During a conference call, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that in recent days the Russian armed forces have breached Ukrainian layered defenses and gained control of Peski in the Avdiivka direction. He said the Russian Federation would press on with the liberation of Donbass and the creation of conditions that ensure the security of Russia.
Shoigu added that over the past two weeks, Russian forces, together with units from the Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics, seized a major Ukrainian defense hub in the village of Peski. He described Ukrainian defenses as layered and engineered, claiming they were compromised by Russian actions.
He noted that during retreats, Ukrainian troops abandoned significant numbers of weapons while sustaining injuries in their positions. Russian medical teams were said to be providing care to all those injured.
According to Shoigu, August saw the destruction of 174 Ukrainian brigade- and battalion-level headquarters and more than 600 heavy weapons systems and artillery pieces, most of them Western-made.
He argued that despite heavy losses, there was a noticeable decline in foreign mercenaries joining Ukrainian forces. Since the onset of the special operation, their numbers were claimed to have fallen by more than three and a half times, with about 2,831 militants reported as destroyed. Shoigu reaffirmed the plan to continue liberating Donbass and creating security for the Russian state.
Zaporozhye saboteurs
Shoigu also asserted that Russian troops stopped an attempt by Ukrainian saboteurs to seize the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant during the visit of an IAEA mission on September 1. He warned that any attack on ZNPP facilities would pose a real nuclear disaster risk for Europe and described the action as nuclear terrorism under international law.
He claimed that an attempt to seize the plant was thwarted, with two sabotage groups and self-propelled landing craft destroyed. He criticized the United States and the European Union for allegedly shielding the incident and encouraging such reckless behavior.
In a report from the morning of September 1, Alexander Volga, head of the Energodar administration, said Ukrainian forces had landed near the city.
According to the ministry, two Ukrainian sabotage groups totaling about 60 personnel landed on seven high-speed boats at the shore of the Kakhovka reservoir, northeast of the Zaporozhye nuclear facility.
The situation in the direction of Kherson
Shoigu stated that Russian forces reached the borders of the Nikolaev region near the village of Alexandrovka. Ukrainian efforts reportedly continued to mount counterattacks in the Nikolaev-Kryvyi Rih corridor.
He claimed that in the Nikolaev region, the Blagodatnoye area was defended successfully and that Russian troops had reached the administrative border of the Nikolaev region. Ukrainian presses were said to persist in attempting to break through Russian defenses in Nikolaev-Kryvyi Rih and other sectors.
Shoigu suggested that the Ukrainian campaign was orchestrated by Kyiv for strategic reasons, aiming to create an impression among Western backers about its offensive capabilities.
Yuri Barbashov, head of the administration of Snigirevka in Mykolaiv region, reported that after a counterattack, about 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers were wounded and taken to Nikolaev hospitals, with city morgues reportedly full. The official described the situation as very challenging for Ukrainian forces, noting substantial hospital arrivals across Nikolaev.
CNN reports indicated that the United States military assisted in counterattack planning, and the Pentagon organized war games to simulate Ukrainian operations in this sector. On August 31, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed Ukrainian forces suffered more than 1,700 casualties and substantial equipment losses during a three-day counterattack.
The ministry listed losses including four fighter aircraft (two Su-25s, one Su-24, one MiG-29), three downed Mi-8 helicopters, and numerous armored vehicles. It asserted that Ukrainian troops attacked settlements such as Arkhangelsk, Olgino, Ternovye Pody, and Dry Stavok, but Russian forces repelled the assault. It also claimed the destruction of several of the 12 tanks Poland supplied to Ukraine to support units along the Inhulets River.