(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Ukraine Invasion Day 1,620: RU’s exaggerated claims of advance [1] ['Bill In Portland Maine', 'Greg Dworkin'] Date: 2026-07-31 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was meant to be quick, but now it’s become further dissatisfying as Trump has provided mixed results for Putin’s plan to affect the ‘European security architecture’. Key Takeaways The Russian Northern Grouping of Forces and high military command are likely lying to the Kremlin about the extent of Russian gains in northern Ukraine in order to further the narrative that Russian forces are actively advancing across the entire theater, including a part of the frontline that has been largely stagnant for nearly two years. * The Kremlin is using these exaggerated claims of advance as part of its ongoing cognitive warfare effort to falsely portray Russian forces as advancing across the battlefield in order to convince Ukraine’s partners to abandon their support. * Available battlefield evidence does not corroborate Russian claims of advances in northern Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts. * Ukrainian forces are counterattacking in some areas of northern Ukraine, contradicting the Russian narrative of theater-wide and unchallenged advances. * Prominent Kremlin co-opted milbloggers are notably refuting the official Russian military narrative about the situation in northern Ukraine. * Ukrainian defense company F-Drones delivered the first 2,000 first-person view (FPV) drones to the US military as part of the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) Drone Dominance Program. Russia launched 255 drones against Ukraine overnight. * Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Borova direction. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 255 Shahed-, Gerbera-, and Italmas-type strike drones and Parodiya-type decoy drones from the directions of Kursk and Oryol cities; occupied Donetsk City; and occupied Hvardiiske, Crimea.[61] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces downed 195 drones, that 22 drones struck 14 locations, and that drone debris fell on four locations. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces struck agricultural, commercial, industrial, and residential infrastructure in Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhia, and Zhytomyr oblasts.[62] Ukrainian state energy operator Ukrenergo reported on July 31 that Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure caused power outages in Donetsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv oblasts.[63] Ukraine's air defenses downed or suppressed 195 of 255 Russian drones launched overnight, including Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas and Parodiya types. Hits by 22 attack drones were recorded at 14 locations, with debris falling at four more. The attack was still ongoing at 08:00.… pic.twitter.com/yjCLEJHls8 — NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) July 31, 2026 Several thousand Ukrainians rallied through central Kyiv, signaling to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that opposition remains strong to his decision to oust Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who is widely credited with driving military innovation during the war reut.rs/4fP9aeM — Reuters (@reuters.com) 2026-07-31T21:58:44.356Z Ukrainian forces continued their long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure. Ukrainian officials reported on July 31 that Ukrainian forces struck the Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka oil refinery in Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast (roughly 500 kilometers from the frontline), overnight on July 30 to 31, causing a fire and damaging the refinery’s oil facilities.[25] Ukraine continues to lose the war by bombing Russian assets with total impunity. — Mark Bauer (@thepurplebauer.bsky.social) 2026-08-01T00:00:14.080Z Geolocated footage published on July 31 shows several large smoke plumes coming from the refinery.[26] Volgograd Oblast Governor Andrey Bocharov acknowledged on July 31 that Ukrainian drones damaged an industrial facility in Volgograd City oblast and caused a fire.[27] Ukrainian officials reported on July 31 that Ukrainian forces struck port infrastructure at the Port of Taman in Taman, Krasnodar Krai (roughly 270 kilometers from the frontline), causing a large fire.[28] 2/2- Russian military logistics in southern UkraineThe Port of Taman is located on the Taman Peninsula in Krasnodar Krai, Rus, at the eastern side of the Kerch Strait, directly opposite occupied Crimea. It is one of Russia's most important Black Sea export and logistics hubst.me/noel_reports… — Lewi Whalberg (@anno1540.bsky.social) 2026-07-31T08:26:33.711Z Geolocated footage published on July 31 shows smoke coming from an oil storage facility at the Port of Taman.[29] Ukrainian forces continued their long-range strike campaign against Russian logistics, including strikes on Wildberries and Ozon warehouses (both major Russian retailers). