Day 1259

On 5 August, the biggest updates come from the Kherson direction.

Here, Ukrainian special forces executed a daring amphibious landing on one of Russia’s most exposed positions in Ukraine. Taking out patrols and destroying critical equipment, this raid has now opened the door to a wide variety of naval, aerial, and further special forces operations across the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula.

Ukraine’s military intelligence service posted footage of how its operatives carried out a naval landing operation on the Tendrivska spit in eastern Kherson. Operatives moved across the Black Sea in rubber boats mounted with radars, electronic warfare systems, and machine guns, similar to boats used by Nato’s naval special forces teams.  Landing on the beaches, the groups quickly disembarked and moved inland past several unmanned Russian coastal fortifications and bunkers. The groups then waited for the cover of night, turned on their night vision goggles, and moved toward their targets.

Their mission: destroying a Russian Rosa radar system and the Zont electronic warfare station protecting it. As they moved toward the targets, they even launched FPV drones to feed live intelligence to the assault groups, and strike any Russian target too dangerous to engage head-on. Before heading back after the successful destruction, they planted the Ukrainian flag on the position, and left a final message for the Russians in the morning: Glory to Ukraine.

The raid was not a detached victory, but a necessary operation that serves a larger strategic purpose. The Tendrivska spit’s topographical setting allows Russians to position radars and electronic warfare equipment that can cover a wide area over the Black Sea as far as possible. Specifically, this allows Russians to detect and disrupt Ukrainian naval and aerial drone strikes, forcing Ukrainians to avoid the coast and creating a more narrow pocket for other Russian air defense assets to monitor.

However, these emplacements are incredibly vulnerable; as they are only connected to the mainland through narrow strips of land, or not at all, forcing Russians to use boats to supply these exposed outposts.

Ukrainians exploited this masterfully, and in the weeks leading up to the operation, they increasingly targeted these outposts, using FPV drones to strike buildings Russians used as barracks situated along the route the assault group would later take.

Ukrainians also used a Bayraktar drone to destroy Russian boats resupplying the outposts and rotating the troops stationed there.

However, Russians didn’t suspect a thing; they understood that these outposts were vulnerable, and likely wrote these events off as acceptable casualties to hold such exposed positions. Notably, Ukrainians likely conducted a second raid on the small settlement of Pokrovske on the Kinburn further north, with another Ukrainian flag appearing raised above the settlement early in the morning.

The disruption of these outposts mean only one thing: Ukrainians are planning an intensification of their operations along this axis. As mentioned previously, one of the operations could be a targeted strike operation against Russian assets in Crimea, with many air defense systems, radars, logistics, and command posts highly likely targets. Notably, such a threat doesn’t even have to be from Ukrainian missiles, as naval drones could now more stealthily pass along the coastline and simply launch waves of FPV drones into the Russian-controlled peninsula.

In the past, the Ukrainian security service has released tons of videos showing such strikes, with strike drones and FPVs flying low, dodging Russian missiles, and taking out targets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Alternatively, this amphibious special forces raid could be a part of the broader war in the Black Sea itself; with drilling platforms serving as makeshift castles from where either side can surveil the area, electronically disrupt equipment, lock down airspace with air defense missiles, or launch strikes from. Only recently Ukrainian naval special forces released new footage of a combined assault on one of these platforms, taking out the Russians defending it with FPV drones, and using the new position to fire missiles at Russian fighter jets.

Overall, Ukrainians executed a daring amphibious raid on several vulnerable Russian outposts, launching preparatory strikes for the operations while leaving Russians none the wiser. The successful outcomes of these missions have now opened the door for a wide range of follow-up operations, while Russians are left guessing as to what the next Ukrainian move will be.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.