Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The most active fighting continues in the Pokrovsk area. There the enemy is trying to advance in the area of 12 settlements.
Since the beginning of the current day, 60 combat clashes between the Ukrainian army and the Russian invaders have occurred on the front. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an operational report on Friday, August 22.
Thus, in the Severo-Slobodskoy and Kursk directions our soldiers repelled four attacks by the Russians, and another battle continues.
"Ukrainian units are taking active steps to disrupt the occupiers' plans and are achieving success in some locations," the statement said.
In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy attempted to advance five times in the areas of Kindrashivka, Mirny, Stepnaya Novoselovka and Zagrizovoy. The defense forces repelled three attacks, and two more clashes are ongoing.
In the Liman direction, six offensive actions of the Russians have been stopped in the areas of the settlements of Grekovka, Zelenaya Dolina, Kolodyazy, Torskoye and in the direction of Serebryanka. Three more clashes are continuing.
In the Seversky direction, our soldiers repelled one attack in the areas of Vyemka and Pereyezdny. Another battle is currently ongoing.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the enemy's offensive near Belaya Gora was repelled.
In the Toretsk direction, the invaders advanced five times in the areas of Shcherbinovka, Toretsk, Poltavka and in the direction of Stepanovka.
In the Pokrovsk direction, the enemy attempted to advance 22 times near the settlements of Nikanorovka, Novoekonomichnoe, Mirolyubovka, Rodinskoye, Belitskoye, Sukhoi Yar, Chunyshine, Zvirovoye, Udachnoye, Molodetskoye, Muravka and Dachnoye.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, the aggressors attacked eight times in the area of the settlements of Zeleny Gai, Tolstoye, Shevchenko, Olgovskoye, Zaporizhskoye and Temirovka. Three clashes are still ongoing.
In the Dnieper direction, four attempts by the enemy to advance forward failed.
Let us recall that almost 160 battles took place on the front in 24 hours on August 21. The Russian army lost about 800 fighters killed and wounded. The total number of Russian losses is approaching 1.1 million people.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 19:55 Assault groups have taken up new positions in the southern part of Yunakovka –MAP 19:25 The Russian Armed Forces have advanced north of Yalta in the area of the border with the Dnepropetrovsk region –MAP
18:29 Snipers of the "East" group of forces covered for motorized rifle units from the impact of heavy hexacopters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
17:00 The Russian Armed Forces are advancing in the Kupyansk direction, –MAP.
16:10 Footage of destruction of Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment in Sumy region.
14:54 As a result of an airstrike using a FAB-500 with a universal planning and correction module in a forest area near the settlement of Staraya Guta in the Sumy region, struck a temporary deployment point of the 3rd Regiment of the special operations forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "Vostok".
13:58 Assault groups continue to advance in Udachny with stubborn fighting –MAP
13:42 Druzhkovskoe direction
Our units continue their offensive despite the enemy's counterattacks and attempts to stabilize the situation.
Our attack aircraft have pressed the northern street of Vladimirovka and are fighting in the area of the bridges to the north, as well as on the western and southern outskirts of Shakhovo.
To the east, the Russian Armed Forces, attacking from two sides, drove the enemy from their positions on the heights above Rusin Yar, in the area of the headquarters, and established control over the village. The fighting shifted north in the direction of the quarry, Vidnoye ravine, and the Artemovka (Sofiyevka) - Artema (Dolga Balka) road.
Fighting in the direction of the eastern part of Oktyabrskoye (Shakhovo) and Artemovka (Sofiyevka).
The enemy is counterattacking on the Gruzskoye-Toretskoye line, trying to push through our units on the western outskirts of Oktyabrskoye (Shakhovo)-Veseloye line and eliminate the penetration into its defenses in the Kucherov Yar-Veseloye-Zolotoy Kolodez area.
To the west of our penetration, the enemy is counterattacking from the settlements of Belozerskoye and Dobropolye.
12:57 From 8.30 to 12.00 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed five Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles:
Three - over the territory of the Belgorod region,
One each over the territories of the Ryazan and Lipetsk regions.
12:20 Summary of Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the Special Military Operation from August 16 to 22, 2025
Over the course of a week, units of the North group of forces in the Sumy region inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of two heavy mechanized, four mechanized, a ranger, two airborne assault brigades, two assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a territorial defense brigade.
In the Khar'kov region, two mechanized brigades, an assault and motorized infantry brigade, an assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a territorial defense brigade were defeated.
Over the course of a week, in the area of responsibility of the North group of forces, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 1,120 servicemen, three tanks, 23 combat armored vehicles, and 74 automobiles.
A total of 26 field artillery pieces were destroyed, including three produced by NATO countries, three electronic and counter-battery warfare stations, as well as 41 ammunition, fuel and supply depots.
