The war in Ukraine 2025-08-23

By /

Russian losses in Ukraine:

  • 840 KIA
  • 5 Tanks
  • 4 AFVs
  • 23 Artillery systems
  • 148 UAVs
  • 86 Vehicles & fuel tanks

SLAVA UKRAINI!

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterPost on X


Don't forget to donate, Ukraine's cause is ours! Support Ukraine!

ADS
As you have probably noticed, we now have ads on the site. The ads and their placement are managed by Google, which also tries to optimize it automatically. We will let it run for a few weeks to see where it ends up. Some placements feel quite large, but it might get better.
We will then post a survey to hear what you think, if there are too many ads, if there are certain placements that are particularly annoying, etc. so we can make any adjustments after that.

58 thoughts on “The war in Ukraine 2025-08-23”

  7. MXT

    USA
    At last, he is released!

    “The high-profile case of the wrongly deported man Kilmar Ábrego García continues. He has now been released from custody in Tennessee, reports CNN.

    In connection with the extensive deportation of suspected gang criminals to the notorious prison in El Salvador, Ábrego García was arrested, which received enormous attention. After large demonstrations, he was returned to the USA in June and has since been held in custody suspected of human trafficking.”
    https://omni.se/felaktigt-deporterade-garcia-slappt-fran-haktet/a/GykM1J

    But it will not be long-lasting.

    “The White House is furious that the wrongly deported man Kilmar Ábrego García has been released from custody in Tennessee. In a post on X, deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson accuses him of being a criminal, a wife abuser, and a member of the Salvadoran gang M-13.

    “He will face justice. It is an insult to his victims that this leftist judge intervened and released him,” Jackson continues.”
    https://omni.se/vita-huset-rasar-han-kommer-stallas-infor-ratta/a/lwG3A3

  8. MXT

    USA

    This is idiotic!

    “The US government has decided to halt the construction of a large wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, reports AFP. This despite the fact that the facility is already 80% complete and 45 of the 64 turbines are already in place.

    This is the latest in a series of decisions from the Trump administration that hinder the expansion of American wind power. Donald Trump himself said on Thursday that ‘wind doesn’t work’.”
    https://omni.se/trumpadministrationen-stoppar-nasta-fardig-vindkraftspark/a/73e6lo

    1. DJ

      Was it the US government that paid? Many wind power plants are failing, after all. Not stopping immediately is what’s called the sunk cost fallacy.

      1. Jan W

        If the value of a completed facility is less than the costs to complete it, it is of course (economically) foolish to proceed with the project. I suppose that is the essence of sunk cost fallacy. However, if the value of a completed facility (for whom may be part of the equation) is greater than the costs to complete it, it is foolish to cancel it for ideological reasons. For the undersigned, it seems less likely that a completed project would not be worth 20 percent of the total investment cost. I have come to believe that the majority of the costs for wind power are capital costs.

  9. MXT

    “At least four timed explosive charges are believed to have been used when the Nord Stream gas pipeline was sabotaged in the Baltic Sea almost three years ago. This is shown in German investigative documents that SVT News has access to. The explosive charges were transported to the site on a rented sailboat.

    A team of six people is believed to have been on the boat. Four of them are said to have been divers who placed the explosive charges at a depth of 70-80 meters.

    Recently, a Ukrainian citizen was arrested in Italy. He is suspected to have had a coordinating and planning role in the attack.”
    https://omni.se/teorin-fyra-tidsinstallda-bomber-bakom-nord-stream-sabotaget/a/wg1OMA

        1. MacMelmac

          No, but on another blog, you were considered a Putinist if you suggested a different theory than the one that had been hammered in, that it is Russia that planned and Russia that carried out.

    3. x10an

      It’s quite difficult to see how one could carry out such a diving operation from a sailboat using trimix. Gas quantities and decompression times quickly become problematic if relevant bottom time is to be achieved. And then to do three such dives within a limited time.
      No, some form of additional diving support vessel is more than likely necessary.
      So the question is why this narrative is being pushed in the media.

      A bit like with Trump’s ear. A crazy story not based on facts.

  14. MXT

    North Korea, no, wait I mean the USA

    Soon all critical voices will have been purged.

    “The US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fired the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Jeffrey Kruse, reports the Washington Post. The announcement comes after DIA released a report in June stating that the US attacks on nuclear facilities in Iran have only slowed down the country’s nuclear program by a few months.”

    https://omni.se/a/4B97nE

    1. Umlaut

      Smart there to arrange the notifications you want to hear and not the ones you need to hear. The distance between 🇺🇲 and 🇷🇺 decreases even further.

