Summary
It is just after 9pm in Ukraine. Here are some things you might’ve missed:
At least three civilians have been killed in Russian shelling in the eastern region of Donetsk. Thirteen were wounded in artillery barrages from the Russian military, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.
Ukraine says it has struck a base used by the Wagner paramilitary group, according to reports. A bridge near the occupied city of Melitopol was also hit, according to reports from AFP.
Five people have been injured in Kharkiv after Russian shelling. Two of them in a serious condition, a top Ukrainian official has said.
Putin says Russia is ready to offer allies in Latin American, Asia and Africa ‘advanced’ weapons.
The UN has said it can facilitate an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visit to Ukraine’s damaged Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant if both Russia and Ukraine agree. A total of 42 countries have called on Russia to immediately withdraw military forces from the plant, including the US, Japan and the UK, plus the EU. The IAEA has warned of a possible nuclear disaster unless fighting stops.
On Poland’s Armed Forces Day on Monday, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi released a video statement commemorating the national holiday. In the video, he says, speaking in Polish, “Today, just like 102 years ago, we once again face a centuries-old enemy together” The holiday celebrates the anniversary of the 1920 victory over Soviet Russia at the Battle of Warsaw.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, says Russia and North Korea will expand bilateral relations. Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday. Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that the two countries would “expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts”, Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday. In a letter to Kim for North Korea’s liberation day, Putin said that closer ties would be in both countries’ interests, and would help strengthen the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and the north-eastern Asian region, North Korea’s KCNA news agency said.
Kyiv Mayor warns of a cold winter for citizens, due to gas shortages. Former boxing champion and mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said he did not want to reassure residents that “everything will be fine” and that there were “harsh realities” in the country.
That is all from us today. Thanks for reading along, we will be back with the latest Ukraine news tomorrow.
The UN has said it can facilitate IAEA visit to power plant if Russia and Ukraine agree.
The United Nations has the logistics and security capacity to support a visit by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant if both Russia and Ukraine agree, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.
The plant, built in the Soviet era, is the largest nuclear reactor in Europe and was damaged by Russian shelling in early August.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has accused the Russians of using the plant as a “nuclear shield”.
Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, described the ongoing crisis of safety oversight as a dire threat to public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond, describing the situation as “completely out of control.”
“You have a catalogue of things that should never be happening in any nuclear facility,” he said. While Grossi has suggested a mission to the plant, Ukraine has been blocking the initiative, arguing as recently as June that any visit would legitimise Russia’s presence there.
FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Five foreign nationals captured fighting with Ukrainian forces have been charged with being mercenaries on Monday, with three facing the death penalty, Russian media has reported. The trial was carried out by a Russian-backed separatist court in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk.
U.K. national John Harding, Croatian Vjekoslav Prebeg and Swedish citizen Mathias Gustafsson, who were captured in and around the port city of Mariupol, face a possible death sentence, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported.
TASS cited the judge as saying that the trial would resume in early October, according to reports from Reuters.
Foreign nationals Vjekoslav Prebeg from Croatia, Dylan Healy from Britain, John Harding from Britain, Mathias Gustafsson from Sweden and Andrew Hill from Britain, who were captured by pro-Russian forces while allegedly fighting for Ukrainian troops during Ukraine-Russia conflict, sit inside a defendants' cage during a court hearing in Donetsk, Ukraine August 15, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz questioned the Russian tourist ban, following a meeting with leaders of the Nordic countries in Oslo on Monday.
“What is important for us is that we understand there are a lot of people fleeing from Russia because they disagree with the Russian regime,” he said.
“All the decisions we take should not make it more complicated to leave the country, for getting away from the leadership and the dictatorship in Russia,” he added.
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin who was also at the meeting, has called for Russian tourists to be banned from the EU to ensure that they too pay a penalty for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he is in solitary confinement.
In a Twitter thread posted on Monday, Navalny said he had been placed in a ‘special housing unit’ following his efforts to create a labour union in jail.
1/17 I’m an icon of conscious consumption.
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) August 15, 2022
There’s only a mug and a book in my cell. I only get a spoon and a plate at mealtimes. They even took away my prison clothes and gave me temporary ones. Now I have huge white letters SHU on my back.
