r/CredibleDefense 17d ago

Active Conflicts & News Megathread August 22, 2025

The r/CredibleDefense daily megathread is for asking questions and posting submissions that would not fit the criteria of our post submissions. As such, submissions are less stringently moderated, but we still do keep an elevated guideline for comments.

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u/Well-Sourced 17d ago

Ukraine has been finding a lot of success striking behind the front in Russia. They hit the Druzhba pipeline again. They hit another fuel train. They hit drone operations in Dontesk & Sevastopol. The might have closed the port of Olya according to the most recent reports. It was suggested to me by another user that the cargo ship might have been one of the first targets of the new Flamingo missile.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces hit oil pumping station in Russia's Bryansk Oblast | Ukrainian Pravda

Kamikaze drones from the 14th UAV Regiment attacked the Druzhba oil pumping station in the town of Unecha in Russia's Bryansk Oblast on the night of 21-22 August. The Unecha oil terminal, the largest hub of the Druzhba oil pipeline system and owned by the Transnefteproduct holding company, is involved in supplying the Russian defence industrial base. The main function of the station is to transport oil through a pipeline system with a total length of about 9,000 km.

On the night of 12-13 August, kamikaze drones operated by Defence Intelligence of Ukraine attacked another target of the Russian oil and gas infrastructure – the Transneft Druzhba oil pipeline pumping station in Unecha in Russia's Bryansk Oblast.

On the night of 17-18 August, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces and other defence forces units hit the Nikolskoye oil pumping station in Russia's Tambov Oblast. The strike caused a fire to break out at the facility and the pumping of oil via the Druzhba pipeline came to a complete stop.

​Ukrainian Forces Sabotage russian Fuel Transport in Crimea | Defense Express

The Special Operations Forces have struck another blow against Russia's military logistics in temporarily occupied Crimea. On the night of August 21, operators of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a mission near the railway station in Dzhankoi. During the operation, Ukrainian fighters successfully targeted Russian rolling stock carrying fuel. These supplies are critical for maintaining Russian forces in the southern theater of operations, making the strike a significant disruption to enemy logistics.

Dzhankoi is a key logistics hub in northern Crimea, linking supply lines from Russia to occupied parts of southern Ukraine. By striking trains in this area, Ukrainian forces directly challenge Russia's ability to sustain its grouping of troops in the south.

Ukraine hits Russia’s most dangerous high-tech formation in Donetsk Oblast | EuroMaidanPress

Ukrainian forces destroy the “brains” of Russia’s elite drone unit Rubicon in Donetsk Oblast. Kyiv troops delivered a precise strike on the unmanned aerial command post of the unit, destroying a large ammunition depot, the General Staff of the Armed Forces reports. Russia has been deploying Rubicon with several hundred to several thousand fighters, aiming to expand its operations across the entire frontline, according to Army Inform.

The commander of the Azov Brigade’s unmanned systems battalion, call sign Bud, told Radio NV: “They caused us obvious problems, primarily with logistics. I think when they entered this direction, their clear mission was to hit our supply lines as much as possible.”

Conflict Dispatch | BlueSky

Ukrainian naval forces struck the “Khersones” airfield in occupied Sevastopol, destroying up to three Mohajer-6 and two Forpost drones used by Russia to monitor activity in the Black Sea.

Conflict Dispatch | BlueSky

British intelligence released images of the flooded vessel Port Olya 4, hit by a Ukrainian drone on August 14. Satellite images from August 19 show Russian efforts to salvage remaining cargo.

Ukrainian drone attack paralyses large Russian port | Ukrainian Pravda

Operations at the Russian port of Olya in Astrakhan have been paralysed for a week following a Ukrainian drone attack on the night of 14-15 August.

Sources cited by the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU say the strike damaged both port infrastructure and the customs facility, forcing a complete halt to operations at the Caspian Sea hub. "In addition to hitting a cargo ship – photos of which showing it in a half-sunken state have been circulated on social media – the UAVs destroyed the maritime customs office and port infrastructure. No logistics operations with Iran and Türkiye have been carried out at the facility for several days," the report said.

A traffic jam of vessels awaiting loading and unloading has formed near the port, the sources added.

It serves as a key hub in the transport corridor between Russia and Iran, used to ship food products as well as weapons supplies, according to Bloomberg reports in late 2024.

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u/Electrical-Lab-9593 17d ago

interesting that flamingo missile might have them moving around GBAD assets like whack'o mole as Russia is so big, I know they have a lot of air defence but they also lost lots of it, and Ukraine just needs to hit anything not well covered, does not look very advanced or low RCS but it's range and payload is impressive.

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u/Infamous-Salad-2223 17d ago

I think they should test the flamingoes alone/pairs and mixed with drones just to see what gives the best results plus gradually increase the range.

I will really love to hear they raze to the ground a big portion of the giant drone factory in Tatarstan, but AFU knows way better than me which targets to aim for...

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u/Electrical-Lab-9593 17d ago

my guess is that factory has layered air defence it so important for saturation attacks to RU.