    2. CB500four

      Scary, all the officials who are laid off for political reasons should sue the state as long as possible. Every incompetent Trump supporter who is placed in a high position brings the USA one step closer to dictatorship, and ultimately a disaster for those who want to control their own lives.

  15. 205

    N Slobozhansky-Kursk 7
    S Slobozhansky 8
    Kupyansk 8
    Lyman 25💥💥
    Siverskyi 4
    Kramatorsk 5
    Toretsk 9💥↗️
    Pokrovsk 38💥💥↘️
    Novopavlivka 19💥↘️
    Huliaypillia 0
    Orikhivsk 1
    Dnipro/Prydniprovsky 4

    Over the past day, the Air Force, missile forces, and artillery of the Defense Forces struck four areas where personnel, weapons, and military equipment were concentrated, three artillery systems, a command post, and one other important enemy target.

    In the North Slobozhansky and Kursk directions, Ukrainian defenders repelled seven attacks by invading troops. The enemy also carried out 14 air strikes, using 28 guided bombs, and carried out 240 shelling attacks, two of which were from multiple launch rocket systems.

    In the South Slobozhanskyi direction, the enemy attempted eight times to break through the defensive lines of our defenders in the areas of the settlements of Vovchansk, Ambarne, and in the direction of Kolodyazne.

    Yesterday, there were eight enemy attacks in the Kupiansk direction. Our defenders repelled enemy assaults in the areas of Kindrashivka, Mirne, Stepova Novoselivka, and Zagryzove.

     

    In the Lyman direction, the enemy carried out 25 attacks. They tried to break through our defenses in the areas of the settlements of Hrekivka, Zelena Dolyna, Kolodyazi, Torske, and towards Yampil and Serebryanka.

    In the Siverskyi direction, the enemy made four attempts to advance in the areas of Hryhorivka, Vyimka, and Pereizne.

    In the Kramatorsk direction, five clashes took place near Bila Hora and towards Stupochky.

    In the Toretsk direction, the enemy carried out nine attacks in the areas of Shcherbinivka, Toretsk, Poltavka, and in the direction of Stepanivka.

    In the Pokrovsk direction, our defenders stopped 38 assaults by the aggressor in the areas of the settlements of Nikanorivka, Novoekonomichne, Myrolyubivka, Rodynske, Bilitske, Sukhyi Yar, Chunyishyne, Zvirove, Udachne, Molodetske, Muravka, and Dachne.

    In the Novopavlivka direction, the enemy carried out 19 attacks near the settlements of Zelenyi Hai, Tovste, Shevchenko, Voskresenka, Olgivske, Zaporizke, and Temyrivka over the past day.

    In the Orikhiv direction, in the Kamyanske area, the invaders made one attempt to advance on the positions of our troops.

    Yesterday, in the Prydniprovsk direction, the enemy made four unsuccessful attempts to attack the positions of Ukrainian units.

    No combat clashes were recorded in the Huliaipole direction.

    In the Volyn and Polissya directions, there were no signs of the formation of enemy offensive groups.

  16. johan No.1

    Make some advertising for this now but feel that Europe has woken up/changed.

    Druzba is huge and some leaders are laughing at Hungary’s soup shortage on Twitter.

    Everyone went to the USA

    the rumor about the national debt but Trump behaved if nothing else.

    then Macron’s “barbarians and orxher”.

    especially Macron turns quickly with the direction of the wind.

    -change of course

    and then Ukraine has offensive capacity AND Europe has given them hope.

    September is still a good month.

    ua has always had offensive plans the difference is that Europe has now woken up

    1. ANDERS RYDEN

      That’s how it is, right now Ukraine has a strong momentum.
      It’s not surprising that Europe is now rallying even more on the winning side.

      No one wants to be friends with a loser, except Trump.

      Looking at how each country has developed since the invasion, one can even discern a Ukraine that will be a future European locomotive.

    2. 205

      “The purpose was to scare and warn others about what could happen to those who opposed the authorities.”

      “When the Swedes, during this winter (1676-77), caught some snaphanar, they first tortured them terribly, burned their feet with glowing iron, and then inserted a spike inside their end and out through their nose. After that, they fastened them to a tree with a nail through both their hands over their head and left them hanging until they died.” This method of execution is called internal spiking, as opposed to external spiking where a pole was passed under the skin along the back and often a loose noose was placed around the neck. The Free Shooter Captain (and according to Swedish views, the snapphanen) Hans Severin is a man who was executed in this manner. The Free Shooter Lieutenant Johan Christian von Meckelburg received the same punishment and they were executed simultaneously. Their sentence read: “to be impaled alive, not internally, but between skin and back through the neck, then placed on the pole, feet nailed and hands tied behind under a new gallows, with a rope around the neck, not tightened. His name is struck on the gallows.”