Greetings from solitary confinement.
Navalny had been serving two-and-a-half years for violating parole on old fraud charges but in March 2022, his jail time was extended to nine years after he was found guilty of embezzlement. Navalny and his allies say the charges are politically motivated.
In 2020, Navalny narrowly survived a poisoning attack with Novichok, a Soviet-designed military-grade nerve agent. He has accused Russian authorities, but the Kremlin has denied any involvement.
Ukraine says it has struck Wagner group base, according to reports
Ukraine on Monday said it had struck a base used by a Russian paramilitary group as well as a bridge near the occupied city of Melitopol, according to reports from AFP.
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, told AFP the strike was aimed at a base of the Wagner group. The Guardian hasn’t been able to independently verify this report.
Wagner, Russia’s private military contractor, was established in 2014 to support pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The US and others say it is funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a powerful businessman closely linked to Vladimir Putin who is under western sanctions. Prigozhin denies any links to the group.
My colleague Pjotr Sauer wrote a piece about the Wagner group’s involvement in Russia’s war with Ukraine, read it here: Russia’s private military contractor Wagner comes out of the shadows in Ukraine war
Updated
Gen Darryl Williams, the new commanding general of United States Army Europe and Africa, attended the ceremony in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Solider in downtown Warsaw.
Williams told the Associated Press that the US presence was meant to deliver a message of “strength and resilience”.
“It is about deterrence, about being strong, Nato is strong, the Polish people are strong, and we are standing shoulder to shoulder with them,” he said.
Updated
“Today, just like 102 years ago, we once again face a centuries-old enemy together” Ukraine’s commander-in-chief said in a statement on Poland’s annual Armed Forces Day.
Poland celebrated on Monday its annual Armed Forces Day, a national holiday commemorating the anniversary of the 1920 victory over Soviet Russia at the Battle of Warsaw.
Speaking Polish, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, greeted the Polish military, saying:
On behalf of the Armed Forces and in my own name, I congratulate you on the occasion of the Polish Armed Forces Day. In the Battle of Warsaw, your people defended their statehood and saved Europe from the Bolshevik invasion. Poland’s ally in that war was the Ukrainian People’s Republic. Today, just like 102 years ago, we are once again facing a centuries-old enemy together.
I am deeply grateful to the Polish people for their help and support in this difficult time. We are fighting for our freedom and yours. Together we will win.
"Today, just like 102 years ago, we once again face a centuries-old enemy together"
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) August 15, 2022
Ukrainian Army chief Zaluzhnyi greets Poles on Day of 🇵🇱Army, celebrated on Warsaw battle anniversary. Then, 🇺🇦troops successfully fought alongaide 🇵🇱against Soviet Russiahttps://t.co/F1ZlLPIzru pic.twitter.com/wZrn82tAvK
According to UN figures from May, more than 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled to Poland since the Russian invasion began.
Updated
At least three dead after Russian shelling in eastern region of Donetsk
At least three Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 13 wounded in artillery barrages from the Russian military in the eastern region of Donetsk, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.
The barrage has damaged dozens of residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, reports Reuters.
The eastern region of Donetsk – one of the two provinces making up the country’s industrial heartland of Donbas that has been the focus of a Russian offensive – has faced the most intense shelling.
Regional officials said at least three people died and a further 13 were wounded by Russian shelling that hit numerous towns and villages in the Donetsk region during the last 24 hours.
Updated
Russia will do “everything necessary” to allow specialists from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, a top Russian official said on Monday.
In a statement reported by Reuters on Monday foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said:
In close cooperation with the Agency and its leadership, we will do everything necessary for the IAEA specialists to be at the station and give a truthful assessment of the destructive actions of the Ukrainian side.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, was captured by Russia during its invasion of Ukraine and has since been the source of intense fighting between the two sides.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of risking a nuclear accident.
The head of the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, previously described the situation as “completely out of control” and suggested a mission to the plant.
However, this was blocked by Energoatom – Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator – who thought any visit could legitimise Russia’s occupation of the area.
My colleague Peter Beaumont wrote a piece about the issues at the nuclear plant, read it here: How dangerous is the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant?
