🇳🇱 The Netherlands will hand over almost all its F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, but will keep a few for training Ukrainian pilots, said Minister of Defence of the Netherlands Kajsa Ollongren.

"We have 42 airplanes, but some of them will go for training and the rest will go to… pic.twitter.com/flSHopI4aK

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 25, 2023

NATO member states have delivered and pledged a total of 103 jet aircraft to #Ukraine, with the following breakdown detailing their respective types and quantities 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/AqIOFbRJgK

— Oryx (@oryxspioenkop) August 25, 2023

BREAKING:

Finland announces another military aid package for Ukraine worth EUR 94 million.

The Finnish government doesn’t disclose the specifics about which weapon systems are sent, but it stated that will include “heavy weapons and a lot of ammunition”

🇫🇮🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/EezxVJIkKR

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 25, 2023

⚡️🇬🇧British company Leonardo UK resumes production of AW159 helicopters for an unnamed customer. pic.twitter.com/8Xw84A5jkD

— 🇺🇦Ukrainian Front (@front_ukrainian) August 25, 2023

Impressive footage of Ukrainian FPV kamikaze drone strike on Russian infantry. pic.twitter.com/7bLrlzafZT

— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 25, 2023

Prigozhin's death has transformed Wagner centers across Russia into memorial places and the first reaction many share is disgust which is all too human. PMC Wagner is a terrorist organization which had little regard for his victims and members alike. But there is something far… pic.twitter.com/IwtsJ9tmJz

— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) August 25, 2023

ABATTBQ11 said:

---

USA*** said:

---

AgLA06 said:

---

I get it. I just thought many like me grew up (rightly or wrongly) assuming we were better.

---

It has been in my experience, with 28 years in uniform and 10 years as a civilian, in fighter/bomber training/operations as well as personally knowing and/or working directly with hundreds F-15, F-16, F-18 and F-35 pilots from multiple countries in Europe and the Far East that very few countries are our equal in individual pilots and NONE are better Air Forces on the whole.

---

Username checks out

---

Yes, sir. Thank you for that, it does. Most make some juvenile remark.

Looks like "the neighborhood" is up late :p

Rossticus said:

---

Looks like "the neighborhood" is up late :p

---

Things. Memories. Keep old men up past thier bedtime looking at the moon.

Rossticus said:

---

“You don’t understand the nature of this conflict,” Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, responded in one interaction with the Americans, a U.S. official recounted. “This is not counterinsurgency. This is Kursk.” https://t.co/m5SMn1hYID

— Thomas Gibbons-Neff (@Tmgneff) August 25, 2023

---

This. I am not precient, but said this very long ago. It's not Desert Storm, it's Kursk 1943 with modern weapons.

There are three key false theses that #Russia is actively promoting:

1. The conflict has reached stalemate. The offensive has failed.

2. It is necessary to immediately move to pseudo-diplomacy and freeze the conflict (with the cessation of arms supplies to #Ukraine).

3. Russia still has many resources and many people willing to "fight".

Of course, all of these theses are "dead" and have nothing to do with reality: Russia's strength reserve is much smaller, and the Ukrainian offensive is moving toward taking fire control over the entire southern front. All of these theses indicate only one thing: growing panic among Russian elites, a lack of understanding of what to do, and a catastrophic fear of losing... So, we must push it to the end

There are three key false theses that #Russia is actively promoting:

1. The conflict has reached stalemate. The offensive has failed.

2. It is necessary to immediately move to pseudo-diplomacy and freeze the conflict (with the cessation of arms supplies to #Ukraine).

3. Russia…

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) August 26, 2023

Ukrainian forces believe they have broken through the most difficult line of Russian defences in the south and will now be able to advance more quickly, a commander fighting in the south told Reuters. https://t.co/hmVyd9v5Le

— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) August 26, 2023

Ukraine optimistic for accelerating progress in the south. I guess we'll see.

Oops

🧵This is an excellent example of a fake news (no personal offence to @ChrisO_wiki, just an example!). I'll explain why ⬇️ https://t.co/mRKObbInvy

— Mark Krutov (@kromark) August 25, 2023

Maybe this will change, but now it's about Prigo and Putin dealing with things in Russian criminal '90's style', where they both belong too, not ordinary mercenaries [yet]. And yes, photos of stacked crosses are a clickbait cliche.

— Mark Krutov (@kromark) August 25, 2023

TLDR: They're taking down crosses and putting up pyramids on all Wagner graves.

