Key updates on July 26:
- Russian losses in Ukraine causing 'serious problems' for recruitment, HUR says
- Ukraine hit Russian airfield in occupied Crimea, General Staff confirms
- Russia using new, cheap drones to locate Ukraine's air defense, military intelligence says
- Inspection of Ukraine's 59th Brigade finds management issues, but no criminal charges laid
- Demobilization could repeat Ukraine's 'mistake' in 1918, parliament speaker says
Russian personnel and materiel losses in Ukraine are so high the Kremlin is having "serious problems" recruiting new contract soldiers and is relying on decommissioning Soviet-era weapons as it cannot produce enough modern versions, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) spokesperson said on July 26.
Speaking on national TV, Andrii Yusov said the situation will soon have an impact on the front-line situation and Russia's ability to effectively wage war.
Russian losses in Ukraine reached "conflict highs" during May and June, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on July 12.
In an intelligence report on X, the ministry said average daily Russian casualties – both killed and wounded – reached 1,262 and 1,163 in the two months, respectively.
On July 18, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the BBC that around 20,000 Russian troops were killed during Russia's failed offensive in Kharkiv Oblast.
"They can replenish these losses," Yusov said, adding: "But there are already serious problems with the recruitment of new contract soldiers.
"The aggressor state is coming up with new incentives at various levels to attract new cannon fodder. But this machine is starting to malfunction."
As Russia has sought to replenish its military, decimated by high losses in Ukraine, authorities have implemented financial perks to incentivize enlistment.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin signed a decree on July 23 establishing a one-time signing bonus of 1.9 million rubles ($21,200) for city residents who join the military.
Kateryna Hodunova
Ukraine hit Russian airfield in occupied Crimea, General Staff confirms
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces confirmed that Ukraine hit Russia's Saky military airfield in occupied Crimea overnight on July 26 following media reports about explosions in the area.
The consequences of the attack are being clarified, the military said.
Following sounds of explosions heard by local residents, a fire was reported at the Saky military airfield in the town of Novofedorivka, western Crimea, the Telegram channel Crimean Wind reported.
The fire was allegedly caused by a strike on an ammunition depot at the airfield, according to Crimean Wind.
Russia uses the Saky airfield to control the airspace, in particular over the Black Sea, and to launch air strikes on Ukrainian territory, according to the General Staff's statement.
"The airfield was covered by 'modern' Russian air defense systems, which once again failed to protect an important Russian military facility," the General Staff said.
Earlier in the night, around 1 a.m. local time, multiple explosions were reported by residents in the western communities of Dobrushino, Novoozerne, as well as the city of Yevpatoria. Explosions were also heard in the southern city of Simferopol.
Residents reported seeing drones in the area where the explosions were reported. Local occupation authorities in Sevastopol also reported Ukrainian drones overhead, as well as the threat of ballistic missiles in the region.
The occupied peninsula has been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drone and naval strikes, forcing Russian forces to withdraw much of its naval power and beef up air defenses.
A Ukrainian attack on occupied Crimea on July 23 resulted in a ferry used by Russian forces to transport military equipment being "seriously damaged," the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported.
Nate Ostiller
Russia using new, cheap drones to locate Ukraine's air defense, military intelligence says
Russia is now launching a new type of cheaply-made drone to identify air defense systems and act as decoys, Andrii Cherniak, a spokesperson of Ukraine's military intelligence, told Reuters in an interview published on July 26.
Russia has launched thousands of cheap but effective Shahed-type drones against Ukraine since the fall of 2022. First used on the battlefield, they are now typically deployed to target energy infrastructure and cities far from the front line, such as Kyiv.
According to Cherniak, Russia is now using not only Shahed-type drones but also a new type of drone made of plywood and plastic foam in long-range attacks against Ukraine.
The new drones can reveal the location of air defense systems and film damage, with one type able to carry a camera and Ukrainian sim card to send footage back to Russia.
"They identify where our mobile groups are positioned, where the machine guns are that can destroy them," Cherniak told Reuters.
Russian forces are trying "to get a picture of where all our air defenses are located," he added.