Updated
Putin ready to offer allies in Latin American, Asia and Africa 'advanced' weapons
Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow valued its ties with countries in Latin American, Asia and Africa and was ready to offer modern weapons to its allies, reports Reuters.
Putin used a speech at an arms show near Moscow to boast of Russia’s advanced weapons capabilities and declare its willingness to share technology with like-minded countries.
Putin told the the opening ceremony of the “Army-2022” forum near Moscow:
(We) are ready to offer our allies the most modern types of weapons, from small arms to armoured vehicles and artillery to combat aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Almost all of them have been used more than once in real combat operations.
The Russian president’s comments come just a day after he offered to expand relations with North Korea.
In a letter to Kim Jong-un for Korea‘s liberation day, Putin said closer ties would be in both countries’ interests, and would help strengthen the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and the north-east Asian region, North Korea‘s KCNA news agency said.
Updated
Russian soldiers are taking their families out of Melitopol, according to the BBC’s Russian service.
The broadcaster reports the city’s mayor, Ivan Fedorov, saying: After the partisans and the armed forces of Ukraine have actively worked for another week, the Russian military is taking their families out of the city.”
It comes after authorities in Kherson reportedly said on Sunday that some Russian commanders had left the city.
Updated
Andrew Roth has the latest on Brittney Griner’s appeal against her nine-year jail sentence:
Lawyers for American basketball star Brittney Griner have filed an appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession.
Griner, a centre for the Phoenix Mercury who had been playing in Yekaterinburg during the WNBA off-season, was arrested in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport after vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. She was convicted on 4 August.
Lawyer Maria Blagovolina said on Monday the appeal had been filed, but declined to give details. Alexander Boykov, a lawyer at Moscow Legal Centre who represented Griner in court, told Reuters the appeal would be mainly based on alleged violations in the course of the investigation.
Griner’s defence team argued in court that some of her case files had been drawn up without being translated for her into English. It was not clear how soon an appeal could be heard.
Read more here: Brittney Griner lawyers appeal against nine-year Russian jail sentence
Updated
Kyiv could be facing a cold winter due to gas shortages, says Mayor Klitschko
Former boxing champion and mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said he did not want to reassure residents that “everything will be fine” and that there were “harsh realities” in the country.
He said there will be gas for people living in the capital and it will not increase in price, but residents needed to be prepared for “different scenarios”.
In an interview with Babel, he added:
This is the expectation. But we do not rule out that there may be acts of terrorism, attacks on gas stations. We also take this scenario into account. We bought generators, fuel for these generators. First of all, they will go to hospitals, kindergartens and schools. We will do everything possible and impossible, which depends on us, to keep the houses warm.
He urged Ukrainians living in Kyiv to prepare warm blankets and clothes at home and to be prepared for temperatures to be lower than normal, at around 18-19C.
Updated
These are some of the latest images to be sent to us over the newswires from Ukraine.
Updated
Five injured in Kharkiv shelling
Shelling in Kharkiv, a city in north-west Ukraine, has left five people injured, with two of them in a serious condition, a top Ukrainian official has said.
Posting on Telegram, the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration Oleg Synegubov, said:
As a result of the morning shelling of Kharkiv, 5 people were injured.
According to the information of the Regional Center of Emergency Medical Assistance, 4 people were hospitalized, 2 of them are in serious condition. 1 person was treated on the spot.
Medical and rescue services continue to work at the sites of the hits.
Updated
Summary
It is just after 1pm in Ukraine. Here is everything you might have missed:
Ukrainian forces reported heavy Russian shelling and attempts to advance on several towns in the eastern region of Donetsk that has become a key focus of the near six-month war, but said they had repelled many of the attacks. Ukraine’s military command said on Sunday that Russian soldiers had continued unsuccessfully to attack Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka, which, since 2014, has become one of the outposts of Ukrainian forces near Donetsk.
Russia is probably in the advanced planning stages to hold a referendum for the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) to join Russia, according to British intelligence. On 11 August, Russian media reported that the Moscow-installed administrative head, Denis Pushilin, said that the date of a referendum on the DPR joining Russia would be announced after the DPR’s “complete liberation”. However, it is unclear if the final decision to go ahead with a vote has yet been taken, the UK’s Ministry of Defence reports.
