On August 26, for the first time since last week, Russian troops did not announce any territorial encroachments in Ukraine or evaluate them. However, during the reporting day, Russian troops, as before, conducted limited and unsuccessful ground attacks in the eastern direction. These are the conclusions that the experts of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) shared in the text of the daily summary of the assessment of the course of hostilities on the Russian-Ukrainian fronts.
Meanwhile, the experts of the Institute assume that Russia is redeploying military equipment from Crimea after the strikes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as strengthening the air defense of the occupied peninsula.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that on August 26, unidentified entities (but almost certainly Russian forces) connected part of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) to the Ukrainian power grid.
The Russian occupation authorities are unlikely to be able to hold referendums as they intend (in cooperation with local collaborators) by the supposed deadline of September 11 due to "friction" in the occupation administrations and guerrilla attacks.
As ISW points out, all evidence collected suggests that Russian authorities seek to create the appearance of local support and participation ahead of referendums to present them as broadly supported initiatives, but face persistent setbacks that delay annexation attempts.
In addition, according to the institute, Russian troops continued to redeploy military equipment from Crimea to Russia, probably in response to ongoing Ukrainian strikes on Russian rear areas in Crimea.
Russian forces are also strengthening air defenses in Crimea to counter Ukrainian strikes, as current Russian air defenses are ineffective against Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
At the moment, the experts of the institute recognized the following as the leading events in the war between Russia and Ukraine:
- the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that elements of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) restored connection to Ukraine's power grid on August 26.
- the Russian occupation authorities are unlikely to be able to successfully hold fictitious referendums on the annexation of the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation before the beginning of September, despite reports of progress in preparations for the referendums.
- Russian troops carried out limited ground attacks southwest of Izium, northeast and south of Bakhmut, and on the northwestern outskirts of the city of Donetsk.
- Ukrainian forces continued to shell Russian land lines of communication and military infrastructure in Kherson region, which provide operations on the west bank of the Dnieper.
- recruitment for the so-called volunteer battalions, which continue to go to Ukraine, has been continued in the regions of the Russian Federation.
- Ukrainian partisans and internal divisions continue to pose a threat to Russian control over the occupied territories.
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