Update:
In the previous edition, The Daily Hog reported on a blog post by non_kherson_fake regarding Ukrainian marines in the Kherson region. Non_kherson_fake reported that the 34th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade was being led by an incompetent commander with little to no experience in Kherson. They accused him of serving in positions in the rear and being promoted due to high ranking relatives. The most damning accusations were that he was cutting pay while sending men on senseless suicide missions to capture islands in the Dnipro River while simultaneously failing to order strikes on high value Russian targets. 

The Ukrainian military has responded to and rejected these claims. The commander in question, Dmytro Pulinets, was born and raised in Kherson. He graduated from the Odesa Military Academy in 2018, served as a platoon commander in the 503rd Separate Marine Battalion, has fought in dozens of battles in which he led troops in combat, was the commander of the 38th Separate Marine Brigade for 2 years, received the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky which is given to soldier for “exceptional duty in defense of state sovereignty and state security,” received the Order “For Courage” 3rd Class, has sustained multiple combat injuries, and has no close relationship with senior military officials or other high-ranking members of society. After pretty extensive searching to try to find corroboration of non_kherson_fake’s claims, The Daily Hog staff have concluded that his assertions rely heavily on taking non_kherson_fake’s word at face value. His claims, remain at best, controversial and unproven. The 30th Marine Corps of the Ukrainian Navy stated that they are opening an investigation into the situation and that they welcome “constructive dialogue” but called “on all parties not to discredit the brigade or its service members.”

On July 31, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law that restores powers to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption agencies. The loss of their independence sparked days of protest across Ukraine’s major cities, and sharp rebukes from Ukraine's European partners. 

A total of 331 MPs voted in favour of the presidential bill 

The votes broken down by party:

    Servant of the People – 214 MPs

    European Solidarity – 27 MPs

    Fatherland – 4 MPs

    Voice – 16 MPs 

    Platform for Life and Peace – 17 MPs

    Restoration of Ukraine – 9 MPs

    For the Future – 11 MPs

    Trust – 17 MPs

    Non-affiliated MPs – 16

Polish defence company PGZ has proposed that it could manufacture Ukrainian weaponry in Poland, focusing on drones and missiles with funding from the European SAFE initiative, and is considering producing barrels for 155mm Krab self-propelled artillery systems in Ukraine through its Service Orel maintenance hub established in 2022.

Germany has allocated approximately €8.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine in 2026 in its draft of the federal budget. The German defense budget will increase from €62.4 billion to €82.7 billion. Defense spending will reach 3.5% of Germany’s GDP by 2029.

Germany will transfer two Patriot systems to Ukraine from its own stockpiles. Launcher deliveries beginning in the next few days and other components will be delivered over the next two to three months.

Two U.S. senators introduced a bill proposing over $50 billion in aid to Ukraine through 2027, including $30 billion in direct military assistance and $3 billion in foreign military financing. The bill also expands the PResidential drawdown authority, increasing the amount that the president can send from Pentagon stockpiles from $100 million per year to $6 billion per year. This also includes $1 billion for a drone cooperation agreement between the US, Taiwan, and Ukraine.

A Ukrainian company called Atmaraksi as felt a virtual reality simulator that allows Ukrainian troops to train for shooting down FPV drones with a hunting rifle. Veterans who have experience with countering FPV drones offered input during the development of this simulator. The simulator allows trainers to manipulate multiple variables including a tax speed and angle, altering the difficulty level. The company claims it improves reaction time and survivability on the battlefield.

A graphic showing Russia’s drone and missile attacks in July

NATO Preparedness.

Poland has signed a $6.7 billion deal to acquire 180 additional South Korean K2 tanks.  This includes 64 K2PL Poland-specific variants of the K2. 25 engineering vehicles, 25 bridgelayers, and 31 armored recovery vehicles. The production will mostly take place at the Bumar-Łabędy plant. Members of Germany’s parliament have begun advocating for leaving the Ottawa Treaty, which bans the use and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines, due to Russia’s continued aggression. Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Estonia have all recently decided to abandon the Ottawa Treaty.