Mykolaiv came under sustained overnight fire from Russian forces, a Ukrainian official has said. Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv, posted on his Telegram account that an educational facility and hotel had been struck on the outskirts of the city. He added there were no casualties.
The defence team of US basketball star Brittney Griner has appealed against her conviction for drugs possession and trafficking, Griner’s lawyer Maria Blagovolina told Reuters on Monday. Griner, who had played for a Russian club, was arrested at a Moscow airport on 17 February after cannabis-infused vape cartridges were found in her luggage. She pleaded guilty to the charges but said she had made an “honest mistake” by entering Russia with cannabis oil, which is illegal in the country. She was convicted on 4 August and jailed for nine years.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, says Russia and North Korea will expand bilateral relations, Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday. Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that the two countries would “expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts”, Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday. In a letter to Kim for North Korea’s liberation day, Putin said that closer ties would be in both countries’ interests, and would help strengthen the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and the north-eastern Asian region, North Korea’s KCNA news agency said.
The first UN ship to carry Ukrainian grain for Africa is ready to depart with 23,000 tonnes of wheat. The MV Brave Commander will head to Africa and “Ethiopia will be the last country where the 23,000-tonne cargo of wheat will be delivered”, said Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov. It will be the first shipment of food aid since Kyiv and Moscow agreed a deal brokered by the UN and Turkey in July to unblock Black Sea grain deliveries.
The first ship to depart Ukraine when grain exports resumed was approaching the Syrian port of Tartus on Sunday. The ship left Ukraine two weeks ago but cargo on the Razoni was refused by its original Lebanese buyer, two shipping sources told Reuters.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his forces will target Russian soldiers who shoot at or from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. “Every Russian soldier who either shoots at the plant, or shoots using the plant as cover, must understand that he becomes a special target for our intelligence agents, for our special services, for our army,” he said.
A total of 42 countries have called on Russia to immediately withdraw military forces from the plant, including the US, Japan and the UK, plus the EU. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned of a possible nuclear disaster unless fighting stops.
Zelenskiy has warned those with Russian citizenship against being complicit and silent in supporting Putin’s war on Ukraine. “People’s silence approaches the level of complicity. And the rejection of the real fight against evil becomes the assistance to it. Therefore, if you have Russian citizenship and you are silent, it means that you are not fighting, it means that you are supporting it,” he said in his latest national address.
Ukraine’s forces continued to strike at strategic bridges supplying Russian troops holding the city of Kherson, the only major site held by the invaders on the west bank of the Dnieper, including the Antonovsky road bridge and the crossing at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant upstream. Ukraine said Russian troops who crossed the Dnieper River during their offensive in the southern region were facing growing difficulties after bridges were damaged.
Russia says it has taken control of Udy, a village in the eastern Kharkiv region, according to its latest military briefing. The village has been under heavy shelling by Russian forces.
Russia’s priority over the past week has likely been to reorient units to strengthen its campaign in southern Ukraine, British military intelligence said on Sunday. The UK Ministry of Defence said Russia also appeared to be intensifying attacks on the eastern Donbas front, in what is likely to be an attempt to ensure Ukraine is not able to concentrate forces in the south against Kherson.
Countries throughout Europe have called for the EU to limit or block short-term Schengen visas for Russian citizens. Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Finland and the Czech Republic all urged new restrictions. Poland is also considering restrictions for Russian tourist visas.
Updated
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has published its latest map showing Russian military attack and troop locations in Ukraine.
The illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is continuing.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 15, 2022
The map below is the latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 15 August 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/x42xdnOdvu
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/d7IcBtpzeg
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed to target Russian troops at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant who fire on Ukrainian towns and cities.
In a video statement on Saturday evening, Ukraine’s president said:
Every Russian soldier who either shoots at the station or shoots under the cover of the station must understand that they are becoming a special target for our intelligence, for our special services, for our army.
Both Ukraine and Russia have accused one another of shelling the nuclear plant, which is the largest in Europe, following multiple incidents in recent weeks.
Russian troops captured the station early in the war. G7 nations have called on Moscow to withdraw from the plant to avoid risking nuclear catastrophe.
