Timeline: day 183 of Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression
Today is August 25. russia's military attack on Ukraine has been going on for 183 days. We're reporting on the current news. The article will be updated.
What about today?
Key points
Independence Day was not easy for Ukrainians. The air raid siren sounded 189 times throughout Ukraine. It is a complete record for the number of alarms in one day during half a year of full-scale war. The previous record (109 notices) was recorded on April 23, before Easter. In the Luhansk region yesterday, the siren wailed non-stop.
Rescue and search operations have been completed in the village of Chaplyne in the Dnipropetrovsk region. As a result of russia's shelling of the residential sector and the railway station, 25 people died, two of them children.
Ukraine's General Staff reports on what's happening on the fronts:
- The situation remained unchanged in the Volyn, Polissia, and Siveria directions.
- In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy fired from tanks, combat vehicles, cannon artillery, and rocket artillery along the contact line.
- In the Sloviansk direction, the enemy carried out assaults in the Pasika-Dolyna direction, had no success, and retreated.
- In the direction of Bakhmut, the enemy unsuccessfully tried to launch an offensive toward Travneve-Kodema.
- In the Avdiivka direction, the enemy tried to launch an offensive in the direction of Pisky-Pervomaiske, but was unsuccessful and retreated.
Yesterday, the Ukrainian army demilitarized:
- One russia's ammunition depot in Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia region.
- One russian military base in Rovenky, Luhansk region.
- One russian military base in Kakhovka district, Kherson region.
- One russia's ammunition depot and the army base in Chaplynka, Kherson region.
- Beryslav district, Kherson. The information is being clarified.
Aviation in the south of Ukraine made four successful strikes on the positions of the occupiers. "The enemy army lost 12 tanks, three units of armored vehicles, and an ammunition depot. The Ukrainian troops targeted the command and observation post of the battalion tactical group of the 33rd motorized rifle regiment and the 7th military base," the South Operation Command reports.
The Ukrainian military also struck the Kakhovka Bridge and the russian air defense systems.
The Institute for the Study of War calculated that since March, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had recaptured an area the size of Denmark from the russians. Researchers also claim that the offensive of russian troops in eastern Ukraine is reaching its climax. The occupiers launched ground attacks near Izium, Bakhmut, and Donetsk. They also struck in the west of the Kherson region. Instead, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continued to shell russian military facilities and land lines of communication in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
This year's Independence Day in numbers:
- Ukraine will receive 3 billion US dollars in aid from the USA, Great Britain, and Canada.
- The Ukrainian military destroyed nine enemy drones on August 24.
- Fifty-five countries performed the National Anthem of Ukraine simultaneously and set a world record.
- The Ukrainian army eliminated 150 occupiers on holiday.
Who's coming to Ukraine?
On financial and information aid, weapons, and politicians
Forbes published a new rating of friends of Ukraine as of August 22. Poland is an unchanging leader. The first places in the updated list of "Friends of Ukraine" were taken by Poland, Estonia, Latvia, the USA, and Lithuania. In the previous version, which was compiled three months ago, there was Canada; now, its place has been taken by Lithuania. It is also worth noting that money is not the only criterion for measuring support for Ukraine. Forbes analyzed what other countries helped us:
Genocide was recognized by 8 of the 20 countries in the rating. Another four did so partially, the others in joint statements.
Expulsion of russian diplomats. Bulgaria is the record holder, which sent 81 diplomats, Poland — 45, France — 41, and Germany — 40.
Aid to Ukraine and refugees and the amount of assistance as a percentage of the country's GDP. The United States provided the most support — €44.5 billion, Germany — €7.6 billion, and Great Britain — €6.6 billion.
Considering the country's aid as a GDP percentage, the most generous are Estonia with 1.13% of GDP, Latvia with 1.03%, and Poland with 0.88%.
The Pentagon considers the delivery of GMLRS-guided missiles to Ukraine, which are used with the help of M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS, to be the highest priority. The American military department hopes that this will allow Ukraine to restrain the advance of russian troops.
Unfortunately, in matters of military aid, not everything is as perfect as we would like. Some types of weapons from Ukraine's new US military aid package may arrive only after two or three years. This was stated by the representative of the US Ministry of Defense.
Ukraine and Britain will conclude an agreement on digital trade. This agreement will contribute to Ukraine's participation in the global economy and will positively affect the image of our country as a trade partner, the Ministry of Statistics reported. Ukraine will become the second country after Singapore to sign such an agreement with Great Britain.
Helping refugees
Google subsidiary Jigsaw will start a fight against disinformation about Ukrainian refugees in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. According to Reuters, Poland was chosen because it has the most significant number of Ukrainian refugees. The Czech Republic and Slovakia would be helpful leaders for the rest of Europe. In collaboration with Jigsaw, psychologists from the universities of Cambridge and Bristol created 90-second videos designed to "vaccinate" people from harmful content on social media. The videos, which will be displayed in advertising units on YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook, are designed to help people avoid being emotionally manipulated by news headlines.
News from partners
The Ukrainian Way has officially appeared in New York. Ambassador of Ukraine to the USA Oksana Markarova reported that yesterday, on the Independence Day of Ukraine, the renaming of the intersection in Brighton Beach, a favorite district of russians, to Ukrainian Way was successfully completed, and she showed the plaque.
Polls show that more than half of Americans believe that the United States should support Ukraine until the war ends. Reuters and Ipsos asked 1,005 people in the United States about Ukraine last week: 53% expressed support for Ukraine "until all russian troops are withdrawn from territory claimed by Ukraine." Only 18% said they were against it. 51% also supported giving up arms, compared to 22% who were opposed.
The Association of Polish Journalists issued a statement calling for the prosecution of russian propagandists posing as journalists as war criminals. Among those named were Solovyov, Simonyan, Skabeeva, and Kiselyov.
The United States calls the trials of Ukrainian prisoners of war planned by russia in Mariupol a mockery of justice. Washington condemns the actions of the occupiers. State Department representative Ned Price noted that both Ukrainian defenders and foreigners included in the Ukrainian Armed Forces are granted the status of prisoners of war. "The United States will continue to stand with the Ukrainian people as they defend their freedom."
Life considering hostilities
Ukrposhta issued a stamp dedicated to volunteers from IT. The brand was created for Ukraine's Independence Day. It will be presented to IT specialists who have been actively helping Ukraine in its fight against the enemy since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
A few statistics: almost half of IT engineers send 5-20% of their income to help the Ukrainian army and volunteers, and 3% give away half of their income. Hundreds of IT specialists have joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the territorial defense forces, and thousands more engineers have joined the IT army, which strikes on the cyber front. GlobalLogic engineers collected more than 15 million hryvnias on their own during half a year of a full-scale invasion. These funds were used to purchase dozens of drones and other items necessary for the Ukrainian military.
