Key Takeaways from the ISW:
- The Kremlin appears to have launched a coordinated informational effort posturing military strength on the battlefield in order to shape Western thinking and falsely portray a Russian victory as inevitable.
- The Kremlin’s presentation of territorial gains statistics ignores the significant losses that Russia is incurring and the gradual, creeping nature of Russia’s advances — painting an incomplete picture of Russian performance on the battlefield.
- Russia launched another large-scale combined drone and missile strike against Ukraine on the night of August 29 to 30 — the third combined strike with over 500 drones and missiles since the August 15 US-Russia summit in Alaska.
- The Kremlin appears to be setting conditions to demote a senior Kremlin official who reportedly advised Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent months to end the war in Ukraine.
- Ukrainian forces continue to strike Russian military and energy infrastructure in Russia
- Russian Investigative Committee Chairperson Alexander Bastrykin will stay in his current position for another year following reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin was considering moving Bastrykin to a new position.
- An unknown assailant shot and killed former Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Chairperson Andriy Parubiy in Lviv City on August 30.
- A Russian servicemember recently murdered an elderly Ukrainian civilian in the Pokrovsk direction.
- Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Kupyansk and Novopavlivka, and Russian forces recently advanced near Toretsk, Pokrovsk, and Velykomykhailivka.
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