The Ukrainian "Khimik" special forces group as allied with local opposition forces and attacked a Russian-government Syrian base near Aleppo. They destroyed a storage cache of drones and munitions.
Ukraine has requested international aid assistance in the areas of Kursk they have taken control of, citing shockingly poor standards of sanitation and plumbing, almost completely overgrown roads and, in places, nonexistent electricity and internet connectivity. This may include a vote at the UN (which may see Russia voting against aid for its own people).
Ukraine has repulsed an attack on the village of Plekhovo, Kursk. They also destroyed a Russian ammo depot in Veseloye.
Another batch of formerly Danish F-16s should be in Ukraine in a matter of weeks.
Putin has signed an order officially increasing the total size of the Russian military from 2.2 million personnel to 2.39 million.
The Czech Republic is citing a budget increase thanks to tax-paying Ukrainian refugees paying more in then they are taking out, with them also playing a key role in addressing the country's labour shortage.
Turkey has halted the majority of sanction-evading trade to Russia via its borders, according to the Ukrainian ambassador. However, Turkey has failed to agree to impose key sanctions reached by the US and EU. Negotiations on these points remain ongoing.
A large drone attack on Ukraine was thwarted over night, with 53 shot down and 3 lost due to likely EW measures. Not one drone got through to a target.
Some Ukrainian forces may be within 5km of Glushkovo, but there are also confused reports of larger Russian formations in the area than expected. Russia lost a lot of vehicles in one mechanised assault, but it's unclear if they succeeded in gaining any ground.
Russia has completed withdrawing naval and air assets from the western Black Sea region out of the range of Storm Shadow/SCALP and ATACMS missiles fired from Ukrainian territory. This is raising the likelihood that current NATO-Russian posturing has been designed to warn/signal Russia to get military units out of the way so when Ukraine attacks, they will lose less vehicles and Russia will not escalate dangerously (despite current bitching about it). However, moving ships and aircraft hundreds of miles from the front significantly reduces their effectiveness. The Black Sea Fleet has effectively withdrawn from even Novorossiysk under the cover of exercises and may relocate to the new (but incomplete) port in Anaklia, in Russian-controlled Abkhazia. This has apparently not gone down well with the government of Georgia, but, given they have become more pro-Russian in recent months, that does not seem to be eliciting a lot of sympathy.
There is a lot of anger in drone units of the Russian military at reports that commanders are taking drone operators and sending them into battle as meat sacrifices, to solve their manpower problems. Some reports that Russian drug gangs are also paying military commanders to be allowed access to their units, leading to some units being incapacitated by drug addiction, or units underperforming in the field due to being high (!). One Russian PoW reported his commanding officer shaking him down and taking his money before an assaulting telling him he wouldn't need it, as he was going to be dead anyway.
45 airmen from Levashovo Airbase in St. Petersburg have been sent to the front line to fight in the infantry, despite both them and their families protesting. One report is the the Russian Air Force is recruiting people to serve with them "away from Ukraine" but then immediately handing them over to the army. This is already becoming known in Russian circles as "the deception drive."
One Russian report that Ukrainian scam operators have managed to raise $1 billion from Russian citizens through a mixture of scam calls and emails and blackmail. Some Russians have been tricked or blackmailed (or just paid) into carrying out acts of sabotage within Russia.
Microsoft is apparently planning to remotely stop their software working in Russia as licences taken out before the invasion expire. Russian businesses, including the postal service, are switching to a new operating system called "Russian Linux."
Russia has authorised the mandatory evacuation of the western halves of Khomutovka and Rylsk districts of Kursk Oblast, fearing a fresh cross-border assault by Ukrainian forces. Given Ukraine has not taken Glushkovo yet, that may be premature but we'll see.
Budanov has said that Ukrainian analysts have concluded that Russia's economy is likely to start experience serious shocks as a result of sanctions and the war between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026. As a result, Russia is likely to push for a victory or something it can credibly sell as a victory by the end of 2025.
Ukraine's elite 73rd Naval Special Operations Centre has been carrying out night-time, stealth attacks using advanced technology and training used by British SBS and US Navy SEALS. This unit is responsible for recapturing Snake Island and retaking the oil rigs in the western Black Sea. In recent weeks they have carried out additional attacks on Russian positions in Crimea and on rigs off the coast. Their current objective is to force Russian forces back far enough to allow the reopening of Mykolaiv Port, which would be a huge economic boost to the country (Mykolaiv is located between Odesa and Kherson city).
Akhmat's commanding officer has told all Chechens in Ukrainian custody to kill themselves immediately, so as not to disgace their homeland any further.
Extremely unlikely reporting in some circles that Russia has started intimating that it may consider withdrawal from Kherson Oblast and possibly parts of Zaporizhzhia as part of a deal where Ukraine permanently cedes Luhansk, Donetsk and Crimea to Russia, and western countries halt shipments of long-range weapons. File this under "unhinged" for the time being.
Most of the 100+ Russian PoWs released by Ukraine this week have been directly taken back to the front lines, instead of being sent home to their families on leave, as apparently was planned.
Meanwhile,
the reaction of a Ukrainian soldier just released from captivity for two years, after being told that Ukraine has occupied part of Kursk and is fighting with F-16 fighters.
Azath Vitr (D, on 16 September 2024 - 01:33 PM, said:
I'm a bit surprised the Kremlin isn't trying to claim he was a Ukrainian agent, or that Ukraine is trying to assassinate Trump. Wonder if anyone's been saying that on Russian state television or social media... "Those monsters are trying to assassinate our Donald!" OTOH I doubt that Routh is a Russian agent---not so much because it would have to go back to at least 2023 or 2022, but since they could have easily (?) faked more incriminating Ukrainian ties and implicated the Ukrainian government...
The guy was a bit of a nutcase, and the Ukrainian government found him a nuisance and fantasist who couldn't actually deliver any assistance, and several times rejected equipment or possible recruits as being unsuitable or inexperienced.