Why the Kremlin timed the release of Yanukovych’s video address to coincide with Putin’s speech in China, ISW explains. Ukrainian troops recapture Udachne, west of Pokrovsk. About 2,000 North Korean troops were killed while fighting for Russia, Seoul says.
Why Kremlin timed release of Yanukovych’s video address to coincide with Putin’s speech in China, ISW explains
The Kremlin likely timed the publication of a video address by former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to coincide with Putin’s SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] speech in order to lend legitimacy to Putin’s demand for regime change in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an update on September 1. The paragraphs below are quoted from the report.
Russian state media published a video message on September 1 of Yanukovych claiming that he worked to bring Ukraine closer to the EU during his presidency and that his ultimate goal was Ukraine’s EU accession. Yanukovych blamed Ukraine’s EU partners for behaving “incorrectly” during Ukrainian-EU negotiations and criticized the EU for not understanding the difficulties of Ukraine’s economic situation. Yanukovych also claimed that he has always opposed Ukraine’s membership in NATO, which he alleged would have been a “catastrophe” and “a direct road to civil war.”
Yanukovych’s last public media appearance was in July 2022, when he called on Ukrainians to surrender to Russia. The timing of the filming of Yanukovych’s video address is unknown, but he opened by stating that Putin “is absolutely correct” – seemingly in response to Putin’s remarks about Ukraine at the SCO summit, indicating this was likely a choreographed information effort. The publication of Yanukovych’s video on Russian state media was likely intentionally timed to coincide with Putin’s remarks.
The Kremlin may be setting conditions to claim that Yanukovych is the legitimate leader of Ukraine – not Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Such claims are false, however, as Yanukovych fled Ukraine on his own accord after the Revolution of Dignity, and Ukraine has held several democratic elections since.
Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to demonstrate his unwillingness to compromise on his unwavering demands for Ukraine’s full capitulation. Putin claimed on September 1 at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, People’s Republic of China (PRC), that the “crisis” in Ukraine arose from the Western-provoked “coup” in Ukraine in 2014 (referring to Ukraine’s democratically organized Revolution of Dignity), not “as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.” Putin also claimed that the war in Ukraine stemmed from the West’s constant attempts to bring Ukraine into NATO, which Putin claimed would pose a direct threat to Russian security. Putin claimed that the 2014 “coup” eliminated the political leadership of Ukraine that did not support Ukrainian membership in NATO.
Putin claimed that peace in Ukraine can only be sustainable and long-term if the settlement eliminates the ”root causes” of the war, which Kremlin officials have repeatedly defined as Ukraine’s alleged discrimination against Russian-speakers in Ukraine and NATO expansion. The Kremlin has often used this “root causes” narrative to call for the replacement of the current Ukrainian government with a Russian puppet government, Ukraine’s commitment to neutrality, and the revocation of NATO’s Open Door Policy. Putin’s claim that the 2014 “coup” “eliminated” Ukrainian leaders is also a reference to the Kremlin’s repeated narrative that the current Ukrainian government is illegitimate and should not be in power. Putin is reiterating these Kremlin narratives in his own voice, indicating that Putin maintains his original war goals.
Putin’s demands for regime change in his SCO speech are not new, but rather the reiteration of his pre-war demands that he has been pursuing throughout the war. Putin referenced the alleged “coup” in both his 2021 “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” essay and his speech launching the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. Yanukovych was also notably in Belarus in March 2022, possibly as part of Kremlin efforts to reestablish him as the president of Ukraine. Putin’s reiteration of this same demand demonstrates how Putin’s unwillingness to pull back from his original war aims is the key contributor to the lack of progress toward peace since the US-Russian summit in Alaska in August 2025.
Ukrainian troops recapture Udachne west of Pokrovsk
Ukrainian troops have recaptured the village of Udachne, west of Pokrovsk, in Donetsk region, the 425th Skelya Separate Assault Regiment said in a video that the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine released on Tuesday.
Udachne was liberated by the regiment. Ukrainian troops engaged in direct combat with the enemy to destroy all Russian strongholds in the area. “In the course of two weeks, the assault groups gradually mopped up a house after a house, and hoisted the Ukrainian flag above the village,” the video said.
Ukrainian troops have recaptured the village of Novoekonomichne, north east of Myrnohrad, in Donetsk region, the General Staff of the Armed Forces said on Monday.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi dispatched additional troops and weapons to the Pokrovsk direction to take out sabotage groups, spokesperson for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Senior Lieutenant Andriy Kovalyov said in early August.
Speaking to reporters on August 29, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the most serious situation was observed in the Pokrovsk direction where Russia was building up a force of some 100,000 troops.
Ukrainian troops suppressed 46 Russian assaults in the Pokrovsk direction in the past day, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a morning report on Tuesday.
About 2,000 North Korean troops killed while fighting for Russia, Seoul says
About 2,000 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine, South Korean lawmakers said on Tuesday, citing the country’s intelligence agency, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said Pyongyang is planning to send an additional 6,000 soldiers to Russia in its third batch of troop deployment to aid Moscow’s war effort, while around 1,000 combat engineers have already arrived in Russia.
North Korean troops are stationed in the rear as a reserve force, South Korea’s intelligence said.
Since October last year, North Korea has sent around 13,000 troops and conventional weapons to assist Russia, Yonhap said.
North Korea revealed it sustained around 350 deaths in the first and second rounds of deployment, a South Korean member of parliament said, citing an intelligence report.