Updated
The defence team of US basketball star Brittney Griner has appealed against her conviction for narcotics possession and trafficking, Griner’s lawyer Maria Blagovolina told Reuters on Monday.
Griner, who had played for a Russian club, was arrested at a Moscow airport on 17 February after cannabis-infused vape cartridges were found in her luggage.
She pleaded guilty to the charges but said she had made an “honest mistake” by entering Russia with cannabis oil, which is illegal in the country.
She was convicted on 4 August and jailed for nine years.
The US government says Griner was wrongfully detained. It has offered to exchange her for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the US.
Read more about the case here: Russia ‘ready to discuss’ prisoner swap but will resist pressure to free Brittney Griner
Updated
Mykolaiv came under sustained overnight fire from Russian forces, a Ukrainian official has said.
Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv, posted on his Telegram account that an educational facility and hotel had been struck on the outskirts of the city. He added there were no casualties.
The report could not been independently verified.
Updated
Shaun Walker and Pjotr Sauer report:
“A city with a Russian history,” proclaim billboards across the Ukrainian city of Kherson, occupied by the Russian army since the first days of March. Others display the Russian flag, or quotes from Vladimir Putin.
Over the past five months, Moscow has appointed an occupation administration to run the Kherson region and ordered schools to teach the Russian curriculum. Local people are encouraged to apply for Russian passports to access pensions and other benefits.
The next stage of the Kremlin’s plan is a referendum, to add a dubious sense of legality to these facts on the ground, and create a pretext for bringing Kherson and other occupied parts of southern Ukraine into Russia, using an updated version of the 2014 Crimea playbook.
In a series of telephone interviews, people in Kherson reported minimal enthusiasm for a referendum, and described a nervous, unpredictable atmosphere in the city.
Residents remain unsure about what the next few months might bring: a swift Ukrainian counteroffensive to regain control, a protracted battle that turns the city to rubble, or Russia carrying out its sham referendum and annexing the territory.
Read more here: ‘A referendum is not right’: occupied Kherson looks to uncertain future
These are some of the latest images to be sent to us over the newswires from Ukraine.
Updated
The Kyiv Independent is reporting that Russian forces shelled Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine, overnight and hit a factory.
No further information was given about possible casualties.
⚡️Russian forces shell Kharkiv overnight on Aug. 15.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) August 15, 2022
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that at 2:50 a.m. local time Russian forces shelled Slobidsky district of the city and hit a factory. There is no information on casualties at the time of the publication.
Updated
Simon Tisdall argues locking up Vladimir Putin is a strategic aim the west should pursue:
The west’s strategic aims in Ukraine – to repulse Russia’s invasion, restore national sovereignty and score a victory for global democracy over “the forces of darkness” – were clearly set out by US president Joe Biden in Warsaw in March and subsequently endorsed by UK and European leaders.
What has always been less clear is whether they honestly expect to achieve these aims, given Nato’s less than heroic refusal to get directly involved. An uncomfortable, even distressing question now arises: should Ukrainians prepare for a stab in the back this winter?
Nearly six months into the war, the widening gap between rhetoric and reality grows potentially fatal. Public outrage over the invasion is giving way to concern, bordering on panic, about its alarming knock-on effects on energy and food prices and the cost of living.
That in turn is feeding doubts about western staying power. How long before Europe’s already shaky unity crumbles, if and when Russia’s gas tap is finally turned off?
Read more of Simon Tisdall’s piece here: As Putin’s war spreads panic across Europe, Ukrainians must fear a stab in the back
Updated
Russian troops are using Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, as cover to fire missiles into Ukraine-held territory. Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding talks to residents and Ukrainian military officials, who say they cannot retaliate.
The Philippines is looking to buy heavy-lift Chinook helicopters from the US, after scrapping a deal with Russia worth 12.7bn pesos ($227.35m) in order to avoid sanctions, Manila’s ambassador to Washington said on Monday.
In June, days before President Rodrigo Duterte ended his six-year term, the Philippines scrapped a deal to buy 16 Mi-17 Russian military transport helicopters because of fears of US sanctions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reports Reuters.
Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez told journalists in a virtual forum.