The U.S. Senate proposes allocating $1.2 billion to establish a second production line for PAC-3 MSE missile radar seekers to make up for Boeing's limited manufacturing capacity. They are hoping to find an alternative manufacturer who can produce these seekers so that the increasing demand for PAC-3 Patriot missiles can be met. Lockheed Martin plans to produce 600 interceptors missiles annually by 2025 and 650 by 2027.

Rheinmetall will begin to supply 40mm grenades for grenade launchers to Lithuania and hand grenades to Estonia between 2026-2029. The order was worth €33 million.

MBDA delivered the first batch of ASTER air defense missiles produced on its expanded production lines on July 23, 2025. They are on schedule to deliver five times more missiles in 2025 than they previously expected to. They have contracts to deliver 1,000 missiles to Italy, the UK, and France.  €2.4 billion was invested to expand manufacturing capacity during the 2025-2029 timeframe.

Strikes on Russia

Kiber Boroshno posted a map of recent strikes on Russian Railway Infrastructure

Summary of Attacks on North Caucasus Railway July 29

    7 facilities attacked since 21.07:

        Likhaya – Damage previously reported.

        Kamenolomni – New EC (electronic control) station built in 2017 likely destroyed.

        Novocherkassk – Attack reported, no confirmation of damage.

        Pishchanokopskoye – EC station damaged.

        Zhutovo – 110 kV traction substation and possibly EC station damaged.

        Salsk – Train with fuel and railway infrastructure damaged.

        Dvoynaya – Traction substation damaged.

There was a more recent reported strike in Kotelnikovo, Volgograd that did not make it onto the list. Clear confirmation of damage, so farm seems unavailable.

Fire burning in relation to the strike.

NASA FIRMS satellite imagery shows that the fire was raging at the traction substation, the point at which the local power grid connects to the railway. The governor of the region claims there was no damage to rail infrastructure, and there were no casualties.

Why have one map of Railway damage when you could have 2?

Ukraine attacked the Likhaya-Zamchalovo traction power substation near Uglerodovsky, Rostov on August 2, 2025. The substation provides energy to railway lines used by Russia as to supply the occupied Donbas area with men, ammunition, and equipment. NASA satellites confirmed fires at the facility. The substation is 50-70 km from the border with Ukraine.

Firms satellite imagery showing the fires.

Primorsko Ahktarsk also got hit on August 2. This is an airfield that Russia uses to launch shaheds and Gerbera drones. Imagery from NASA's FIRMS fire detecting satellites. The fires seem to have covered the runway, parking area, and warehouses.

FIRMS imagery showing the fires at Promorsko-Akhtarsk.

Ukrainian drones hit a space surveillance radar near Feodosia in Crimea on August 2, 2025. The facility has four 57U6 'Periscope-VM' radar antennas under protective domes, and has operated since the Soviet era. The system can detect a ”reflective surface of 2.5 m² at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level” in conditions without interference and 100 kilometers with interference. The radar is operated by Russia's 3rd Radio Regiment and provides tracking data to Russia’s air defense systems. Early reports indicated that perhaps what was on fire was an oil depot that was nearby.
Coordinates of the facility: 45.0097, 35.3610


NASA FIRMS satellite imagery showing fires at the facility.

The radar domes at the facility.

Ukraine struck 2 companies in Penza that supply equipment to Russia’s military on August 2. They are Elektropribor and Radioazavod Elektropribor produces encryption equipment, data transmission systems, and communication devices for Russia's military Radiozavod manufactures command systems, radio stations, and the Polyana-D4M1 combat management system for the Russian military.  It manufactures systems used in command vehicles such as the R-149MA1 and R-168-25U. It also produces “PU-12M6 and PU-12M7 mobile control centers, as well as PORI-P1M and PORI-P2VM mobile posts for automated radar information processing.”  Videos have been published showing drone strikes at both facilities. Radiozavod was also attacked on July 31.

On the July 31 attack. It was struck at least twice, once reportedly using a "Batyar" drone, a Ukrainian made drone similar to a shahed. The plant has been sanctioned by the West since 2022, and it bypasses Western sanctions by purchasing components from Asia. 

Penza radio plant burning after the July 31 attack.

