Victory Chronicles-DAY 1267

Ukrainian Defense Intelligence (HUR) says its suicide drones struck the Unecha oil pumping station on Russia’s Druzhba pipeline in the Bryansk region overnight on Aug. 13 that ignited a large fire.

A security source told the Kyiv-baased Ukrainska Pravda online news outlet that the operation was carried out jointly with other Ukrainian defense units. Local reports described multiple explosions before the blaze erupted at the facility, a key hub in the Transnefteprodukt network that supports Russia’s military industry.

Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed the strike, noting damage to the booster pump station area, storage tanks, and main pipeline equipment. Casualty and damage assessments are ongoing.

Russia exceeds monthly military recruitment targets. Russia is meeting, or exceeding, monthly army recruitment goals by 105 to 110 percent, according to Maj. Gen. Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR). He told state broadcaster Suspilne that the Kremlin has already met 67 percent of its annual recruitment target of 343,000 troops, as of early August. About 30,000 to 35,000 new recruits join each month (roughly 20,000 to 23,000 in the U.S. military). Nearly 25 percent of recruits come from prisons or are facing criminal charges. Russia uses cash bonuses and mortgage perks to lure men into serviceand many families accept the deadly tradeoff.

Casualties reported as Russian drones strike car and ambulance in Kherson, Donetsk regionsю Russian forces targeted a civilian car and an ambulance with drones in the southern Kherson and easternmost Donetsk regions, killing and injuring several innocent civilians, the State Emergency Service (SES) reported on Aug. 13.

In the Beryslav district, a drone hit a passenger vehicle, killing one person and injuring a woman. Rescuers recovered the body and took the injured to hospital. An ambulance was also struck, sparking a fire that firefighters had extinguished.

In the Donetsk region, a drone struck a car that was transportingthree civilians, causing it to veer into a ditch. Police then rescued two men, while rescuers freed the third passenger and handed him over to medics.

Ukrainian National Guard repels Russian assault near Donetsk regional town of Pokrovsk. Russian forces attempted a breakthrough in an area where Ukraine’s National Guard’s “Spartan” brigade was deployed along the the Pokrovsk salient in the Donetsk regionbut were destroyed, commander Oleksandr Pivnenko reported.

Aerial reconnaissance spotted an enemy armored personnel carrier, after which Ukrainian troops struck the vehicle and, with it, the accompanying infantry with drones and artillery. The Russian platoon was eliminated, which halted the assault.

Pivnenko added that over the past 24 hours, national guardsmen  repulsed 27 enemy attacks along the eastern front, destroying three armored vehicles, eight artillery systems, two mortars, nine vehicles, and two ammunition depots.

Key Takeaways:

• Russian forces continued to infiltrate Ukrainian defenses east and northeast of Dobropillya (northwest of Pokrovsk) using limited sabotage and reconnaissance groups on August 12. Russian forces have yet to be able to deploy reinforcements to hold and exploit this tactical penetration and will likely face obstacles in trying to do so.
• Russian milbloggers, who often overinflate Russian advances, questioned Russia’s ability to exploit the tactical penetration.
• The Russian tactical penetration in the Dobropillya direction was not immediate but came rather after months of Russian preparation and condition setting using new drone innovations and tactics at scale.
• Russian advances in the Pokrovsk direction are also only the most recent result of over 17 months’ worth of protracted campaigning.
• Russian officials are attempting to exploit the tactical penetration near Dobropillya to influence the upcoming US-Russia summit in Alaska, but the Kremlin’s overall strategic objective is to break the will of Ukraine, the United States, and Europe to achieve Russia’s longstanding demand for full Ukrainian capitulation.
• Ukrainian intelligence indicated that North Korea recently deployed 11,000 soldiers to Russia to facilitate Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, further demonstrating Russia’s commitment to leaning on its anti-Western partners to protract the war in Ukraine.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Velykyi Burluk, Borova, and Pokrovsk.

• Ukrainian president to attend joint video conference with Europeans and Trump from Berlin
• Radio Liberty: Putin’s Valdai residence protected by 12 air defense systems
• Zelenskyy: No signs of Russians preparing to end war
• US secretary of state: Trump does not see Alaska meeting as concession to Putin
• Zelenskyy: We won’t leave Donbas, it’s a springboard for new Russian offensive
• Putin and Kim Jong Un confirm unity in war against Ukraine during phone call
• Ukrainian Security Service drones again hit logistics hub containing Shahed drones in Russia’s Tatarstan