This cancellation of this contract is precipitated mainly by the war in Ukraine. While there are sanctions expected to come our way, from the United States and western countries, obviously it is not in our interest to continue and pursue this contract.
Romualdez said the Chinooks would replace existing hardware used for the movement of troops and in disaster preparedness in the Southeast Asian country.
The US is willing to strike a deal for the amount the Philippines was set to spend on the Russian helicopters, Romualdez said, adding the deal with Washington will likely include maintenance, service and parts.
The Philippines is pursuing discussions with Russia to recover its $38m down payment for the helicopters, the delivery of which was supposed to start in November next year, or 24 months after the contract was signed.
Updated
Rustem Umerov, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, posted a picture of the Canadian military on Twitter and thanked them for helping train members of the Ukrainian armed forces.
🇨🇦🇺🇦🇬🇧90 servicemen of the #Canadian Princess Patricia's Light Infantry left for Britain to train Ukrainian soldiers. Since 2015, #Canada has trained over 33,000 service members of 🇺🇦 Armed Forces of Ukraine. Thank you🙏🏼 #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/N7bLDB28KQ
— Rustem Umerov (@rustem_umerov) August 15, 2022
Updated
Another six ships have received permission to pass through the maritime humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea, according to a statement released by the UN-backed Joint Coordination Centre (JCC).
Two of the vessels, MV Kafkam Etler and MV Zelek Star, have reportedly already passed inspection in the Sea of Marmara and can go to Chornomorsk, Odesa, for loading.
The inspection of the remaining four vessels – MV Great Arsenal, MV Zumrut Ana, MV Ocean S, MV Kubrosliy – is scheduled for Tuesday. If the inspection is successful, the ships are set to go to Chornomorsk, according to Ukrainian media reports.
The shipments are part of a deal brokered by the UN and Turkey with Kyiv and Moscow in July to unblock Black Sea grain deliveries.
Updated
Russian proxies are continuing to consolidate administrative control of occupied areas by enforcing payments in rubles, according to a recent report from the institute for the study of war.
The US thinktank cited Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate (GUR) as saying that Moscow-installed authorities in the occupied city of Kherson are pressuring local ambulance workers to sign forms consenting to work for the new occupation government and receive payments in rubles.
Russian occupation authorities are also reportedly continuing to collect personal passport data from recipients of humanitarian aid, civilians who contact the occupying forces’ government, and customers of Russian mobile phone services.
Russia is probably in the advanced planning stages to hold a referendum for the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) to join Russia, according to British intelligence.
On 11 August, Russian media reported that the Moscow-installed administrative head, Denis Pushilin, said that the date of a referendum on the DPR joining Russia would be announced after the DPR’s “complete liberation”.
However, it is unclear if the final decision to go ahead with a vote has yet been taken, the UK’s Ministry of Defence reports.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 15 August 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 15, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/6TpEvHdDB9
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/hKzX3KFOoC
Updated
Russia attempts advance in eastern Donetsk
Ukrainian forces reported heavy Russian shelling and attempts to advance on several towns in the eastern region of Donetsk that has become a key focus of the near six-month war, but said they had repelled many of the attacks.
Ukraine’s military command said on Sunday that Russian soldiers had continued unsuccessfully to attack Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka, which, since 2014, has become one of the outposts of Ukrainian forces near Donetsk.
Ukraine’s military command said “fierce fighting” had continued in Pisky, an eastern village that Russia had earlier in the day said it had under full control.
“The occupiers are trying to break through the defence of our troops in the directions of Oleksandropol, Krasnohorivka, Avdiivka, Maryinka, and Pisky,” Ukraine’s general staff said in its nightly briefing. “Fierce fighting continues.”
Oleg Zhdanov, a Ukrainian military expert, said the situation was particularly difficult in Avdiivka and nearby towns, such as Pisky.
“We have insufficient artillery power in place and our forces are asking for more support to defend Pisky,” he said in a video posted online. “But the town is basically under Ukrainian control.”
The Guardian could not immediately independently verify the battlefield accounts.
Updated
New Zealand deploys troops to help train Ukraine soldiers
Our Wellington-based correspondent, Eva Corlett, brings us this report from New Zealand.
