The situation in the Ukrainian SMO on August 16 2025

EUROPE is SHOCKED: The U.S. Honored PUTIN by Escorting his Plane with F-35 Fighter Jets

Trump Invited to Moscow as Alaska Talks with Putin End Without Ukraine Ceasefire Breakthrough

POWERFUL PUSH By Russia, 2 Settlements Captured Near Vovcha River

Total Collapse: Azov Attack Backfires, Ukraine Gives Up Huge Areas Instantly

AFU Defeat Russian Breakthrough With Massive Relocation of Forces

Putin in the peace track negotiations managed to shift the focus away from Russia, and now it is important for the President’s Office to properly process signals from the USA.

Trump stated that the agreement on Ukraine “now depends on Zelensky”

• We have almost reached an agreement. Now listen, Ukraine must agree. Maybe they will say “no”;

• Zelensky “must agree with the fact that he is losing a lot in the conflict with the Russian Federation”;

• A meeting is now being organized “between Zelensky, Putin, and me”;

• “Make a deal. Russia is a very big power, unlike Ukraine”;

• Trump refused to say what the points of agreement and disagreement were after his meeting with Putin;

• Russia has a large nuclear potential “and this must be taken into account”;

• There is a “very good chance” of reaching an agreement on Ukraine.

So far, all of Trump’s public statements do not allow understanding what the US/Russian leaders agreed on and what they could not at the summit in Alaska.

Shuttle diplomacy continues, Trump is trying to bring the polar positions to the center, which means he will pressure all participants in the process.

Trump has already called Zelensky: the US president had a long conversation with the president of Ukraine during the flight to Washington, — White House press secretary Caroline Levitt

Now Trump is negotiating with the Europeans.

Our source in the Office of the President said that today there will be a closed meeting at Bankova with the military and intelligence agencies. Andriy Yermak is preparing alternative proposals for the peace track, which Zelensky is supposed to promote in negotiations with Trump. The head of the Office wants to delay the process and turn the situation to Ukraine’s advantage; to avoid conflict with Trump, we are transforming the position on the ceasefire.

Draft leaks of agreements between Trump and Putin have been released.

There is a preliminary agreement on a ceasefire in the air until the trilateral meeting of Zelensky, Trump, and Putin, — The Economist

Colleagues, at this stage it looks like they are going to announce the draft agreements of the Trump-Putin summit. So far, everyone is creating the illusion that there were no negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine, but the reality is quite different. On Monday, the framework within which the negotiation track is proceeding and the first steps from the parties will become clear.

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According to Western media, the summit in Alaska became a verdict for Ukraine. Trump gave Putin the opportunity to continue the offensive in Donbas, and while hostilities are ongoing, they are implementing agreements on the division of the country. The result was a change in position on a temporary ceasefire, and for this, Zelensky is being summoned to Washington. There, he will be ordered to agree to new terms under the threat of canceling all aid and support; in this context, the partners’ position is indicative.

The New York Times article makes an important point: European allies of Kyiv, who previously consistently insisted on the necessity of a ceasefire as a precondition for negotiations, have now effectively dropped this wording in public statements. This may be less a change in position and more tactical caution — a desire not to enter into direct confrontation with Donald Trump, who is promoting the idea of an immediate direct peace agreement without a “technical pause” in the form of a ceasefire.

Zelensky in his rhetoric also demonstrated balancing: on the one hand, he emphasizes that the country needs not another “break” between Russian offensives, but a long-term and real peace, on the other hand — he directly states the need to stop killings and strikes on infrastructure, which essentially means maintaining the priority of a ceasefire. This dual message reads as an attempt both to satisfy the demands of allies and not to escalate the line with Washington, which is clearly shifting the boundaries of the discussion.

The situation reflects a fundamental dilemma: a ceasefire under current conditions may fix new lines of demarcation on the map favorable to Moscow, while refusal threatens a protracted war. Europeans, apparently, are forced to maneuver between these risks, considering that Trump in his political logic sees no value in a “pause mode” and insists on a deal at any cost.

Thus, the core problem lies in the incompatibility of two approaches — tactical (ceasefire as a step toward negotiations) and strategic (deal as a final without intermediate phases). Zelensky tries to hold between these models, but the longer this divergence persists, the greater the threat that Kyiv itself will come under pressure, forced to choose between concessions and diplomatic isolation.

Medvedev – on the first results of the talks in Alaska:

1. A full-fledged mechanism for meetings between Russia and the USA at the highest level has been restored. Calm, without ultimatums and threats.

2. The President of Russia personally and in detail presented to the President of the USA our conditions for ending the conflict in Ukraine.

3. As a result of an almost three-hour conversation, the head of the White House refused to escalate pressure on Russia. At least for now.

4. Important: the meeting proved that negotiations are possible without preconditions and simultaneously with the continuation of the special military operation.

5. The main thing: both sides directly placed the responsibility for achieving future results in negotiations on ending hostilities on Kiev and Europe.

