Victorious news of 552nd day of war: Ukrainian flag flies again on Kherson region’s left bank, Russian soldiers retreat in Zaporizhzhia sector

Ukrainian Defense forces successfully continue counteroffensive in the Melitopol sector

Defense forces of Ukraine are continuing their counter-offensive in the Melitopol sector, in particular, Ukrainian army has succeeded in the Novodanilivka - Verbove area in Zaporizhzhia region, and are now consolidating their positions.

This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Also in this direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are firing artillery at the identified Russian targets and carrying out counter-battery measures.

In addition, the Defense Forces continue to conduct offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction south of the city of Bakhmut. There, the Ukrainian military is also consolidating its positions.

Russian army retreats as defense line is breached in Zaporizhzhia sector

Invading Russian forces are retreating as Ukrainian troops break through their defense line in Zaporizhzhia region.

This was stated by Natalia Gumeniuk, head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Southern Ukrainian Defense Forces, during a telethon.

"When our troops are directly advancing, the Russian enemy no longer has a chance to consolidate the defense that has been torn, so after a while it becomes a "breakthrough". That is, the advance of Ukrainian troops is obvious in geography, it demonstrates that the enemy forces are retreating," the spokeswoman said.

Russian collaborators complain about the abundance of Ukrainian symbols in the occupied territories

In the temporarily occupied territories, Russian collaborators complain about the large number of Ukrainian symbols distributed by local residents.

This was reported by the National Resistance Centre.

"Russian henchmen complain about the abundance of yellow and blue symbols in Ukrainian settlements," the statement reads.

"The Russian occupiers who seized Ukrainian lands have not gained the trust of the local population. Therefore, the attributes of Ukrainian flag are visible on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine as a reminder to the enemy of resistance in the war. Consequently, collaborators use so-called volunteers from pseudo-civic movements to remove Ukrainian symbols and paint the tricolor under the control of the Russian military.

"Such a fight against Ukrainian symbols is futile, because until the settlements are liberated, the Russians will remain enemies for the locals, and demonstration raids will not change the situation," adds the center.

Ukrainian flag flies on the left bank of the Dnipro River near Antonivka Bridge

Serhiy Khlan, a deputy of the Kherson Regional Council, noted that on August 28, the Ukrainian Armed Forces put up a Ukrainian flag in the area of summer houses on the left bank near Antonivka Bridge.

He told this on Espreso TV.

"Yesterday, on August 28, our Armed Forces hung a Ukrainian flag in the area of summer cottages on the left bank near Antonivka Bridge. This is a symbol that the occupiers will not be able to hold on to the left bank of the Kherson region," said the deputy of the Kherson Regional Council.

Ukraine lost only 5 out of 71 Leopard 2 tanks during the counteroffensive. The crews survived

About ten more are damaged and need to be repaired.

Media data coincides with the information of the OSINT portal Oryx.

Two of the destroyed vehicles are Leopard 2A4 (Ukraine received 50 vehicles), and three are Leopard 2A6 (partners handed over 21 vehicles).

Forbes notes that each crew member of the five destroyed tanks (i.e. 20 soldiers) managed to escape before the tank burned or exploded.