The island nation will send another 120 troops to the UK to help train Ukrainian soldiers to defend the country against Russia’s “unjustified invasion”, in its latest show of solidarity.
At a press conference on Monday, Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister, said the extra defence force personnel would take over from 30 New Zealand soldiers deployed in May. It forms part of a wider measures to support Ukraine, including more than NZD$40m in financial support and the sanctioning of 840 people and entities.
Ardern said the deployment would enable two teams to train Ukrainian personnel in frontline combat including weapon handling, first aid and operational law.
The latest deployment brought the total number of personnel sent to support Ukraine in the war to 224 – comparable to partner nations like Denmark (130) and Sweden (120), Ardern said.
We know that one of the highest priorities for Ukraine right now, is to train its soldiers, and New Zealand is proud to stand in solidarity alongside a number of other countries to answer that call.”
Training will be conducted exclusively on UK soil until late November, and New Zealand troops will not enter Ukraine.
Ardern was pressed on whether she would take up President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s offer to visit Ukraine in person, but said she had no plans to do so.
A total of 42 countries have called on Russia to immediately withdraw military forces from Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, including the US, Japan and the UK, plus the EU. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned of a possible nuclear disaster unless fighting stops.
The statement called the deployment of Russian military personnel and weaponry at the nuclear facility unacceptable in that it “disregards the safety, security, and safeguards principles that all members of the IAEA have committed to respect”.
The presence of Russian military forces at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant prevents the operator and the Ukrainian authorities from fulfilling their nuclear and radiation safety obligations in accordance with international conventions and IAEA safety standards, and prevents the IAEA from fulfilling its safeguards mandate.
We urge the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its military forces and all other unauthorised personnel from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, its immediate surroundings, and all of Ukraine so that the operator and the Ukrainian authorities can resume their sovereign responsibilities within Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders and the legitimate operating staff can conduct their duties without outside interference, threat, or unacceptably harsh working conditions.”
Updated
Russian soldiers at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to be targeted: Zelenskiy
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said his forces will target Russian soldiers who shoot at or from Europe’s largest nuclear power station, amid warnings that the Kremlin may falsely claim Kyiv has directly hit the critical site.
Zelenskiy said anyone giving orders for attacks on the site or nearby towns and cities should face trial by an international court, as concern about the safety of the nuclear site remained high.
“Every Russian soldier who either shoots at the plant, or shoots using the plant as cover, must understand that he becomes a special target for our intelligence agents, for our special services, for our army,” Zelenskiy said in a video address.
He called for new sanctions against Russia that would “necessarily block the Russian nuclear industry”, and he argued that “absolutely all officials of the terrorist state, as well as those who help them in this blackmail operation with the nuclear power plant, must be tried by an international court”.
Russia to work with Taliban where it 'suits Moscow's interests'
The Russian ambassador in Kabul has said working with the Taliban is necessary where it is in the interests of Moscow.
The Taliban, no matter how you treat them, is a reality that cannot be avoided. Therefore, we must work with them where it suits our interests and where it is required to solve the tasks facing Russia,” Dmitry Zhirnov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Talks were set to begin in Moscow between a delegation of the Afghan ministry of industry and trade sent by the Taliban government and Russian partners, Zhirnov added.
Kabul also planned to discuss the supply of oil, grain, sunflower oil.
Посол России в Кабуле обозначил принципы работы с талибами*, отметив, что нужно работать с ними там, где это отвечает интересам Москвыhttps://t.co/MZMGOhDwoh pic.twitter.com/04CUy4XqMD
— РИА Новости (@rianru) August 15, 2022
Updated
Putin says Russia and North Korea will expand relations
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has said Russia and North Korea will expand bilateral relations, Pyongyang’s state news agency, the KCNA, reported on Monday. Putin told the North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-un, that the two countries would “expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts”, the KCNA reported on Monday.
In a letter to Kim for North Korea’s liberation day, Putin said closer ties would be in both countries’ interests, and would help strengthen the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and the north-eastern Asian region, the KCNA said.