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on July 31 that Ukrainian forces struck logistics centers in Sarapul, Udmurt Republic (roughly 1,300 kilometers from the international border), in Kazan, Tatarstan (roughly 970 kilometers from the international border), and in Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast (roughly 480 kilometers from the frontline).[30] Geolocated footage published on July 31 shows fires at Wildberries warehouses (the closest Russian equivalent to Amazon) in Sarapul, Kazan, and Volgograd.[31] Additional geolocated imagery and footage published on July 31 show smoke from an Ozon warehouse (Wildberries’ main competitor) in Zelenodolsk, Republic of Tatarstan (roughly 970 kilometers from the international border) and an explosion at a Wildberries storage center in Penza City, Penza Oblast (roughly 600 kilometers from the frontline) after reported Ukrainian drone strikes.[32] Penza Oblast Governor Oleg Melnichenko claimed on July 31 that Russian emergency workers extinguished a fire at a logistics center in Penza Oblast following a Ukrainian drone strike.[33] Geolocated footage published on July 21, 22, and 23 shows the aftermath of Ukrainian strikes on gas stations in and near Belgorod City.[34] 💥 Ukrainian ISR drone located a Russian command post in occupied Lysychansk, Luhansk region.Air force then dropped US-supplied GBU-64 guided bombs, killing at least 18 Russian fascists, including the regiment commander and his deputy for logistics. Dozens more injured. — Igor Sushko (@igorsushko.bsky.social) 2026-07-31T03:01:00.155Z The Kremlin is using exaggerated claims of advance as part of its ongoing cognitive warfare effort to falsely portray Russian forces as advancing across the battlefield in order to convince Ukraine’s partners to abandon their support. The Russian Northern Grouping of Forces and Ministry of Defense (MoD) have heavily celebrated their claimed advances in recent days.[6] Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov claimed on July 30 that the purported seizure of Mohrytsya, a settlement with a pre-war population reportedly of about 850 people, is a “strategic success.”[7] Russian Northern Grouping of Forces Commander Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov previously briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov in a highly-publicized meeting on the evening of July 3, a meeting the Kremlin likely hoped that Western news would report on ahead of Putin’s July 4 phone call with US President Donald Trump.[8] Nikiforov and Gerasimov heavily exaggerated Russian advances in northern Ukraine and elsewhere in the theater as of July 3, as Gerasimov and other military commanders have done at least once a month since January 2026.[9] The Kremlin likely uses these meetings as part of a targeted information campaign to convince the United States and other Western states that Russia’s war is going so well that the West should just abandon Ukraine, thereby enabling Russia to continue waging its war against a Ukraine with less material and technological support, which would potentially alleviate some of the burdens of its war effort. The Russian war effort is struggling writ large as Russia’s recruitment numbers have decreased. Russian officials are setting conditions for possible involuntary reserve call-ups, and as pervasive economic issues, fuel shortages, and censorship campaigns generate increasing discontent among Russian society.[10] The Kremlin has undertaken great effort to disguise these issues both from its populace and from the Western governments it seeks to influence, and aggrandized claims of advance – including those which Russian officials repeat directly to Western leaders – are part of this facade. "Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness." Desmond Tutu The combat losses of the enemy from February 24, 2022 to July 31, 2026. pic.twitter.com/r5hSQS4sTG — Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) July 31, 2026 ⚡️ RUSSIA'S WAR AGAINST UKRAINE — JUL 31, 2026 ■ Casualties remain below the 7-day average despite increased engagements ■ Equipment losses slightly above average, driven by drone losses ■ 🇷🇺 overnight attacks: all drones, but interception rate could be better; 18 locations… pic.twitter.com/vzaoS8ydhu — Ragnar Gudmundsson 🇮🇸🇺🇦 (@ragnarbjartur) July 31, 2026 General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Operational update as of 10:00 p.m. on July 31, 2026, regarding the Russian invasion. In total, 207 combat engagements have taken place since the start of this 24-hour period. The aggressor launched one missile strike, fired two missiles, carried out 55 airstrikes using 168 guided aerial bombs, deployed 6,415 kamikaze drones for attacks, and carried out 1,953 shelling attacks on the positions of our troops and populated areas. In the Northern Slobozhanshchyna and Kursk sectors, since the start of the day, the enemy has carried out one airstrike, dropped three