      “If a snapphane was captured alive in a village, he was first tortured and then killed with one of the following refined methods: either he was nailed alive to the church door or he could be impaled alive on a glowing iron rod […]. There he hung as a warning to all.”

       The expression “as a warning to all” often appeared in the admonitions to the population of that time. If snapphanar were captured by the Swedes, they thus faced a cruel fate.

       

      “…in many cases preceded by ‘rådbråkning’, which consisted of crushing of arms and legs with a cartwheel, followed by dismemberment. Usually, ‘rådbråkning’ ended with ‘stegling på hjul’ where the body was woven into the spokes of a large wooden wheel…” 🛞 🪵 

       

      ‘rådbråka’ from the German Rad, ‘wheel’, respectively brechen, ‘to break’

       

      2. Umlaut

        A historian of ideas explained to me that the punishments of the past were so cruelly elaborate because people suffered immensely in their daily lives. People had parasites in their stomachs, toothaches, and headaches. In order for something to be considered a punishment compared to the daily suffering, it needed to be escalated a few steps compared to today. Still awful.

    3. CB500four

      Yes, it feels like Europe is starting to come together, and they are starting to get tired of Orban’s whining.

      Regarding Macron, I hope he starts showing determination as well. And Merz, where is he?

    1. 205

      Doesn’t Estonia 🇪🇪 need to be provided with more capacity for an attack against the Soviet Union, forgive the Russian Federation? One can’t completely trust that all Russian troops are tied up in Ukraine, right? And one wants to reach Moscow BEFORE winter, that’s what we’ve learned…

  18. 205

    From medieval to futuristic.

    1/Thread🧵https://x.com/anno1540/status/1958569588330741799?s=46

    War correspondent David Kirichenko @DVKirichenko —-

    ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’S GROWING ROLE IN MODERN WARFARE

    August 21, 2025

    Nations are racing to integrate AI into military operations, with Ukraine and Russia at the forefront of developing autonomous systems for battlefield advantage.

    https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/articles/ais-growing-role/

     

    “Not every AI model will be trained for every battlefield scenario, and AI will have its limitations. Ironically, the side that becomes overly dependent on AI-driven warfare may also expose itself to new vulnerabilities—ones that its adversary will inevitably learn to exploit.“

  19. johan No.1

    As soon as Europe set foot, everyone became terrified, including China.

    We have said a hundred times that this can go on because we allow it.

    Game on

    1. 205

      China can make more than Europe worry.

      Nikki Haley: To Counter China, Rebuild U.S.-India Relationship | Opinion
      https://www.newsweek.com/nikki-haley-trump-needs-rebuild-us-india-relationship-opinion-2114995

      “India must take Trump’s point over Russian oil seriously, and work with the White House to find a solution. The sooner the better.

      Decades of friendship and good will between the world’s two largest democracies provide a solid basis to move past the current turbulence.

      Navigating issues like trade disagreements and Russian oil imports demands hard dialogue. But, we should not lose sight of what matters most: our shared goals. To face China, the United States must have a friend in India.”

      The same goes for Europe. The UK has a longstanding relationship with India that properly cultivated should be able to form a fruitful link between Europe and India. To the detriment of China.

      https://x.com/nikkihaley/status/1959241897194766470?s=46

       

       

  20. johan No.1

    Chopped on Druzba day when it happened and then just continues.

    hard to see anything other than a change in direction here?

    Fallback B is something we can hope for but it may not be quite as good.

  21. 205

    🦩 “The Flamingo missile, if its specifications are confirmed, can reach Russia’s largest refinery in Omsk.“

    https://x.com/gerashchenko_en/status/1959207002766221331?s=46

    I’ve decided to translate for you a post from the Russian Telegram channel “Nezygar” about the current state of Russian refineries and fuel market:

    “Tensions in Russia’s fuel market are rising: in Primorye, there are kilometer-long queues at gas stations, and wholesale prices for gasoline and diesel have hit record highs. Officially, the reasons are no longer hidden – refineries are shutting down after Ukrainian strikes. During peak summer days, up to 14% of processing capacity was idle.