Kim also reportedly sent a letter to Putin saying Russian-North Korean friendship had been forged in the second world war with victory over Japan. Their “strategic and tactical cooperation, support and solidarity” had since reached a new level in their common efforts to frustrate threats and provocations from hostile military forces, Kim said in the letter, as reported by Reuters. KCNA did not identify the hostile forces, but it has typically used that term to refer to the US and its allies.
Kim predicted cooperation between Russia and North Korea would grow based on an agreement signed in 2019 when he met with Putin.
North Korea in July recognised two Russian-occupied “people’s republics” in eastern Ukraine as independent states, and officials raised the prospect of North Korean workers being sent to the areas to help in construction and other labour.
Updated
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while. Whether you’ve been following our coverage overnight or you’ve just dropped in, here are the latest lines.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has said Russia and North Korea will expand bilateral relations, Pyongyang’s state media reported. The Russian ambassador in Kabul also said working with the Taliban was necessary where it is in the interests of Moscow.
Ukrainian forces reported heavy Russian shelling and attempts to advance on several towns in the eastern region of Donetsk, but said they had repelled many of the attacks.
It is 7.30am in Ukraine. Here is everything you might have missed:
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, says Russia and North Korea will expand bilateral relations, Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday. Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that the two countries would “expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts,” Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday. In a letter to Kim for North Korea’s liberation day, Putin said that closer ties would be in both countries’ interests, and would help strengthen the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and the north-eastern Asian region, North Korea’s KCNA news agency said.
The first UN ship to carry Ukrainian grain for Africa is ready to depart with 23,000 tonnes of wheat. The MV Brave Commander will head to Africa and “Ethiopia will be the last country where the 23,000-tonne cargo of wheat will be delivered”, said Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov. It will be the first shipment of food aid since Kyiv and Moscow agreed a deal brokered by the UN and Turkey in July to unblock Black Sea grain deliveries.
The first ship to depart Ukraine when grain exports resumed was approaching the Syrian port of Tartus on Sunday. The ship left Ukraine two weeks ago but cargo on the Razoni was refused by its original Lebanese buyer, two shipping sources told Reuters.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his forces will target Russian soldiers who shoot at or from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. “Every Russian soldier who either shoots at the plant, or shoots using the plant as cover, must understand that he becomes a special target for our intelligence agents, for our special services, for our army,” he said.
A total of 42 countries have called on Russia to immediately withdraw military forces from the plant, including the US, Japan and the UK, plus the EU. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned of a possible nuclear disaster unless fighting stops.
Zelenskiy has warned those with Russian citizenship against being complicit and silent in supporting Putin’s war on Ukraine. “People’s silence approaches the level of complicity. And the rejection of the real fight against evil becomes the assistance to it. Therefore, if you have Russian citizenship and you are silent, it means that you are not fighting, it means that you are supporting it,” he said in his latest national address.
Ukraine’s forces continued to strike at strategic bridges supplying Russian troops holding the city of Kherson, the only major site held by the invaders on the west bank of the Dnieper, including the Antonovsky road bridge and the crossing at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant upstream. Ukraine said Russian troops who crossed the Dnieper river during their offensive in the southern region were facing growing difficulties after bridges were damaged.
Russia says it has taken control of Udy, a village in the eastern Kharkiv region, according to its latest military briefing. The village has been under heavy shelling by Russian forces.
Russia’s priority over the past week has likely been to reorient units to strengthen its campaign in southern Ukraine, British military intelligence said on Sunday. The UK Ministry of Defence said Russia also appeared to be intensifying attacks on the eastern Donbas front, in what is likely to be an attempt to ensure Ukraine is not able to concentrate forces in the south against Kherson.
Saudi Arabia’s largely state-owned energy firm recorded one of the largest quarterly profits in history, highlighting the colossal profits made by gas and oil-rich nations during the energy crisis linked to the war in Ukraine. Saudi Aramco profits in the three months to the end of June were up 90% to $48bn (£40bn) to beat the near $26bn it made a year earlier. Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding invested in Russian energy groups Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil between 22 February and 22 March, it said on Twitter on Sunday.
Countries throughout Europe have called for the EU to limit or block short-term Schengen visas for Russian citizens. Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Finland and the Czech Republic all urged new restrictions. Poland is also considering restrictions for Russian tourist visas.
