Weekly megathread for news/updates/discussion of Russian invasion of Ukraine - August 25

The Washington Post has recently published a long, informative article about the defense of Kyiv during the initial month of the invasion. It talks about the first few hours, then the next few weeks, then jumps to the present day in order to take a look at how the people interviewed for the article – military commanders, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, regular soldiers are the very front of the initial assault – are doing today.

You can find the article here, though it is locked behind a paywall. (The paywall is laughably easy to circumvent if you know a thing or two about CSS. Articles of this level of quality should not stay behind a paywall.) Here is a gift article: presumably it will let anyone following the link to read it for free, though I haven't checked.

It's a long read that's well worth your time if you seek insight into the way the war'd started, from the Ukrainian standpoint.

Latvia topples Soviet-era obelisk amid backlash against Russia (The Guardian)

A concrete obelisk topped by Soviet stars that was the centrepiece of a monument to the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany was taken down in Latvia’s capital on Thursday, the latest in a series of Soviet monuments brought down after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Heavy machinery was spotted behind a green privacy fence at the foot of the nearly 80-metre (260ft) obelisk shortly before it was felled. The column, which had stood like a high-rise in central Riga, crashed into a nearby pond, causing a huge splash at Victory Park.

A Latvian media outlet broadcast the event live as onlookers, some with Latvian flags wrapped around their shoulders, cheered and applauded.

The obelisk, made up of five spires with three Soviet stars at the top, stood between two groups of statues: a band of three Red Army soldiers; and a woman representing the “Motherland” with her arms held high.

The monument was built in 1985, while Latvia was still part of the Soviet Union. It has been the subject of controversy since Latvia regained independence in 1991 and eventually became a Nato and European Union member.

On Twitter, Latvia’s foreign minister said by taking down the monument, Latvia was “closing another painful page of the history and looking for better future”.

Latvia’s parliament voted to approve the demolition of the Victory Park monument in May, and Riga city council followed suit. Work to clear away the monument started this week with the removal of statues. The area was then cordoned off and authorities issued a flight ban for drones. Police temporarily closed traffic near the park on Thursday, citing security reasons.

Pentagon expands use of seas to send weapons to Ukraine (Washington Post)

The Defense Department began sending some items by sea a few weeks after the invasion but significantly broadened the effort this spring, as the United States began providing Ukraine with howitzer artillery and other heavy weapons that require a steady flow of large-caliber ammunition, U.S. defense officials said here at the headquarters of U.S. Transportation Command, as Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks visited recently.

[...]

U.S. military officials declined to detail specific routes used to get weapons to Ukraine but said that some of the weapons coming from the continental United States find their way directly to the battlefield, while others are being used to replenish American stocks elsewhere in Europe from which U.S. military officials withdrew supplies to arm Ukraine.

'They turned us into savages': Russian soldier reveals rot in the army

Ukrainian adviser warns progress will be slow as southern counterattack begins
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/30/zelenskiy-tells-russian-forces-to-flee-as-ukraine-counteroffensive-begins-in-kherson

A senior presidential adviser has told Ukrainians not to expect rapid gains, after his country began a long-awaited counteroffensive aiming to retake the southern province of Kherson from Russian forces.

I can't find the reference now, but I saw a request from President Zelenskyy for people to avoid posting updates to social media about this counter-offensive, and (at least as far as I see on Reddit) it appears people are complying.

Ukraine lures Russian missiles with decoys of U.S. rocket system (Washington Post)

The Ukrainian decoys are made out of wood but can be indistinguishable from an artillery battery through the lens of Russian drones, which transmit their locations to naval cruise missile carriers in the Black Sea.

[…]

After a few weeks in the field, the decoys drew at least 10 Kalibr cruise missiles, an initial success that led Ukraine to expand the production of the replicas for broader use, said the senior Ukrainian official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.

[…]

The destruction of Ukrainian replicas may partially account for Russia’s unusually boastful battle damage assessments on Western artillery, particularly the U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS.

Darya Dugina's death provides a glimpse into Russia's vast disinformation machine -- and the influential women fronting it