Money to be made in the gravestone industry

Ukrainian forces have made newly-confirmed tactical gains in the past 24 hours. They are now geolocated to be within 2.5 km of the great anti-vehicle ditch - the next major military engineering obstacle within the Russian layered defense. https://t.co/dN73sRjslk pic.twitter.com/t15jQrqhfI

— George Barros (@georgewbarros) August 26, 2023

https://x.com/iaponomarenko/status/1695428525392638435?s=46&t=5S6ALz7f0x039FY0co0qWQ

Indicates that Russia has possibly committed multiple regiments from the VDV’s 76th Air Assault Division to the south (73rd Center fought in the Robotyne area) from the Kreminna front. The 76th is arguably Russia’s best division and is relatively fresh. https://t.co/meNN6oJONp

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) August 26, 2023

Exceptional thread and profound insights into the counter-offensive in the South by @solonko1648 (Olexandr Solon'ko), servicemember of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In his analysis, he sheds light on the situation, discussing both the challenges and achievements.

Translation:… pic.twitter.com/LW1eAHywma

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) August 26, 2023

Not a drone, after all?

"Ukraine may have used a new weapon in this week's attack on a Russian S-400 Triumpf SAM system in occupied Crimea. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, confirmed Saturday that a new Ukrainian missile hit the S-400, but did not say what specifically "modern" weapon was used."

Today's SITREP.

Interesting to see where Russia moved their bombers back to.

Quote:

---

Activity of Russian strategic aviation. 6 Tu-95MS bombers airborne from the Olenya base

---

https://liveuamap.com/en/2023/26-august-activity-of-russian-strategic-aviation-6-tu95ms



That's quite far away.

Quote:

---

Air defense was active in Kyiv amid new massive attack with Kh-101 missiles

---

https://liveuamap.com/en/2023/27-august-air-defense-was-active-in-kyiv-amid-new-massive

Quote:

---

Air defense was active in Cherkasy region

---

https://liveuamap.com/en/2023/27-august-air-defense-was-active-in-cherkasy-region-

Geolocated Ukrainian progress in Klishchiivka. pic.twitter.com/lzdjTlL539

— Def Mon (@DefMon3) August 26, 2023

Hmmmmm.

this shows how bad the russian units have to be beat to be able to put that many in a space 5 x 3 miles...

— david D. (@secretsqrl123) August 27, 2023

national guard units...
the order goes ...
spetz
paratroopers / marines
normal troops
bars
territorial defense
Z-storm units.. prisoners

— david D. (@secretsqrl123) August 27, 2023

more than that.. 30% or so

— david D. (@secretsqrl123) August 27, 2023

USA*** said:

---

Rossticus said:

---

“You don’t understand the nature of this conflict,” Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, responded in one interaction with the Americans, a U.S. official recounted. “This is not counterinsurgency. This is Kursk.” https://t.co/m5SMn1hYID

— Thomas Gibbons-Neff (@Tmgneff) August 25, 2023

---

This. I am not precient, but said this very long ago. It's not Desert Storm, it's Kursk 1943 with modern weapons.

---

Kursk was really a wholly different scale of operations. The similarity is the actual geography and the impact the delays in the 'counter offensive' had on the Russians ability to implement a structured/layered defense.

Specifically, Zaluzhny seems not to have recognized those in time to act appropriately. Kursk was delayed to wait for the arrival of new weapons.

Quote:

---

On 10 March, Manstein presented a plan whereby the German forces would pinch off the Kursk salient with a rapid offensive commencing as soon as the spring rasputitsa had subsided.
...
On 1718 June, following a discussion in which the OKW Operations Staff suggested abandoning the offensive, Hitler further postponed the operation until 3 July. Finally, on 1 July, Hitler announced 5 July as the launch date of the offensive.

---

Anyway, not much actual tactical news to report.

Quote:

---

#Summary for the morning of August 27, 2023
The Russian Armed Forces attacked targets in the Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lvov, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Zaporozhye regions at night. Missiles were launched, including from ships and strategic missile carriers. By 6 am, another missile salvo was fired at enemy targets.
On the Zaporozhye Front, the enemy is expanding the zone of control in the direction of the settlement. Willow, throws dozens of armored vehicles into battle, including for the delivery of troops to the northern part of the settlement. Rabotino. The enemy is not sensitive to the most serious losses of manpower, there are heavy bloody battles, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine fail to develop a result comparable with the losses thanks to the heroism and selflessness of our marines, motorized riflemen and paratroopers. The enemy command before the rains is trying to achieve an indicative result, grinding the strategic reserve against our defenses.
Fights continue on the islands in the Kherson direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are dropping landing groups on small watercraft with the support of drones and artillery fire. They tried to "solve" the problems of organizing combat activities in certain units of the Russian Armed Forces by recording a positive video with servicemen from units, the real state of affairs in the unit is still unchanged.
On the Vremevsky and Ugledrasky directions, the intensity of hostilities over the past day has slightly decreased: the enemy regrouped and conducted reconnaissance in small groups.
In the Kupyansk direction, the Russian Armed Forces repulsed the attempts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to counterattack, and consolidated their positions.
7 enemy attacks were repelled in the Krasnolimansky direction.
To the south of Artemovsk (Bakhmut), the front near Kleshcheevka has been stabilized, however, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are very active, without stopping the attack.
The shelling of the civilian population by the Armed Forces of Ukraine has intensified in the Belgorod region, incl. from MLRS. One civilian was killed, 6 were injured. On approaching Belgorod, an UAV of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was shot down. In the Bryansk region, the Klimovsky district was shelled, and a drone was shot down over the Trubchevsky district. Explosions sounded in Kursk in the morning, by 7:00 there was no official information. 6 civilians wounded in DPR due to shelling by Ukrainian Armed Forces

