Victory Chronicles-DAY 1258

Russia’s latest aerial strikes on Kherson threaten to cut off one of the city’s most historically symbolic and vulnerable neighborhoods known as Ostriv (Korabel) that was once home to families, factories, parks, and schools, but which now has been reduced to a war-torn island that is under fire.

Russian aircraft on Aug. 2 dropped two guided aerial bombs on the bridge that connects Kherson’s city center to Ostriv (Island), which sits on the Quarantine Island between the Dnipro and Kosheva rivers.

The bridge, which is the neighborhood’s only link to the mainland, remains standing but now has a large crater that makes vehicle travel impossible. City officials are warning of potential food shortages, medical aid, or evacuation routes and are urging residents to evacuate to other parts of Kherson.

“This area used to represent the beating heart of working-class Kherson,” said Mykhailo Lynetskyi, head of the district administration. “Now, even its last artery is at risk of being severed.”

Russian forces have also been conducting what’s been labeled as a “human safari” campaign whereby they use drones to specifically target civilians in Kherson, a southern river and seaport city situated along the Dnipro river.

Number of deaths from Russian strike on Kramatorsk in Donetsk region rises to six. The number of civilians that were killed in a Russian aerial strike on a five-story residential building in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, on July 31 has risen to six, according to Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration.

Rescue teams had recovered the body of another victim from the rubble. Eleven city residents are confirmed injured, and four more may still be trapped beneath the debris.

The targeted strike destroyed half of the apartment building and damaged at least 30 nearby structures and 13 vehicles. Rescue operations are ongoing.

Ukrainian drones damage five Russian fighter jets at Crimean airbase. Ukrainian security services say they conducted a nighttime drone strike on Russia’s Saky military airbase in occupied Crimea, damaging or destroying five Russian fighter jets and hitting a stockpile of aviation weapons, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

One Su-30SM fighter jet was reportedly destroyed, another was damaged, and three Su-24 jets were hit. The Su-30SM alone is worth an estimated $35 million-$50 million. The Saky airbase is a key launch point for Russian operations in the Black Sea.

The SBU said the attack was part of a broader campaign to weaken Russia’s ability to wage war, warning that occupying forces “will never feel safe on Ukrainian land.”

Ukrainian intelligence eliminates Russian soldiers filming in Donetsk regional village

Ukraine’s military intelligence, known by its acronym of HUR, reported the destruction of a Russian unit that recorded a video in the Donetsk regional village of Zelenyi Hai. The soldiers had posed for photos to claim the area as a captured position en route to Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.

According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, the group was operating in the zone controlled by the “Timur” special unit of the “Bratstvo” battalion. Ukrainian forces quickly engaged and neutralized them.

No details were given on the number of Russian casualties. The area remains contested in a so-called grey zone amid continued Russian attempts to advance.

Key Takeaways:

• Ukrainian forces struck an oil depot in Krasnodar Krai on August 3.
• Russia is reportedly preparing to expand its use of occupied Ukraine to launch Shahed-type drone strikes against Ukraine.
• Russia appears to be trying to better protect its air bases after multiple years of Ukrainian strikes against the Russian rear.
• Russian intelligence services appear to be reassessing and possibly innovating their sabotage operations in Europe.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Lieutenant General Anatoliy Kryvonozhko as the Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force on August 3.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced in western Zaporizhia Oblast. Russian forces recently advanced in the Lyman, Pokrovsk, and Novopavlivka directions.

• Trump says US nuclear submarines are near Russian shores, as he previously stated
• Moldova warns Russia will try to influence voters across Europe
• Russians claim to have captured checkpoint on border with Kharkiv Oblast, local authorities say assault repelled
• Latvia blocks ten more websites spreading Russian propaganda
• Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence obtains classified data on Russia’s nuclear submarine cruiser