Explosions in the suburbs of Kharkiv.

Kharkiv city is under large-scale KAB attacks. Continuous explosions in the city.

The 2014 Ukrainian army's defenses on the Toresk front crumble: I must admit my mistake in overestimating the defensive capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces on this front, which was considered a secondary axis used by the Russians to divert Ukrainian forces while developing the logistical cut between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka from east and west.
The situation is now quite different, the axis has become one of the main ones of this Russian summer offensive, which will seek the capture of the entire urban agglomeration of Toresk and the surrounding towns, which may have the following evolution:

1. After the last advances it is clear that the Russian forces look for the capture of the two terrikones adjacent to Zalizne and Pivnichne, which will precipitate the fall of these two populations. Simultaneously the troops will move towards Niu-York joining the troops fighting there and will force the complete fall of the 2014 line in this sector.
2. Subsequently the assault towards Toresk will begin. The proximity of this city will allow the Russian assault to continue from the south through the forests and the central avenue, seeking the heights of the Toretskugol and Dzerzhynskuhol mines. In addition, a parallel advance will be made on Scherbynivka.
With the fall of Toresk, the Russian army will have a “free road” to Kostiantynivka from the south. However, the Chasov Yar and Ocheretyno axes will continue to play a leading role in the seizure of the territory below the H-32 highway.

“If it wasn't clear, the cruise missile, X-59/69/R-500, went around the Sumy and Chernihiv regions in order to return almost to the place of launch.”

Umm what?

This will be fun to cover later

Over 2 thirds of you guys wanted me to continue reporting on conflicts other than Ukraine, so that's what I'll do. Ukraine will remain my main focus, however.

Update from Somalia - Lower Juba front:

This map by @AAGA_CAWLAN101 on twitter shows a new Al-Shabab offensive in the southern Juba province of Somalia.

Al Shabab militants have been attacking in four main directions. From the southwest, the northeast, the northwest and the south.

The Somali National Army claimed that it's forces "thwarted an attempted attack at a military base in the lower Juba region". The government reported in a statement on the state-owned Somalia National News Agency (SONNA): "We thank the federal and Jubbaland forces who killed over 80 al Shabaab fighters and took their weapons,"

A statement by Al-shabaab on an affiliated radio station said that it had stormed the bases and killed dozens of soldiers.

Videos posted by Jubbaland officials shows at least 35 bodies (likely Al-Shabaab bodies) near the village of Buula-xaaji, which was one of the main assault vectors.

This area used to be the heartland of Al-shabaab but was retaken by government forces three months ago. It is likely that one of the goals here for Al-shabaab is to recapture this region by applying pressure to the 43rd Division stationed there.

I'll say it again: we might see another massive missile strike on Ukraine in the near future.

"The enemy is trying to surround part of the grouping of the Defense Forces near Progress: there is no order to withdraw

We were approached by fighters of the 1st and 3rd battalions of the 31st OMBr, who have been defending the encirclement for the last few days. To the south of Lozuvatskyi, the enemy formed a gorge , through which it is necessary to hold a number of positions to the west of the height of 236.9. Now the Katsapas use the tactic of "wandering gifts" , whose task is to get as close as possible to Ivanovka.

For reference. The operational and tactical situation became critical over the weekend due to the chaotic departure of one of the infantry brigades. 47 OMBr, which came to the rescue, could not restrain the enemy, who was outnumbered. Previously, there was already a crowd of two mouths in the village. The old wolves from the 47th asked to convey a "fervent greeting" to the National Center in the Rivne region.

Soldiers of the 31st OMBr report the risks and possible consequences to the battalion leadership. The latter support them, but the brigade leadership wants the fighters to continue to sit in the circle - to the last soldier. The management of the companies is practically absent , because their commanders are wounded or killed.

We all remember how this sitting at Zenit ended .

We hope that the right decision will be made , which will save human lives for further struggle, and not landing for a couple of hours in tactics.

The enemy is now infiltrating Vovche, in order to resume the assault on the village tomorrow. These actions create a number of additional problems in further defense."

- Deepstate

Syrskyi moment...

Why is he so addicted to getting Ukraine stuck in pockets?

“Yuriy Butusov says the situation on the Pokrovsk front is "critical" after Russia advanced 6km over the past seven days. He says Russia deliberately focuses its assaults on the most vulnerable brigades with poor command and control. He also notes a lack of coordination of UAVs and EW, which leads to UAV losses from EW fratricide.”