---

Ukraine's "victory is closer than you think": US Military Academy asst prof

Ukraine needs to advance just 7-10 km more to put Russia's east-west supply routes in HIMARS/MLRS range

"(Then) it’s very hard to see how the Russian army can continue to fight"

"Ukrainians must… https://t.co/8cdxhqHJHn pic.twitter.com/UFHzTUCN6Z

— 🇺🇦Ukraine Resists Russian Genocide... Yeah Again (@ArmedMaidan) August 25, 2023

Nice review of railway logistics supporting Russian occupation in the south

Strategic impact of sanctions discussed (yesterday):

shiftyandquick said:

---

Ukraine's "victory is closer than you think": US Military Academy asst prof

Ukraine needs to advance just 7-10 km more to put Russia's east-west supply routes in HIMARS/MLRS range

"(Then) it’s very hard to see how the Russian army can continue to fight"

"Ukrainians must… https://t.co/8cdxhqHJHn pic.twitter.com/UFHzTUCN6Z

— 🇺🇦Ukraine Resists Russian Genocide... Yeah Again (@ArmedMaidan) August 25, 2023

---

You would think Russia could supply its troups by boats and ships if necessary? Does Ukraine have the weopons to keep Russia from supplying by ship ?

Resupply via ship is historically difficult and costly. Instead of loading a train at a factory, now you're loading a train, unloading onto a ship, and then unloading the ship onto another train. Maybe some trucks in-between. Ships and ports are also vulnerable to attack and cannot be replaced/rebuilt as quickly as ground based transportation.

But I'm not sure that the Russians have the shipping capability even without Ukrainian attacks.

They have been using the southern ports. This is why you've seen some targeting of Mariupol and Berdyansk. It seems like there are more frequent strikes on Berdyansk, though.

chickencoupe16 said:

---

Resupply via ship is historically difficult and costly. Instead of loading a train at a factory, now you're loading a train, unloading onto a ship, and then unloading the ship onto another train. Maybe some trucks in-between. Ships and ports are also vulnerable to attack and cannot be replaced/rebuilt as quickly as ground based transportation.

But I'm not sure that the Russians have the shipping capability even without Ukrainian attacks.

---

Edit to add: early in the war, it was shown that the Russians don't use palletized shipping with forklifts. They prefer to use manpower instead. This means that every change in mode of transportation takes significantly longer than it would in a western organization.

Actual edit: what a fail; I quoted instead of editing...

They will attempt to supply or augment supplies coming over the Kerch Bridge through shipping to Berdyansk and Sevastopol both of which have rail lines to the area. Berdyansk is more difficult because it's a smaller port and the rail line doesn't have as many turn around and offloading points which their railway troops will have to build. Can the Ukes reach those? Yes with cruise missiles. Maybe ATACAMs in Berdyansk. But it will likely cut a quarter of the total supply capacity in the area.

PJYoung said:

---

Exceptional thread and profound insights into the counter-offensive in the South by @solonko1648 (Olexandr Solon'ko), servicemember of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In his analysis, he sheds light on the situation, discussing both the challenges and achievements.

Translation:… pic.twitter.com/LW1eAHywma

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) August 26, 2023

---

Excellent article. Worth your time.

Fundamentally we are seeing a major shift in the maneuver / firepower balance in land warfare.

"The Ukrainian army said it is continuing to advance after breaking through the Russian defense line in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russian investigators have confirmed the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin."

UPDATES

Rock1982 said:

---

PJYoung said:

---

Exceptional thread and profound insights into the counter-offensive in the South by @solonko1648 (Olexandr Solon'ko), servicemember of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In his analysis, he sheds light on the situation, discussing both the challenges and achievements.

Translation:… pic.twitter.com/LW1eAHywma

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) August 26, 2023

---

Excellent article. Worth your time.

Fundamentally we are seeing a major shift in the maneuver / firepower balance in land warfare.

---

Hard agree here. A very informative short article that lays out the realities of this new war. It adds perspective that honestly, so many don't understand. Especially talking heads. I can't even watch these old "experts" anymore who haven't held a command in 20 years trying to stay relevant. It's so cringe and sad to see the willful disconnect between the old days and our new world.

Will also say if anyone here has more than a passing interest in this conflict, highly recommend you read this and digest it a bit. Nothing groundbreaking but just another iteration of how and why this war is being fought in the manner that it is.