Russians Pushed Back 6.8 Kms At Toretske on Pokrovsk Front

The implication of this within the context of broader Ukrainian advances is arguably more important than this local success itself because it indicates that Ukrainian forces have seized the initiative in a number of sectors and that the Russians are struggling to contain the Ukrainian attacks. JL

New Voice of Ukraine reports:

Ukrainian  forces cleared Russian troops from near Toretske in the Shakhove district's Donetsk Oblast’s Pokrovsk sector. “The map has been updated. Ukraine’s Defense Forces cleared the area near Toretske.”  DeepState's maps show that the area of the penetration zone (the gray zone) decreased by 6.79 square kilometres over the day – from 235.93 square kilometres to 229.14 square kilometres.

At Current Rates, Russia Needs 14 Years To Take Donetsk. As If...

As if, after four and a half years of war and now, the embarrassing defeat it is suffering from Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi, Russia has demonstrated the capability to hold on to what it has taken, let alone the ability to take more. JL

Reuben Johnson reports in National Security Journal:

The war is no longer trending in Putin’s favor. Up to the end of June 2026, Russian forces gained only 241 square miles of territory but at a price of horrendous losses. In the month of June alone, Russia suffered 39,500 casualties to take control of just 12 square miles. Putin has declared that his military will capture the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donetsk by the end of 2026. But at the current rate of advance, pushing Ukraine out of all this region would take another 14 years, and at the current casualty rates this would cost the lives of millions more Russians. 

69% of Russian Troops on Zaporizhzhia Front Have Criminal Records

The size of this number - and 69% of one's army having criminal records is unusually high by modern standards - reveals that Russia really is scraping the bottom of the demographic barrel to get soldiers for its war in Ukraine. 

This may also suggests that in Zaporizhzhia and other 'secondary' fronts (eg, those other than Donetsk), the use of less well trained or capable troops has become the Russian norm. JL

Francis Farrell reports in the Kyiv Independent:

Of  the Russian force fighting near the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, 69% of servicemen have criminal records. The figure reflects both the overrepresentation of those from poor and disadvantaged parts of Russian society among voluntary recruits, and the widely reported practice of offering men contracts to avoid prison time, often under coercive circumstances. The current inflow of new Russian soldiers — often used in one-way infiltration assaults across the front line — has not been enough to produce major Russian battlefield gains in 2026. 

Targeting, Timing, Tech and Sabotage Destroyed Russia's Lyman Defense

As Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi continues to punish Russian forces in the Lyman and Luhansk areas while further exposing the Kremlin's military vulnerabilities, reports on the degree of planning and coordination make the accomplishments that much more impressive. 

Among those efforts were the precise targeting of Russian command centers, drone launch sites and logistics - some as far as 250 kms in the rear - and the coordination of timing so that key positions and units were hit just before infantry and light armor began attacking. A textbook operation. JL

Yuri Zoria and Olena Mukhina report in Euromaidan Press:

In Operation Vivaldi, Ukrainian troops gathered for an assault the Russians never saw coming. They take ground not by force but by concealment, timing, and technology. Constant coordination with neighboring units, sharing information and lending aid helped. Kamikaze ground robots were dropped on Russian command nodes where they disrupted coordination, created panic and forced Russia to divert combat troops to guard its own headquarters, while a parallel campaign destroyed a diesel pipeline feeding half the daily fuel needs of Russia's entire West army. Ukrainian partisans disabled four relay cabinets on a rail line that carries military cargo to Russian forces, delaying ammunition to three regiments. Also, the Rubikon drone unit suffered such heavy losses in equipment and personnel, that a commander pulled the unit to the rear just as Ukraine's assault began. Those assaults were at set times so infantry could then advance unexposed. 

AI and Its Leaders Are Standing On A Legal Liability Landmine

OK, sure, human extinction could be a real bummer. But let's talk about a near-term financial risk closer to most tech execs' true nightmare vision: AI product liability. The field is nascent and few cases have been decided, but the potential financial impact is economically ruinous for AI companies and their investors.

Silicon Valley, naturally, wants the federal government to make it go away. But surprisingly, many in politics are pushing back despite the extraordinary tech 'contributions' being loaded into their coffers. Although the AI industry still refuses to acknowledge that they should be responsible for any cost they don't want to bear, here is going to have to be some sort of accommodation because if there is one US professional group greedier and more ruthless than those in tech, it is US plaintiffs attorneys. JL

Asa Fitch reports in the Wall Street Journal and Josh Marshall reports in Talking Points Memo:

As AI developers imbue their chatbots with more agent-like abilities—allowing them to do things autonomously on users’ behalf—questions about legal liability are becoming increasingly urgent. Liability is a legal and economic framework for properly assigning the gains and risks/costs associated with economic activity. They could lead to limits on what agents can do and, if AI-caused harms become widespread, drain the pocketbooks of top AI labs. The CEO of Palantir, suggested the liability problem was so dire that U.S. AI labs should be nationalized to protect themselves. AI labs (increase their liability risk) when their agents replace jobs and maximize profits for their owners. Laws which properly and securely assigned liability for AI would go a way to solving some of the problems caused by Silicon Valley and its concentrated wealth pushing all its downsides onto the public

Operation Vivaldi's Phase 2 Liberates More Land As Russian Casualties Grow

Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi counter offensive in the Lyman sector continues to add recaptured territory while reports indicate that Russian casualties are increasing at a faster rate than in phase one. 

With elements of Ukraine's 3rd Corps now crossing the Zherebets River and advancing in Luhansk oblast, the looming question is how Ukraine further disrupt and degrade Russian forces. JL

Dmytro Shumlianskyi reports in Militarnyi:

During the second phase of Operation Vivaldi in Donetsk, Ukraine’s forces liberated  Shandryholove and Derylove and took full control of Drobysheve. The 3rd Army Corps and attached units have already returned 125 square kms to Ukrainian control, including 50 square kms of  deoccupied territory and 40 square kms of which were liberated. More than 800 Russian servicemen, including wounded and captured, have been eliminated in the second phase while total Russian Vivaldi losses amount to more than 3,000. 3rd Corps drone units carried out 36,000 strikes targeting Russian logistics: first, strike drones isolated up to 50 kilometers from the line of contact, after which the strike zone was expanded to 120 kms. Hits on fuel depots in Luhansk forced the shut down of a pipeline supplying fuel from Russia. Ammunition depots, communications and command post strikes increased the equipment evacuation distance for enemy units by 250 kilometers.

Russian Push Towards Dobropillia 'Smashed' By Ukraine Combined Arms Force

A combined arms force similar in composition to the Operation Vivaldi counteroffensive now advancing in Luhansk has stopped a Russian attempt to assault Druzhkivka, in the Dobropillia sector. 

What is particularly interesting about this is that the Ukrainians again deployed a hand-picked and specially trained assortment of units, comprising infantry, drone warfare, special ops and armor to plan and execute the counterattack. This appears to be an emerging and successful template for surprising and reducing Russian attack attempts. JL

Ivan Khomenko reports in United 24:

Ukrainian forces have disrupted a Russian attempt to reach key logistics routes and encircle Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region following a two-month clearing operation involving several Ukrainian units. Russian forces had been building up in the area throughout the summer with the aim of advancing toward Druzhkivka and launching further attacks in the direction of Dobropillia. The Russian grouping included the 90th Tank Division and the 8th Combined Arms Army. The operation comes as Ukrainian forces conduct broader counteroffensive actions in northern Donetsk region. Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps' Operation Vivaldi has returned 125 square kilometers of territory to Ukrainian control