The drones have been used in five attacks in July, including an overnight strike on July 25-26, Cherniak said.
Cherniak's comments follow a report by the Ukrainian Air Force on July 20 that a new unidentified drone had targeted Kyiv overnight.
Images of the downed drone circulating on social media indicate that the new weapon does not resemble a Shahed-type drone. The drone was reportedly flying at a low altitude of 20-30 meters.
The news outlet Defense Express obtained additional photographs and details about the unidentified drone. The drone has "a possible wingspan of more than 4 meters, beam plumage, a push rotor, and a square fuselage," Defense Express reported, citing its sources.
Images of the drone show some similarities to the Russian ZALA 421-20 reconnaissance drone, but these types are not widespread and no longer appear in ZALA's current catalog, Defense Express reported.
George Ivanchenko
Inspection of Ukraine's 59th Brigade finds management issues, but no criminal charges laid
An inspection of the 59th Motorized Brigade, ordered by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces due to the unit's recent losses, has found "management decisions" and other factors that could "negatively influence the course of combat."
The inspection did not find any issues that warrant criminal charges, the Military Service of Law and Order in the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a post on Facebook on July 26.
"In order to prevent such occurrences, the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has made appropriate decisions and a number of measures aimed at preventing such cases. Individual officials of the brigade's command have been brought to justice," it added.
The inspection was ordered by Oleksandr Syrskyi earlier this month and came only a day after Azovstal defender and medic Kateryna Polishchuk, known under the nickname Ptashka ("Birdie"), called on Syrskyi and President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the unit over the alleged misconduct of its commander, Bohdan Shevchuk.
"Since thousands of soldiers remain in the combat zone under Shevchuk's leadership, I ask you, Commander-in-Chief, to pay heed and conduct an internal investigation," Polishchuk wrote in a Facebook post on July 14, accusing Shevchuk of "criminal orders, negligence, actions that resulted in the deaths of a large number of troops," as well as careerism, removal of dissenting commanders, and other transgressions.
When announcing the investigation on July 15, Ukraine's General Staff did not explicitly name Polishchuk nor Shevchuk and did not mention specific circumstances that led to the start of the probe.
Andrea Januta
Demobilization could repeat Ukraine's 'mistake' in 1918, parliament speaker says
Adopting demobilization law now could repeat the "mistake" of the Ukrainian People's Republic during its war against the Bolsheviks in 1918, said Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of Ukraine's parliament, on national television on July 25.
Most Ukrainian soldiers cannot legally demobilize and have been serving without any long-term breaks for the third year in a row since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
"I do not know of a country that demobilized people during the war. Excuse me, I do know such a country – the Ukrainian People's Republic in 1918. At that time, Defense Minister Mykola Porsh submitted a draft law on demobilization to the Central Rada," Stefanchuk said.
"It is very important to me that the current Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) does not repeat the 'mistake' of the Central Rada."
The Central Rada was an analog of the parliament in the times of the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic.
According to Vitalii Skalskyi, the director of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Archival Affairs and Records Management, it is a common misconception that the Ukrainian People's Republic carried out demobilization of its regular army in January 1918, eventually leading to its defeat in the war with the Bolsheviks.
Skalskyi argues that it was not the demobilization of the Ukrainian army but of the remnants of the old Russian imperial army in Ukraine.
"They were absolutely incapable and had no burning desire to fight for Ukraine," Skalskyi told the Kyiv Independent.
Nonetheless, Stefanchuk said that the Ukrainian military on the front line "has an exclusive right to justice," which is why it is necessary to provide them with vacations, rotations, or other "privileges."
Stefanchuk believes these issues were partially resolved after the new law on mobilization was adopted in April.
Most Ukrainian soldiers cannot legally demobilize. The grounds for demobilization may include health problems or the need to care for sick family members.
In April, before the law on mobilization was voted on in the second reading, the provisions on demobilization and rotation were removed from it.
The Defense Ministry said that the parliamentary committee had instructed it to develop a new law within eight months that would deal specifically with rotation and demobilization.
The ministry later announced in April that it plans to submit the draft law to the parliament in "the next few months." It has not been introduced yet.
Martin Fornusek