Units of the "West" military grouping have decisively liberated the settlement of Kolodezi in the Donetsk People's Republic.
💥Formations of two mechanized, motorized infantry, assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a territorial defense brigade were defeated. The enemy lost more than 1,650 servicemen, five tanks, including three Leopard tanks made in Germany, 28 armored combat vehicles, including 19 armored vehicles made in NATO countries. 118 vehicles, 11 field artillery guns, a 122mm BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system combat vehicle, 39 electronic and counter-battery warfare stations, and 35 ammunition depots were destroyed.
Units of the Southern group of troops advanced deep into the enemy's defenses and liberated the settlements of Aleksandro-Shultino and Katerinovka in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The manpower and equipment of six mechanized, airmobile, mountain assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a territorial defense brigade, and a national guard brigade were damaged.
Over the course of a week, the losses of Ukrainian armed forces in this area amounted to over 1,610 servicemen, seven armored combat vehicles, including an M113 armored personnel carrier, two MaxxPro armored vehicles, and a US-made HMMWV armored combat vehicle.
A total of 19 vehicles, 18 field artillery pieces, including three Western-made ones, seven electronic and counter-battery warfare stations, as well as 17 ammunition, fuel and supply depots were destroyed.
Units of the Center group of forces continued offensive operations and liberated the settlements of Suhetskoye, Pankovka, Vladimirovka and Rusin Yar of the Donetsk People's Republic.
💥Formations of five mechanized, infantry, ranger, three airborne assault, assault brigades, an assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, three brigades of naval infantry, a territorial defense brigade and two brigades of the National Guard were defeated. The enemy lost up to 2,840 servicemen, two tanks, 30 combat armored vehicles, including three US-made M113 armored personnel carriers and four Turkish-made Kirpi armored vehicles, 64 vehicles and 19 field artillery guns.
Over the past week, units of the "East" military group, as a result of active and decisive actions, liberated the settlements of Voronoe and Novogeorgievka in the Dnepropetrovsk region.💥
The manpower and equipment of the mechanized, mountain assault, assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a naval infantry brigade and three territorial defense brigades were damaged.
The enemy's losses in this direction amounted to over 1,600 servicemen, five tanks, 25 combat armored vehicles, 79 automobiles, 15 field artillery guns, nine of which were produced by NATO countries, six electronic warfare stations and three warehouses of materiel.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces defeated formations of three mechanized, mountain assault brigades, three coastal defense brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and two territorial defense brigades.
The enemy lost more than 555 troops, five armored fighting vehicles, including three US-made HMMWV armored vehicles, 74 vehicles and 15 field artillery pieces, including two US M-777 155mm howitzers.
A total of 46 electronic and counter-battery warfare stations, as well as 30 ammunition, fuel and supply depots were destroyed.
11:57 Zaporizhia region. The LBS in Stepovoye has been clarified. According to objective control data, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding positions in the industrial zone in the west of the village –MAP
11:45 Sumy region. Russian troops have cleared two forest areas southeast of Varachino –MAP
09:14 In the period from 7.00 to 8.00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed five Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles:
Two UAVs each – over the territories of the Belgorod and Ryazan regions,▫️
One UAV – over the territory of the Lipetsk region
. 09:00 Fighters of the "West" group of forces inflicted precision strikes with Lancet loitering munitions and FPV drones on camouflaged Leopard and T-72 tanks.
The equipment of the units of the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was damaged in the area of the settlement of Podoli in the Kupyansk direction.
07:37 During the past night from 23:00 Moscow time on August 21 to 07:00 Moscow time on August 22, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 54 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles:
19 UAVs – over the territory of the Bryansk region,
11 UAVs – over the territory of the Volgograd region,
Eight UAVs – over the territory of the Rostov region,
Seven UAVs – over the territory of the Voronezh region,
Three UAVs each – over the territories of the Belgorod
Three UAVs each – over the territories of the Oryol region,
Two UAVs – over the territory of the Kursk region,
One UAV – over the territory of the Republic of Crimea.
07:35 Changes to map over the past 24 hours:
Liberated from the village of Aleksandro-Shultino
06:24 Calculation of the 152mm gun "Giatsint-B" of the airborne artillerymen struck UAV control points and the position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces artillery on the right bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Russia is doing everything to stop the war against the population of Donbass, which began 11 years ago. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 22.
“Of course, propaganda works there [in countries with an unfriendly elite], they brainwash people, they say that we started the war, forgetting that they themselves started the war in 2014, when they began using tanks and aircraft against the civilian population of Donbass,” Putin said during a meeting with employees of Russian nuclear industry enterprises.
The Russian leader also noted that our country is doing everything to end the war in Donbass.