Western media are confident that the summit in Alaska was a success for Russia.

Putin scored two “big victories” during the summit with Trump in Alaska, – CNN.

▪️The first – an impressive spectacle of the red carpet in the USA and a ride in the armored limousine Cadillac One nicknamed The Beast. These moments represent an exceptional form of reputation restoration for a war criminal;

▪️For many Ukrainians, it was a terrible sight, made even worse by the Kremlin chief calling Ukraine a “brotherly” nation, despite having killed its civilians for years;

▪️The second – Putin bought time to advance his troops along the front line. It is unclear whether Trump is angry enough for secondary sanctions to follow in the coming days;

▪️CNN emphasizes: time matters because the Russian summer offensive is “approaching turning gradual successes into strategic victories.”

Our source reports that on the Pokrovsk direction, all supply routes that were covered with netting have become unusable. The Russians have learned to “make holes in them” and now set up hundreds of ambushes daily on transport moving in this direction. Although the source notes that this situation is present in many directions. 

Losses in transport for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are colossal. Although now on the LBS you rarely see armored vehicles and even more so tanks with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They are given only to the “own” – office brigades (as the military call them among themselves). Everyone else only has “light cavalry” – jeeps, pickups, buggies, quad bikes. This is due to a shortage of specialized military equipment and money to purchase it. 

This means that the chances for Ukrainian soldiers to survive are getting smaller.

Two Majors #Summary as of the morning of August 16, 2025

▪️ In the Rostov region, raids were repelled in Novoshakhtinsk, Rodionovo-Nesvetaysky, and Millerovsky districts. In the Telman farmstead of Rodionovo-Nesvetaysky  a private house was damaged in a UAV attack, a man was injured. In the Stavropol territory at night, the enemy attempted to attack the industrial zone of Nevinnomyssk: stubble is burning in the drone crash area.

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces struck enemy targets at night in the Kharkov and Sumy regions.

▪️ In the Bryansk region, during the day, the AFU attacked the village of Sopychi in Pogarsky district with FPV drones, injuring a civilian.

▪️ In the Kursk region, the enemy struck the “Rylsk 110kV” electrical substation during the day, disrupting power supply in Rylsky, Glushkovsky, and Korenevsky districts.

▪️ On the Sumy direction, our forces are engaged in heavy fighting in Yunakovka. The enemy made two unsuccessful attacks using armored vehicles (burned) near Novokonstantinovka (Pershe Travnya) and Alekseevka.

▪️ On the Kharkov direction – fierce battles in the forest near Synelnykove and in Volchansk on the left bank of the Volchya River. The AFU have not taken active actions and are accumulating reserves for new counterattacks.

▪️ In the Belgorod region, the third day of attacks by the AFU using airplane-type UAVs on Belgorod continues. In the village of Bezymyeno, Graivoron district, a man was injured as a result of a drone strike on an enterprise territory. In Belgorod, a civilian woman was injured as a result of an Armed Forces of Ukraine strike. In the village of Dunayka, a man was injured as a result of a drone attack by the AFU on a car. In the Belgorod district, on the section of the Oktyabrsky — Naumovka highway, a car was destroyed due to a drone strike. Tavrovo, Shagarovka, Shebekino, Meshkovoe, Kaznacheevka, Leonovka, Mikhaylovka, Pristen, Dvuluchnoye, and Novoye are also under strikes.

▪️ North of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk), the Russian Armed Forces have advanced towards Rodinsky and are storming the development on the northern and northeastern outskirts of the city, according to the enemy.

▪️ On the South-Donetsk direction, the “Vostok” GRV liberated the settlement of Alexandrograd (https://t.me/voin_dv/16472) DPR. Fighters of the 36th Guards Brigade took another enemy defense node, destroying up to a company of AFU personnel in battles for the settlement and adjacent forest belts.

▪️ On the Zaporozhye front on the Orekhov direction (https://t.me/polk_1430/13682), positional battles continue near Novodanilovka. In the area of Malaya Tokmachka, Russian Armed Forces units expanded the controlled territory in the southeastern part of the village. Active fighting is ongoing near Nesteryanka and Plavni. In Stepnogorsk, Russian Armed Forces improved their tactical position and continue attempts to consolidate in the 3rd microdistrict.

▪️ In the Kherson region, in Aleshki, enemy shelling of the residential sector led to injuries of a woman born in 1963 and a man born in 1966. Frontline villages are under strikes by the AFU. Our forces are pounding the right bank of the Dnieper River. In the island zone, our forces cannot entrench on the islands (water is close to the ground surface). The enemy constantly tries to send sabotage and reconnaissance groups, conducting reconnaissance by fire.

▪️ In the DPR in Donetsk, a civilian woman was killed, and three others were injured as a result of direct hits by enemy long-range weapons. Significant damage was sustained by two apartment buildings on Kievsky Avenue in Donetsk, and a school was also damaged.

Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-situation-in-ukrainian-smo-on_16.html