Ukraine Update August 28 - Sept 4

Sep 04, 2023

Hi everyone,

Sorry for not sending our update yesterday. It was my birthday and I spent some high-quality time with my fellows and Lynette Clementson, the leader of the Wallace house.

The biggest news of the week comes about the breakthrough of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Ukrainian forces have decisively breached Russia’s first defensive line near Zaporizhzhia after weeks of painstaking mine clearance, and expect faster gains as they press the weaker second line, Brig Gen Oleksandr Tarnavskiy who is leading the southern counteroffensive has said.

He estimated Russia had devoted 60% of its time and resources into building the first defensive line and only 20% each into the second and third lines because Moscow had not expected Ukrainian forces to get through.

Russia risks dividing its forces to stop Ukrainian breakthrough, British MoD reported last week. In such a way Moscow will want to prevent a Ukrainian breakthrough in Ukraine’s south.

“Russian forces, primarily composed of the 58th combined arms army and Russian airborne forces elements, seek to halt the Ukrainian counteroffensive whilst maintaining their own offensive on the northern axis around Kupiansk,” said the ministry’s update, posted on X/Twitter.

Given that Russia has made some modest gains near Kupiansk since the Ukrainian counteroffensive began in June, they are likely seeking to capitalise on these by continuing to throw resources onto this axis.

As the war grinds on, Ukraine is constantly expanding the categories of men for mobilization. And in October, for the first time, women of a certain category, primarily doctors, may be forcibly mobilized.

I know you will want to know what I think about the dismissal of the minister of defense of Ukraine – Mr. Reznikov. I saw that the WSJ said that Zelenskyy is probably the first Jewish president to appoint Muslim minister of defense – now it will be the Crimean Tatar Umer Rustemov. I would kindly decline to comment on this as I don’t see this as any significant move. I hope that Umerov won’t need too much time to adapt to the new ministry and change the people.

I find important that major naval drills started in the Baltic Sea involving some 30 ships and more than 3,000 Western service members. They will for the first time practice how to respond to a Russian assault in the region, Germany's navy chief said on Friday.

"We are sending a clear message of vigilance to Russia: Not on our watch," Vice-Admiral Jan Christian Kaack told reporters in Berlin. "Credible deterrence must include the ability to attack."

Constant shelling continues. But now Russia is also feeling it on its territory. Almost every day, the Russian military reports drone attacks in various regions of Russia. This often results in the destruction or damage of Russian military equipment or the routes used to deliver it. Russian authorities also report some civilian casualties. But there are no international journalists there to verify this information.

One of Ukraine's biggest oligarchs, Ihor Kolomoisky, is behind bars. This man has made a huge fortune using shady gangster-like practices and is suspected of money laundering on a large scale. He has long been under US sanctions. Now, the SBU has announced that it suspects him of laundering 500 million hryvnias ($13.5 million). He is being held on bail of UAH 509 million, which Kolomoisky refuses to pay.

Interestingly, Kolomoisky was deprived of Ukrainian citizenship and is a citizen of Cyprus and Israel. Kolomoisky helped Zelenskyy with PR during the presidential election campaign.

Good news comes from the village of Oleksandrivka! The windows and doors have arrived to the villagers and the people are waiting for them to be put in. Also, we agreed that the rest of the money – around $650 – will go buy a gas boiler for the renovated paramedic station. The villagers will be told that these are foreign supporters of Ukraine who sent them windows and doors. They were very surprised I was told.