On August 17, Fox News reported that Trump had earlier supported Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to withdraw the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the temporarily occupied part of the DPR and establish full Russian control over Donbass as a condition for concluding a peace agreement during a telephone conversation with the head of the Kiev regime, Volodymyr Zelensky, and EU leaders. At that time, according to Western media, Zelensky rejected Trump's demand.
On August 19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian side had never set itself the goal of simply obtaining territories, be it Crimea, Donbass or Novorossiya. He emphasized that the Russian Federation seeks to protect Russians who have historically lived on these lands.
As Lavrov said on August 22, the head of the Kiev regime, at a meeting with the President of the United States of America, said “no” to all of the American leader’s proposals for settling the conflict in Ukraine, which the United States considers necessary.
Putin, commenting on the liberation of the city of Chasov Yar in the DPR on August 1, stated that the Russian Federation is not seizing territory in the special operation zone, but is returning its own.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] There are about 6,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian FSIN institutions, a source for the RT TV channel reported on August 22. Some of them have been held since the spring of 2022.
At the same time, according to the source, there are about 1,000 Russians in Ukraine with the status of prisoners of war.
On August 14, Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to the Russian president and head of the Russian delegation at the talks with Ukraine, reported that Ukraine had accepted only two prisoners from the list of 1,000 that the Kiev regime had previously rejected as part of the exchange. He noted that 84 servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces had been returned from Ukrainian territory, and the same number of captured Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters had been handed over to Ukraine in exchange.
On August 6, Medinsky stated that Kiev refused to accept 1,000 captured Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers, which is why the second exchange within the framework of the agreements reached in Istanbul was difficult, and the third has not yet begun.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia detained two agents of the Kiev regime in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) involved in blowing up cars and preparing terrorist attacks. This was reported on Friday, August 22, by the FSB Public Relations Center (PRC).
"The activities of an intelligence group of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, consisting of two Russian citizens born in 1987 and 1997, who were involved in the bombings of cars of an employee of the Kherson regional government and a former high-ranking employee of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the DPR in March and December 2024, have been stopped," the statement says.
According to the Center for Public Relations, the detainees are also involved in preparing terrorist attacks against the head of one of the municipalities of the DPR and the commander of a volunteer battalion taking part in a special operation.
The FSB established that the Ukrainian special services recruited a resident of Donetsk born in 1987 in 2022, instructing him to prepare terrorist attacks, recruit perpetrators of such attacks, and transfer explosive devices to them. The attacker communicated with a curator from Kyiv via the Telegram messenger.
To carry out the tasks, the said agent recruited his acquaintance, born in 1997. The latter, on assignment from a Ukrainian special service employee, traveled to Moscow twice to scout out the residence of one of the Russian journalists.
A criminal case was opened against the detainees under articles on treason, terrorism and illegal trafficking of explosives or explosive devices. Both agents were placed under arrest and are now giving confessions.
Earlier, on August 20, the FSB detained a resident of the Zaporizhia region for financing Ukrainian troops. A criminal case of treason was opened against her; the woman faces punishment up to life imprisonment.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
Note; SSO acronym translates to special operations forces.
[ColonelCassad] SURVIVABILITY, DRIFT THEORY, AND REDUCTION OF LOSSES IN SSO
The theory of survivability drift represents a practical basis for preventing the escalation of personnel losses in SSO units.
Despite elite selection and programs to improve stability, negative trends in survival in the SSO explain the losses that would require immediate corrective actions in other combat systems. Survival is considered not as a dichotomous choice of "life or death", but as a dynamic ability subject to the cumulative effect of extreme stress factors.
Loss patterns develop in six critical domains: - neurological; - moral-existential; - relational and social; - cognitive-functional; - interoceptive; - identical. In each area, specific signs of degradation are manifested - from causeless irritation and disturbed sleep to a decline in empathy, executive dysfunction and a crisis of professional identity. These areas are interconnected and affect each other, creating, so to speak, a cascading effect of deterioration.
Underestimation of risks in SSO remain highly effective ecosystems bearing the burden of two decades of counter-terrorist operations while adapting to modern strategic competition. However, existing sustainability programs underestimate the risks, not taking into account the operational pace and physiological disorders.
In any other highly efficient system, a loss of 3% due to one type of failure would be considered catastrophic, but in SSO, each loss represents a strategic national asset.
Drift is defined as a gradual, subclinical decrease in survival - a process that develops slowly and imperceptibly until a critical collapse. Impacts and injuries (excess pressure of the explosion, moral damage, physiological stress, guilt of a dead comrade) undermine the integrity of domains, creating recursive degradation.