    In 2025, the tactics of Ukrainian strikes have changed. Previously, they were one-time: a unit would be damaged, the plant would reduce output, but recover within a few weeks. Now, attacks are carried out in series and repeated on the same facilities – Ryazan, Novokuibyshevsk, Syzran, Volgograd, Afipsky refineries. This prevents the restoration of primary processing and hydrocracking and catalytic cracking units. For example, after a series of attacks, Ryazan Refinery (5% of Russia’s capacity) has half its processing halted, while Novokuibyshevsk Refinery (3%) has its primary processing damaged. The largest refinery in southern Russia, Volgograd’s Lukoil, as well as the Samara and Syzran refineries, have stopped receiving crude.

    Ukraine is widely using drones with a range of 1,000-1,500 km (such as the AQ-400 produced by FirePoint), capable of reaching the Volga region. Simultaneously, drones and maritime drones are targeting export terminals – attacks on Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk have temporarily halted oil product shipments. ‘Madyar’ reported hitting the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies oil from Russia to its historical homeland.

    …

    The choice of refineries as targets is explained by their technological vulnerability. Modern Russian refineries were built using equipment from Shell, Axens, UOP, and Haldor Topsoe – hydrocracking, catalytic reforming, isomerization, and Euro-5 component production. After 2022, deliveries of equipment, software, and catalysts ceased. Catalysts are consumables, replaced every 1-3 years; without Western supplies, Russia relies on old stock or Chinese analogs with inferior performance. Hydroprocessing reactors and compressors are manufactured in only a few countries, with delivery times up to a year.

    China can cover only part of the deficit: pumps, heat exchangers, and simple catalysts. However, for complex processes, its technology lags, and replacing Western components with Chinese ones requires restructuring the entire refinery unit. As a result, every Ukrainian strike on a hydrocracking or reforming unit leads to months of downtime.

    The map of Russian refineries reveals a key strategic problem: the main processing capacities are concentrated in the European part of the country, while fuel consumption is rising in the Far East. Fuel logistics chains to eastern regions span thousands of kilometers, creating additional costs and risks. Kilometer-long queues in Primorye are a direct consequence of this imbalance between western production and eastern consumption. Large refineries – from Kirishi to Volgograd – are within reach of Ukrainian drones. The Flamingo missile, if its specifications are confirmed, can reach Russia’s largest refinery in Omsk.

    As the range increases, facilities previously considered out of reach are now threatened, creating a scale problem for air defense – protecting all refineries across the territory, from Kaliningrad to the Far East, is practically impossible.

    Consequently, Russia’s oil and gas industry, once a source of economic strength, has become a vulnerable spot.”

  24. 205

    https://x.com/gerashchenko_en/status/1959292570988576798?s=46

    MAXimum surveillance: how Russians are being driven into the FSB’s pocket messenger.

    Starting September 1, the Russian messenger Max will become mandatory for preinstallation on all devices in Russia. But users have already noticed that the app accesses the camera every 5-10 minutes, even when running in the background. In other words, a smartphone turns into a peephole for the security services, switching on without the owner’s knowledge.

    The developers rushed to explain themselves: supposedly, the camera activates only during video calls. But strangely enough, the camera also works when the app isn’t even open.

    Without Max, it will be impossible to log into the Gosuslugi government portal. Verification codes will be delivered only through the “state messenger.”

    Android users complain that Max appears on smartphones by itself, without being downloaded. The reason may be that RuStore is allowed to install third-party programs at its own discretion. Meaning, even a voluntary refusal to install doesn’t guarantee the app won’t end up on every Russian’s smartphone.

    GitHub experts analyzed the APK file of the “national messenger,” and found that Max collects not only contacts, gender, and age of the user, but also text input history – even if the message wasn’t sent.

    The app logs the list of all installed applications, tracks location, and can also listen and record audio. In essence, it’s full-fledged spyware disguised as a “citizens’ messenger.”

    Max does not use end-to-end encryption. This means that all chats and calls are available to the security services in real time. Moreover, the app is initially designed only for Russian and Belarusian phone numbers.

    Communication with foreign countries is reduced to a minimum. Max is just another brick in the construction of a “sovereign internet,” cut off from the outside world and fully controlled by the state.

    At the same time, Roskomnadzor announced that “measures are being taken to partially restrict calls” in Telegram and WhatsApp in Russia. The agency explained the “partial blocking” of calls in these messengers as part of the fight against fraudsters. I think that after September 1, it won’t take long before WhatsApp, Telegram, and other foreign messengers are completely blocked in Russia.

