sometimes more cruel than the male guards. They were forced to do physical exercises without food and could not sit during the day. Russian prisoners and male Ukrainians were also in the prison. The guards and prison administrators wore balaclavas to conceal their faces.

Last week, a car blew up in occupied Donetsk, possibly with the body of the former warden of Correctional Colony No. 11 inside.

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This text is published with the permission of the author. First published here.