 

Ukrainian drones attacked oil refineries in Ryazan and Novokuibyshevsk on August 2, 2025. The Ryazan refinery refined 13.1 million tons of oil in 2024, about 5% of Russia's total refined oil in that year. The Novokuibyshevsk facility produces jet fuel for Su-27 and MiG-29 combat aircraft, Tu-22M, and Tu-160 strategic bombers. Both refineries experienced large fires. The Novokuibyshevsk plant processes over 1 million tons annually. The ELOU AVT-11 oil refining unit at the Novokuybyshevsk Refinery was hit.

Coordinates of the strike at Novokuibyshevsk 53.0847,49.9233

The Novokubyshevsk refinery seems to have been hit twice.

A map showing the locations of all the successfully struck targets on August 2

Russian blogger vault8pro: On losses during offensives and evaluating the effectiveness of commanders

In another conversation the other day, I recalled academic data on the loss thresholds at which a unit is considered combat ineffective and in need of withdrawal for replenishment.

If I remember correctly, once a unit reaches 30% personnel losses, an assault company should be pulled back for replenishment in order to preserve the experienced core of the unit. This is according to Clausewitz, I believe.

At 50% losses, a unit is considered decimated and requires immediate withdrawal for replenishment.

The "Special Military Operation" introduced new norms of acceptable losses (which, after all, someone must have approved). For example, in our formation, a unit was only considered combat ineffective at 70% losses — only then would an assault company be withdrawn from battle.

But in the case of the "White Cuirassiers" from the Central Military District, during the period from October 2023 to March 2024, according to a volunteer-admin, infantry companies were worn down to 90–95% before only the command element remained of the assault company.

In both cases, when compared to well-founded classical military theory, grinding assault companies down to such levels essentially equates to the destruction of an attacking unit.

Once again: 70–95% losses = destruction of the unit. That includes the loss of the experienced core — those who had learned something during the 14 (now 21) days of training and had already fought in the first battles.

So, according to classical military theory:

    A butcher commander accomplishes his objectives by repeatedly destroying his own assault units.

    An interesting question: how many destroyed Ukrainian defending units were there per N destroyed Russian assault companies near Avdiivka? What was the ratio?

    A butcher commander prevents the transfer of combat experience within assault companies by allowing the deaths of those who had gained real battle experience. With each new wave of replacements, the commander ends up leading newbies who’ve never smelled gunpowder.

That bloody bravado — “I burned through five Storm units for this village” — hits differently now, doesn’t it?

It's one thing when some Telegram bloggers are discussing modern generals. But what about Clausewitz, and the other classical military theorists? Should we just tell them to go f*** themselves too? 🤔

And how will future generations assess this “Special Military Operation”? 🤔

Granted, the Ukrainians faced this as well in 2022–2023.

Russian blogger Severnnyi: Reports are coming in from various units — the 51st PDP, 22nd MSP, 34th Brigade, and Akhmat (the last one’s a joke) — and the problems are all the same: combat pay has stopped, veteran status ("veteranka") isn’t being issued, and there’s no official paperwork confirming participation in the Special Military Operation (SMO). They're told “you’re not entitled,” met with silence, or endlessly passed from one office to another.

This is despite the fact that Putin officially equated participation in counter-terror operations (KTO) with SMO service back in January. In practice, they hear things like “we have no data” or “wait.” It gives the impression that the fewer survivors there are, the fewer veteran certificates, payments, and responsibilities the state has to deal with.

But damn it — people aren’t just numbers. Yet somehow contracts only seem to work one way. Many soldiers’ contracts have expired, but instead of being discharged, they’re strung along with vague promises. Anyone who says they want to leave is immediately labeled untrustworthy.

This post is generalized — there’s no point in submitting separate complaints. The problem is systemic. And no matter what anyone claims, those who served in the KTO zone deserve exactly the same treatment as any SMO participant. But on the ground, everything is completely screwed up.

Then again… Everyone fighting in the KTO zone already knows: the bullets there are rubber, the explosions are just fireworks, and people don’t die — they just "transition to another state."

Quote of the Day:

 "Behind every great man is a hedgehog silently judging his choices."
- Ancient Proverb