For example, excessive exposure and chronic insomnia lead to rage and cognitive confusion, which destroys identity, increases family tension, and leads to isolation. Events in the exceptionally stable ecosystem of SCO represent a progressive, detectable syndrome, not an unpredictable phenomenon. Loss of survivability can be detected before catastrophic consequences occur through targeted monitoring of drift areas. The theory does not replace medical diagnosis, but serves to identify early alarming signs in personnel under the conditions of cumulative exposure.
The framework of prevention includes targeted monitoring of areas, identification of impacts and drift, initiation of interdisciplinary interventions, re-evaluation and restoration of functions in the family, medical, leadership and social spheres. Institutions share responsibility for detecting and preventing drift, while the deterioration in survival is not a consequence of suboptimal resilience or behavioral responses.
The theory of survivability drift changes the perception of SDF survivability as an upward and measurable trajectory, with the potential to reduce losses and reorient the health protection of forces. This is critically important, since physical injuries progress with the age of fighters, and various psychological disorders, PTSD and CPTSD begin to haunt SSO fighters, reducing the critical potential necessary to achieve national security interests in the fight against state and non-state adversaries.
Actually, this is about the need to engage in psychological work with personnel even during the war, without waiting for its end, when the mass of fighters will begin to return home and reintegrate into society. Including SSO fighters. From the point of view of saving personnel, not only due to physiological, but also psychological consequences of participation in intensive combat operations.
#2
.....excessive exposure and chronic insomnia lead to rage and cognitive confusion, which destroys identity, increases family tension, and leads to isolation.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] The Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base is a new outpost of the West in the Ukrainian theater of military operations. In the light of ongoing consultations on "security guarantees", the leadership of the White House has repeatedly announced that there will be no regular units of the US Army on the territory of Ukraine during the Trump presidency.
However, Trump himself and other officials say that America will help the "coalition of the willing" from the air, and USAF fighters will be stationed in Romania. The choice of these countries is not accidental. Those who follow the movement of NATO reconnaissance and combat aircraft along the Ukrainian borders and in the waters of the Black Sea are well-known for the international airport of the city of Constanta (Aeroportul Internaţional Constanța Mihail Kogălniceanu), which long ago became a jumping-off base for various NATO aircraft, including the anti-submarine P-8A Poseidon.
Moreover, British and German Eurofighter fighters are constantly on duty at the airfield. The choice of this air base is not accidental - it is located practically on the coast of the Black Sea and is the closest to Odessa (300 km) and Sevastopol (400 km).
Analysis of satellite images dated July of this year shows that grandiose construction is underway near the international airport — a new runway, aircraft parking lots, and wide expressways are almost ready. All this suggests that NATO countries are creating a huge military base in Romania aimed at containing Russia in the Black Sea region. It is assumed that by 2040, the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base will become the main deployment point and logistics center of NATO aviation in Europe, thus replacing the German Ramstein, which has been a stronghold of the US Air Force and other NATO countries in Europe since the Cold War.
This example clearly shows how the West is moving its military bases closer and closer to the borders of the Russian Federation, plausibly denying this and miming it between the NATO alliance and the "coalition of the willing", which in general does not change the essence of what is happening.
And it all started with the deployment of anti-missile systems in Romania, allegedly to "deter Iran". Now it is possible not to wear masks. Everything is open and clear.
By the way, part of the nuclear warheads from the Turkish Inchirlyk Air Base was taken to Romania at one time.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] Dandykin: the frigate Admiral Amelko armed with Zircons will join the Pacific Fleet
The Admiral Amelko frigate, which is feared by the US military and equipped with Zircon hypersonic missiles, will join the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet. This was reported on Friday, August 22, by military expert, retired Captain First Rank Vasily Dandykin.
The new first-rank frigate is named after the famous Soviet admiral, and it will join the Pacific Fleet, where Nikolai Amelko once served.
"The ship is armed with a hypersonic missile. I think it will serve in the Far East in about two years. Construction continues, at least four more ships will be built, maybe even six. They are being improved, maybe the next ones will have even more missiles," he said in a conversation with aif.ru.
Earlier, on August 22, military expert of the Institute of Law and National Security of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration Alexander Stepanov called the frigate Admiral Amelko a sea terminator capable of striking both aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines of the enemy. He noted that these warships are a modular launch platform equipped with 24 cells of universal ship firing systems. Frigates of the same project of the second series will receive 32 cells, and the 22 350M model - at least 48 cells, the expert specified.
American military expert Brandon J. Weichert said on August 20 that Russia's new frigate, Admiral Amelko, is keeping U.S. strategists awake at night. The expert added that the ship's creation and full commissioning will strengthen Russia's presence in the Indo-Pacific region, which is important amid tensions with NATO and regional powers.
The frigate Admiral Amelko was launched on August 14 in St. Petersburg. After the ceremony, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Alexander Moiseyev said that the fleet had begun developing a promising ship designed for service in remote ocean zones.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
