Ukraine Summer Offensive Update for August 28 – ‘A Monumental Task Completed’

Snapshot

Robotyne officially liberated; Ukrainian soldier gives detailed analysis of Russian defenses; no new gains in Bakhmut sector.

Analysis

A Ukrainian soldier has given a detailed report on the Russian defenses the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) have advanced through as well as those that still lie ahead.

“Environment. Steppe. Fields, tree lines. Slight elevations and dips, villages, small rivers. Minefields. Whoever you may be, an armored assault group, evacuation team, aerial or infantry reconnaissance, your movement is visible from afar. The enemy has long been preparing.

“There has been a great deal of talk about fortifications and minefields. Every tree line has been dug up. On one stretch of the Mariupol highway, anti-tank fortifications have been installed. We're not just talking about trenches. There's an entire system of trenches, dugouts, and even underground tunnels in some places.

“For those who are ‘overly smart’ and believe that the AFU took an incredibly long time to drive the Russians out of the village of Robotyne, they must have missed the defense system that needed to be overcome in order to push the Russians away from the Mariupol highway and gradually approach the village, encircle it, and finally seize control. Truly, a monumental task has been accomplished.”

Operations – Southern Front

The strategically important village of Robotyne in southern Ukraine has been officially liberated, Kyiv announced on Monday morning.

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“Robotyne has been liberated and our troops are moving southeast,” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said, adding that Ukraine’s troops are now advancing towards Novoprokopivka and Ocheretuvato “despite fierce enemy resistance.”

Earlier, Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations in the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhzhia regional border area on Aug. 27 and reportedly made solid advances there.

Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun reported on August 27 that Ukrainian forces advanced in the Urozhaine area (9 km south of Velyka Novosilka) and were successful near Staromaiorske (9 km south of Velyka Novosilka) in the Berdyansk axis (western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhzhia regional border area).

A Russian milblogger claimed on Aug. 27 that Russian forces counterattacked on the outskirts of Vuhledar (30 km southeast of Velyka Novosilka) but did not specify an outcome.

A Kremlin-affiliated milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces have continued to attack the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia regional border area throughout the past week.

Over the weekend there were also reports that the Russian formations now standing in the Ukrainians’ southern path may threaten to withdraw from combat, despite recent efforts by Russian military command to purge and suppress insubordination, with the presumed assassination of mutinous Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin last week looming large as a stark example:

The “Rusich” Sabotage and Reconnaissance Group, a far-right Russian irregular paramilitary unit, announced that the group will refuse to conduct combat missions in Ukraine until the Russian government secures the release of Rusich commander and founding member Yan Petrovsky, who is currently in Finnish custody. Ukrainian authorities requested the extradition of Petrovsky from Finland to Ukraine, where he is suspected of various charges related to terrorism.

The Rusich Group is reportedly operating on the Robotyne-Verbove frontlines.

Operations – Donetsk and Luhansk

According to the ISW, Russian forces continued offensive operations on the Kupyansk-Svatove line but did not make territorial gains on Aug. 27. Kremlin-affiliated milbloggers claimed that Russian forces concentrated their efforts on attacking remaining Ukrainian positions in southern Synkivka (8 km northeast of Kupyansk).

A Russian news aggregator claimed that Russian forces successfully advanced in the Kupyansk direction on Aug. 26, but did not provide evidence or specify the location of the claimed advance.

A Russian milblogger claimed that Russian forces captured three Ukrainian positions in the Kupyansk direction and are advancing around Synkivka.

Operations – Bakhmut

Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction but did not make any confirmed gains on Aug. 27.

Other operations

Ukraine claimed it struck five Russian fighter jets in a kamikaze drone attack on Kursk Airfield overnight on Saturday/Sunday.

Speaking exclusively to Kyiv Post, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said a wave of drones hit “four Su-30 aircraft and one MiG-29” at the facility, as well as damaging two Pantsir missile launchers and the radars of an S-300 air defense system.

Though they did not specify how many drones were used in the attack, the source said that “only 3 of them were shot down by a leaky air defense system of Russia.”

They added: “Judging by the fact that even the Russians themselves recorded at least 13 explosions, the ‘cotton’ [a Ukrainian slang term for ‘explosions’] was impressive.

“We will find out the exact consequences of the damage and the number of dead and wounded in the near future.”