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Russian troops liberate eight communities in Ukraine operation over week — top brass

Russia's Defense Ministry has reported the liberation of several communities in eastern and southern Ukraine over successive weeks, along with strikes on Ukrainian ports and military infrastructure. The ministry also detailed casualty figures for Ukrainian forces and intercepted drones, though these claims remain from Russian state sources.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Jul 10–24, 2026 Published Aug 14

Lead

Russia's Defense Ministry has reported that its forces liberated eight communities in the Kharkov, Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk Regions and the Donetsk People's Republic over the week of July 18-24, continuing a series of claimed advances. The ministry also said Russian forces delivered 19 precision strikes on five Ukrainian ports used for military purposes during the same period, according to the state news agency TASS.

In the previous week, July 4-10, the ministry reported the liberation of seven communities in the Kharkov Region and the Donetsk People's Republic, as well as seven precision strikes on Ukrainian military sites. These reports, carried by TASS, come as part of the Russian military's regular weekly briefings on what it calls the special military operation in Ukraine.

Coverage Comparison

Both reports from TASS are based on official statements from Russia's Defense Ministry. The July 24 report describes the liberation of settlements in four regions, with Battlegroup North taking control of Zakharovka, Ivashkino, Volokhovskoye and Artelnoye in the Kharkov Region; Battlegroup Center liberating Lenina (Mirnoye) and the town of Belitskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic; and Battlegroup East liberating Volnoye in the Dnepropetrovsk Region and Blagodatnoye in the Zaporozhye Region.

The earlier July 10 report lists a different set of settlements, including Petro-Ivanovka in the Kharkov Region, taken by Battlegroup North; Druzhelyubovka, Novy Mir, Cherneshchina and Shiykovka in the same region, taken by Battlegroup West; Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People's Republic, liberated by Battlegroup South; and Vasilevka in the same republic, taken by Battlegroup Center.

The two reports also differ in the number of strikes. The July 24 report says one massive and 18 combined strikes were delivered by precision-guided weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against infrastructure at the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, Yuzhny, Izmail and Nikolayev, which the ministry says are used to unload and store military cargo. The ministry adds that 27 sea vessels used by the Ukrainian army were hit, including 16 dry cargo ships, 10 bulkers and a container ship, and that strikes also targeted Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises in Kiev and the Kiev Region.

The July 10 report describes seven strikes on military-industrial sites, logistics centers and military airfields, framed as retaliation for what the ministry calls Ukraine's terrorist attacks on civilian facilities on Russian territory. The targets listed include enterprises of Ukraine's military-industrial sector, ammunition depots, fuel and energy infrastructure, and sites for production and storage of long-range drones.

Key Claims

The ministry's weekly reports include detailed casualty figures for Ukrainian forces, attributed to various Russian battlegroups. For the week of July 18-24, the ministry claims: Battlegroup North inflicted over 1,695 casualties; Battlegroup West inflicted 1,495; Battlegroup South inflicted over 1,175; Battlegroup Center inflicted over 2,415; Battlegroup East inflicted over 2,960; and Battlegroup Dnepr inflicted over 425. The same battlegroups were attributed similar figures for the previous week, ranging from over 410 for Battlegroup Dnepr to over 3,060 for Battlegroup East.

The ministry also reports air defense achievements, with 5,249 Ukrainian UAVs and 13 cruise missiles intercepted during the week of July 18-24, and 4,975 UAVs and 10 cruise missiles intercepted the previous week. The Black Sea Fleet is said to have destroyed seven naval drones in the former period and six in the latter.

Cumulative figures since the start of the operation are also provided. As of July 24, the ministry says Russian forces have destroyed 673 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 284 helicopters, 188,415 unmanned aerial vehicles, 667 surface-to-air missile systems, 30,286 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,765 multiple rocket launchers, 35,886 field artillery guns and mortars, and 67,326 special military motor vehicles. A similar set of figures in the July 10 report shows lower totals for drones, missile systems, tanks and artillery, including 178,495 UAVs and 30,098 tanks.

These figures are reported solely through TASS, citing the ministry's statements. They have not been independently corroborated within the material provided.

How this outlet told it

TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC

Framing: Russian military successes — Official and factual

Facts Included:

Russian troops liberated seven communities in the Kharkov Region and the Donetsk People’s Republic
Russian forces delivered seven precision strikes on Ukrainian military sites
Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicted over 1,380 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicted over 1,490 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted over 1,310 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicted over 2,290 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted over 3,060 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr inflicted over 410 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russian air defenses intercepted 4,975 Ukrainian UAVs, 10 cruise missiles

Read the source article →

TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC

Framing: Russian military successes — Official and factual

Facts Included:

Russian troops liberated eight communities in the Kharkov, Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk Regions and the Donetsk People’s Republic
Russian forces delivered 19 precision strikes on five Ukrainian ports
Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicted over 1,695 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicted 1,495 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted over 1,175 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicted over 2,415 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted over 2,960 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr inflicted over 425 casualties on Ukrainian army
Russian air defenses intercepted 5,249 Ukrainian UAVs, 13 cruise missiles

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimRussian troops liberated seven communities in the Kharkov Region and the Donetsk People’s Republic over the week of July 4-10.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimRussian troops liberated eight communities in the Kharkov, Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk Regions and the Donetsk People’s Republic over the week of July 18-24.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
ClaimRussian forces delivered seven precision strikes on Ukrainian military sites over the week of July 4-10.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimRussian forces delivered 19 precision strikes on five Ukrainian ports over the week of July 18-24.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup North inflicted over 1,380 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 4-10.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup North inflicted over 1,695 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 18-24.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup West inflicted over 1,490 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 4-10.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup West inflicted 1,495 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 18-24.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup South inflicted over 1,310 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 4-10.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup South inflicted over 1,175 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 18-24.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup Center inflicted over 2,290 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 4-10.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup Center inflicted over 2,415 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 18-24.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup East inflicted over 3,060 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 4-10.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup East inflicted over 2,960 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 18-24.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup Dnepr inflicted over 410 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 4-10.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Battlegroup Dnepr inflicted over 425 casualties on Ukrainian troops over the week of July 18-24.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
ClaimRussian air defenses intercepted 4,975 Ukrainian UAVs and 10 cruise missiles over the week of July 4-10.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimRussian air defenses intercepted 5,249 Ukrainian UAVs and 13 cruise missiles over the week of July 18-24.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Black Sea Fleet destroyed six Ukrainian naval drones over the week of July 4-10.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimRussia’s Black Sea Fleet destroyed seven Ukrainian naval drones over the week of July 18-24.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
ClaimThe Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 673 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 284 helicopters, 178,495 unmanned aerial vehicles, 665 surface-to-air missile systems, 30,098 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,756 multiple rocket launchers, 35,715 field artillery guns and mortars and 66,103 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 10, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC
ClaimThe Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 673 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 284 helicopters, 188,415 unmanned aerial vehicles, 667 surface-to-air missile systems, 30,286 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,765 multiple rocket launchers, 35,886 field artillery guns and mortars and 67,326 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusContested via TASS — English as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 2 articles consulted: TASS — English 22 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-14