Deep strike missiles hit 60 targets in Russia during August – Syrsky

August was the month of relatively small territorial gains by the Russian occupiers in recent times, while the enemy hoped for breakthroughs and made maximum efforts for this, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky has said.

"If we take the Dobropillia axis, where the enemy created an offensive group, then here the Russians captured 13.5 sq km, but they lost 25.5 sq km. On the Pokrovsk axis, their gain was 5 sq km, while our troops regained control over 26 sq. km. The Defense Forces did not allow the loss of territories in the Hulyaipole and Prydniprovsky directions," Syrsky wrote in Telegram on Monday morning.

According to him, in total during August the Defense Forces regained control over 58 sq km of territory and liberated a number of settlements. 28,790 occupiers were destroyed, and since the beginning of the year - 297,350.

"During this period, our Deep Strike means have hit 60 targets on the territory of Russia. The Russian Federation's capacity to produce fuel and lubricants for the army, their aircraft weapons, missiles and UAVs, and air defense systems has been weakened, and the functioning of the transport system has been disrupted. In total, our drones have hit more than 67,000 enemy targets over the past month. And the effectiveness of the Middle Strike program has increased by 25%," said Syrsky.

At the same time, he noted that in August, the enemy expected to make a breakthrough and encircle Ukrainian troops in the Pokrovsko-Mirnohrad agglomeration area, planned large-scale offensive operations in the Novopavlovsk and Zaporizhia directions, but Ukrainian troops prevented the implementation of these intentions. "The Russians were forced to postpone the offensive on Zaporizhia and transfer marine units to the Donetsk region," the commander-in-chief said.

According to Syrsky, the enemy currently has a threefold advantage in forces and means, and in the main areas of concentration of its efforts it can prevail four to six times. "I express deep gratitude to our officers, sergeants and, especially, soldiers: their professional skills, resilience, dedication and courage are breaking the plans of the Russian occupiers," he said.

The commander-in-chief called August a month of great trials for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, "but at the end we received many positive results."