The Kremlin appears to have launched a coordinated information campaign in which it demonstrates military power on the battlefield to influence Western attitudes and misrepresent Russian victory as inevitable.
This was commented on by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
On August 30, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army, General Valery Gerasimov, said that as of March 2025, Russian forces had captured 3,500 square kilometers of territory and 149 settlements.
Gerasimov said that Russian forces had captured 210 square kilometers and 13 settlements in the northern part of the region alone Sumy - probably also from March 2025 onwards. Gerasimov stated that Russian forces occupy 99.7% of Luhansk Oblast, 79% of Donetsk Oblast, 76% of Kherson Oblast, and 74% of Zaporizhia Oblast.
Gerasimov further claimed that Russian forces had captured about 50% of Kupyansk and 10 settlements in the Liman direction since March 2025: Mirne, Katerynovka, Novomykhaylovka, Nove, Lipove, Rydkodub, Grekovka, Zelena Dolina, Kolodyazi, and Seredny.
Gerasimov stated that since March 2025, Russian forces had captured five settlements in the Velikomykhαilka direction: Maliyevka, Novogeorgievka, Vorone, Sychneve, and Zaporizhske.
The Kremlin's presentation of statistics on territorial gains ignores the significant losses Russia is suffering and the gradual, creeping nature of the Russian advance — by painting an incomplete picture of Russian performance on the battlefield.
Russian opposition media outlets Meduza and Mediazona reported on August 29 that data from the Russian Registry of Inheritance (RND) indicated that at least 93,000 Russian servicemen died in 2024 — almost twice as many as in 2023 (about 50,000).
The media used a predictive model to estimate that at least 56,000 Russian soldiers had died since the beginning of 2025.
The media warned that the data from the Russian Registry of Inheritance Cases is incomplete for assessing Russian losses, as relatives of the deceased have at least 180 days to open an inheritance case for dead or presumed dead Russian soldiers, so the data for the last six months (from about February 2025) is significantly incomplete.
Russia launched another large-scale combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine on the night of August 29-30 — the third combined attack with over 500 drones and missiles since the US-Russia summit in Alaska on August 15.
The Kremlin appears to be setting conditions for the demotion of a senior Kremlin official who reportedly advised Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent months to end the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces continue to strike Russian military and energy infrastructure in Russia.
The chairman of Russia's Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, will remain in his current position for another year, after reports emerged that Russian President Vladimir Putin was considering moving Bastrykin to a new position.
An unknown assailant shot and killed former Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy in the city of Lviv on August 30.