    1. DJ

      They could have encryption if they still control the app? Otherwise, hackers could listen in on the communication between interesting individuals. Interesting news anyway, hope the EU doesn’t get inspired… 

  26. MXT

    “The Ukraine drone attack on Russia continued throughout the afternoon and is now resurgent in the evening, as the map shows.

     

    Earlier Russia’s biggest airport, Sheremetyevo was added to the list of those closed, as was Samara.”

  27. MXT

    “Ukraine’s flag even flies in the Kursk region of Russia, which is ethnically Ukrainian territory.

    Drone operators of the “RUGBY TEAM 129″ battalion managed to fix blue and yellow flags over Hornalya and Huevo.

    #SlavaUkraïni”

  29. 205

    Operational information as of 08:00 on 24 August 2025 regarding the Russian invasion

    Glory to Ukraine!

    The 1,278th day of large-scale armed aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine has begun.

    Ukrainian defenders are steadfastly holding back the occupiers’ advance, inflicting significant losses on the enemy.
    In total, 179 combat clashes were recorded over the past day.

    According to updated information, yesterday the enemy carried out 61 air strikes and dropped 142 guided bombs. In addition, it carried out 4,363 shellings, including 61 from multiple launch rocket systems, and used 3,930 kamikaze drones.

    The aggressor carried out air strikes, in particular on the areas of the settlements of Stara Huta, Nova Huta, and Bunyakine in the Sumy region; Primorske in the Zaporizhzhia region.

    Over the past day, the aviation, missile forces, and artillery of the Defense Forces struck two areas where personnel, weapons, and military equipment were concentrated, as well as an artillery unit and an enemy command post.

    In the North Slobozhansky and Kursk directions, Ukrainian defenders repelled four attacks by the invading forces. The enemy also carried out eight air strikes, using 25 guided bombs, and carried out 176 shelling attacks.

    In the South Slobozhanskyi direction, the enemy attempted 10 times to break through the defensive lines of our defenders in the areas of the settlements of Vovchansk, Ambarne, Kamianka, and in the direction of Zelenyi.
    Six enemy attacks took place yesterday in the Kupiansk direction. Our defenders repelled enemy assaults in the Zagryzove area and in the direction of Kupiansk.

    In the Lyman direction, the enemy carried out 20 attacks. They tried to break through our defenses in the areas of the settlements of Hrekivka, Ridkodub, Karpivka, Kolodyazi, Myrne, and in the direction of Shandryholove, Dronivka, and Serebryanka.

    In the Siverskyi direction, the enemy made 12 attempts to advance in the areas of Hryhorivka, Pereizne, Fedorivka, and in the direction of Siversk.

    In the Kramatorsk direction, 16 clashes took place in the area of Chasovoy Yar and in the direction of Markovo, Stupochok, Predtechino, and Bila Hora.

    In the Toretsk direction, the enemy carried out 10 attacks in the area of Shcherbinivka and in the direction of Pleshchiivka, Katerynivka, Poltavka, and Popove Yar.

    In the Pokrovsk direction, our defenders stopped 52 assaults by the aggressor near the settlements of Mayak, Nikanorivka, Nove Shakhov, Krasnyi Lyman, Novoekonomichne, Myrolyubivka, Sukhyi Yar, Lysivka, Zvirove, Kotlyne, Udachne, Horikove, Novoukrainka, and in the direction of the settlements of Volodymyrivka, Rodynske, Pokrovsk, Balagan, Molodetsk, and Filiya.

    In the Novopavlivka direction, the enemy carried out 33 attacks over the past day in the areas of the settlements of Vilne Pole, Maliivka, Voskresenka, Temyrivka, Olgivka, and in the direction of Filiya, Ivanivka, and Zaporizhzhia.

    No combat clashes were recorded in the Huliaipole direction.

    In the Orikhiv direction, our defenders repelled one enemy attack in the area of the settlement of Kamyanske.

    Over the past day, the enemy made two futile attempts to attack the positions of Ukrainian units in the Dnipro direction.

    In the Volyn and Polissya directions, no signs of the formation of enemy offensive groups were detected.

    Our soldiers are inflicting significant losses on the occupying forces in terms of manpower and equipment and are actively undermining the enemy’s offensive potential in the rear.
    In total, the losses of the Russian invaders over the past day amounted to 910 people. Ukrainian soldiers also destroyed three armored combat vehicles, 40 artillery systems, one air defense system, 121 unmanned aerial vehicles, and 81 units of the occupiers’ automotive equipment.

    Join the Defense Forces!
    Together we will win!
    Glory to Ukraine!

Leave a Comment

Scroll to Top