Update from Myanmar - Mogok front:

In one of their most significant victories yet, the TNLA rebels have seized the strategically important town of Mogok. Mogok is known for being a ruby-rich town and was one of the primary objectives for the new offensive launched in June, dubbed "1027".

Intense urban warfare has been ongoing inside the town for nearly a month, as the TNLA rebels ground down the Junta defences. Following the town being fully surrounded, resistance on the ground began to break down and the Junta resorted to heavy aeriel and artillery bombardments resulting in civilian casualties.

Heavy fighting also took place for the remaining hills surrounding Mogok. It is likely the the TNLA rebels took control over the rest of these hills first, before resuming the offensive inside the town itself. The assault took place primarily from the south, but local sources reported that the Junta struck the north of the town with artillery indicating that smaller-scale assaults took place from the north as well. This likely occurred once the TNLA knew that they could risk sending in ground forces due to a lack of resistance on the ground by the Junta.

Overall, this puts one of the hottest fronts in Myanmar finally at rest and will allow the TNLA to redeploy to nearby areas, especially Kyaukme where battles continue east of the city.

Map from Thomas Van Linge on Twitter.

I have a gut feeling that Russia is going to start attacks on Synkivka soon. They have attacked to the east of the village, have spent time consolidating and now comes the time for assaults from the east, north and west. This part of the frontline has been quiet for a while.

Approximate paths of today's Russian Shahed drones. Based on preliminary reports, Russia launched 23 Shahed drones at Ukraine over the past 24 hours. The following information is based on reports by Ukrainian monitor and radar telegram channels, as well as Local telegram channels.

The Shahed drones flew over Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Poltava, Kyiv and Chernihiv Oblasts as well as Crimea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Drones were likely shot down over Kamianske (Dnipro Oblast), Bila Tserkva (Kyiv Oblast), Izmail (Odesa Oblast), Artsyz (Odesa Oblast), Kherson, Cherkasy Oblast, and the Black Sea. Impacts occurred in Izmail (Odesa Oblast) and possibly Kryvyi Rih (Dnipro Oblast).

At least 6 drones were shot down, likely more.

Additional ballistic missiles have been delivered to Crimea. This might be a part of the preparations for the upcoming large-scale missile strike.

I'll remind you that there are currently 14 Tu-95 and 13 Tu-22 strategic bombers stationed at Olenya air base - the airbase where Russia usually launches their bombers from to conduct combat sorties.

If I'm not asleep I will give you minute-by-minute updates with maps and annotations on the missile strikes on both Twitter and my Telegram channel.

Get ready, because this may even be bigger than the Kyiv hospital one.

A new salient is being created. Following the localised breakthrough at Pishchane, Russian DRGs are reportedly infiltrating the treelines near the village of Kolisynkivka.

Meanwhile, I expect the Synkivka front will be fuly reactivated following the consolidation of new positions in the treelines east of the settlement. If Russian forces successfully attack on both of these vectors, it will not only complete the salient, but also cut the Ukrainian bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Oskil river in two.

This salient will be difficult to hold as there is only 1 tiny village in the centre: Pishchane (yes, another one). Ukrainian positions in the salient will be subjected to intense FAB, artillery and FPV drone strikes.

We will see how quickly it takes for this salient to be fully formed. It might be a while considering I haven't heard of any Russian redeployments to Kupyansk direction.

There is high activity of Russian reconnaissance drones over Ukraine. We might see a missile strike soon.

Geolocated footage indicates that Russian infantry advanced in the Pokrovsk direction and captured the village of Novoselivka Persha. Here they were able to advance from their positions south of the river and seize the southern part of the village, likely by advancing westwards.

The remaining part of the northern half of the village also likely fell to the Russians following the flag raise.

There are now just 2 villages still under Ukrainian control east of the Vovcha river: Mezhove and Skuchne (Both of which only have a few houses each).

7 Tu-95’s and 3 Tu-22’s took off from Olenya airfield around an hour ago. It remains to be seen whether this is a combat mission or not. If it is, this post will be the first in a series of live updates on the missile strikes.

This might be the big one that I’ve been talking about.

3 Tu-22’s landed at Shaykovka airbase. It is likely that this is not a combat mission.