aerial bombs, and fired 53 times at the positions of our troops and populated areas, including two attacks using multiple launch rocket systems. Over the past 24 hours, in the Southern Slobozhanshchyna sector, the enemy launched 14 assaults on the positions of our units in the areas around the settlements of Starytsia, Zapadne, and Dvorichanske, as well as toward the settlements of Lyman, Izbytske, Ustynivka, Kolodyazne, Radkivka, and Khatne. In the Kupiansk sector, the enemy did not conduct any offensive operations. Seven attempts by the invaders to advance were repelled in the Lyman sector toward the settlements of Lyman and Ozerne, as well as in the areas around the settlements of Novoselivka and Zarichne. In the Sloviansk sector, the Defense Forces successfully halted 19 attempts by the invaders to advance in the areas around the settlements of Zakytne, Kryva Luka, Riznykivka, and toward Piskunivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka. In the Kramatorsk sector, Russian invaders carried out three attacks in the area of Minkivka and toward Tykhonivka. Two firefights are ongoing. In the Kostiantynivka sector, the Defense Forces repelled 22 enemy assaults in the areas around the settlements of Kostiantynivka, Ivanopillia, Illinivka, and Rusyn Yar, as well as in the direction of Novopavlivka. Two firefights are still ongoing. The enemy carried out 28 attacks in the Pokrovsk sector. The occupiers attempted to advance in the areas around the settlements of Dorozhne, Udachne, and Novooleksandrivka, as well as toward the settlements of Toretsk, Kucheryv Yar, Vilne, Novoye Shakhovoye, Sergiivka, Bilytske, Shevchenko, Novopidhorodne, and Novopavlivka. Two firefights are still ongoing. According to preliminary estimates, 20 occupiers were killed and 11 wounded today; four vehicles and one UAV command post were destroyed. Two artillery systems, one vehicle, and 32 enemy personnel shelters were damaged. A total of 208 unmanned aerial vehicles of various types were destroyed or neutralized. According to preliminary estimates, 20 occupiers were killed and 11 wounded today; four vehicles and one UAV command post were destroyed. Two artillery systems, one vehicle, and 32 enemy personnel shelters were damaged. A total of 208 unmanned aerial vehicles of various types were destroyed or neutralized. In the Oleksandrivka sector, the enemy launched a single attack on the positions of our defenders in the direction of Oleksandrohrad. In the Huliaipole sector, the Defense Forces repelled seven enemy attacks toward the settlements of Vozdvizhivka, Kosivtseve, Tsvitkove, and Staroukrainka. Two engagements are ongoing. In the Orikhiv sector, our defenders repelled three enemy attempts to advance in the areas around the settlements of Stepove, Mali Shcherbaky, and toward Pavlivka. In the Dnipro sector, the enemy did not conduct any offensive operations. In other sectors, there were no significant changes in the situation. Let’s defeat the enemy and bring our Victory closer! Glory to Ukraine! NEW: The Russian Northern Grouping of Forces and high military command are likely lying to the Kremlin about the extent of Russian gains in northern Ukraine to further the narrative that Russian forces are actively advancing across the entire theater. 🧵(1/8)Read more: isw.pub/UkrWar073126 — Institute for the Study of War (@thestudyofwar.bsky.social) 2026-08-01T02:55:10.000Z Ukrainian forces are counterattacking in some areas of northern Ukraine, contradicting the Russian narrative of theater-wide and unchallenged advances. “Hants” also stated that Ukrainian forces liberated Odradne (east of Velykyi Burluk) on a prior date, consistent with ISW’s assessment indicating that Ukrainian forces liberated Odradne as of May 15.[16] Geolocated footage published on July 30 indicates that Ukrainian forces conducted a mechanized assault northeast of Khatne (northeast of Velykyi Burluk).[17] Several Russian milbloggers claimed on July 31 that Ukrainian forces conducted counterattacks near Nova Sich, Mohrytsya, Ivolzhanske (north of Sumy City), and Pysarivka (north of Sumy City), likely inhibiting the Russian rate of advance in these areas.[18] 8/ Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 31, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar073126 — Institute for the Study of War (@thestudyofwar.bsky.social) 2026-08-01T02:55:46.000Z KONSTIANTYNIVKA: Urban combat remains intermixed across large portions of the city (SW, central, NW, and N sectors). Ru forces conduct persistent small-group infiltration missions, supported by intensive guided glide-bomb (KAB/FAB + UMPK) strikes. pic.twitter.com/uaeMBdovDs — Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) July 31, 2026 ❗️A huge crater in Poznyaki, 3 dead in Kyiv already known, — local channels — MAKS 26 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 2026-08-01T00:09:16.878Z [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/7/31/800078058/community/1620/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/