Wednesday, August 16

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A crater from a missile explosion remains in the yard of an apartment building on Kakhovska Street on August 15, 2023 in Lviv, Ukraine. Russia launched missiles at Lviv as part of a massive overnight attack. (Photo by Mykola Tys/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Russia launches mass missile strike on Ukraine, killing 3 people. Early in the morning of Aug. 15, Russia carried out a mass missile strike against Ukraine, which killed three people and injured at least nine, according to regional authorities.

Media: Western official suggests Ukraine could exchange territory for NATO membership. Stian Jenssen, the NATO secretary general’s chief of staff, has proposed that Ukraine cede part of its territory to Russia in exchange for NATO membership in order to end the war, the Norwegian newspaper VG reported on Aug. 15.

Commander: Russia tries to conduct cross-border raid in Chernihiv Oblast. Ukrainian forces prevented two Russian sabotage groups from crossing the state border into Chernihiv Oblast, the Joint Forces Commander Serhii Naiev reported on Aug. 15.

General Staff: Ukrainian forces make further gains in Urozhaine, Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian troops made further gains in the area of Donetsk Oblast’s Urozhaine, entrenching the regained positions, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces wrote on Aug. 15.

General Staff: Russia fails to regain lost positions near Urozhaine. The Russian military has unsuccessfully tried to regain lost positions near Urozhaine in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces reported on Aug.

Your contribution helps keep the Kyiv Independent going. Become a member today.

CNN: Ukraine takes credit for striking Crimean Bridge with sea drone in July. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) claimed responsibility for the July 17 attack on the Crimean Bridge and said they used an experimental sea drone in the operation, CNN reported on Aug. 15.

Media: Wagner’s recruitment attempts recorded in Latvia. Latvia’s State Security Service found direct and indirect invitations to join the Russian mercenary group Wagner on the internet, media outlet Delfi reported on Aug. 15.

Russian Central Bank hikes interest rates to prop up falling ruble. Russia’s Central Bank hiked its key interest rate by 350 basis points to 12% on Aug. 15 in an attempt to halt the sharp decline of the ruble.

National Resistance Center: Russia preparing provocation at Kursk nuclear power station. Russia is preparing to stage a provocation at its Kursk Nuclear Power Plant involving the evacuation of some of the local population, Ukraine’s National Resistance Center reported on Aug. 15.

Defense Ministry: Russian forces in east regroup, decrease frequency of attacks. The number of Russian attacks along the eastern front line has decreased as Russia seeks to regroup and restore its forces, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Aug. 15.

Read our exclusives

Pro-Russian sympathies make life harder for soldiers, cops in Kupiansk district

How do you defend a town where some civilians are out to get you? Ukrainian forces in Kupiansk district are wrestling with this question regularly.

Photo: Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Ukraine war latest: Russia launches mass attack on Ukraine, attempts cross-border raid in northern region

Russia’s missile attack on Aug. 15 killed three people, injured 27, and damaged civilian facilities in eight regions, according to the authorities.

Photo: Maksym Kozytskyi / Telegram

Opinions and insights

Andreas Umland: Why no-fly zones over Ukraine are necessary

“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has increasing repercussions beyond Eastern Europe – political, economic, social, legal, and humanitarian. Against this background, it is worth revisiting the full-scale war’s earliest and most urgent Ukrainian request for direct Western military support,” Umland writes.

Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Swedish firm says Russian missile hit its factory in Lutsk, killing 3 workers. The Swedish company SKF confirmed that its factory in Lutsk was damaged in the mass missile strike on Aug. 15 and that the three people killed were its workers. The company is a major global manufacturer of mechanical bearings and seals and employs 1,100 people in Ukraine.

Russian strikes against Kherson, Donetsk oblasts kill 2, injure 6. Russian strikes against Kherson and Donetsk oblasts on Aug. 15 killed two residents and injured six more, local officials reported.

Governor: Attack on Lviv Oblast wounds 19, damages 40 buildings. The number of wounded in Lviv Oblast as a result of the Russian missile strike in the early hours of Aug. 15 has risen to 19, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi reported at 2:40 p.m. local time.

General Staff: Russia has lost 254,920 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022.

Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Aug. 15 that Russia had also lost 4,313 tanks, 8,370 armored fighting vehicles, 7,584 vehicles and fuel tanks, 5,128 artillery systems, 714 multiple launch rocket systems, 482 air defense systems, 315 airplanes, 314 helicopters, 4,242 drones, and 18 boats.

International response

Minister: Sweden preparing new defense aid package for Ukraine. The Swedish government has proposed a new military aid package for Ukraine worth 3.4 billion Swedish Krona ($314 million), Defense Minister Pål Jonson said on Aug. 15, cited by national broadcaster SVT.

US cautions Russia on North Korea military ties. Military cooperation between Russia and North Korea would violate UN resolutions aimed at restricting North Korea’s nuclear program, US State Department official Vedant Patel said at an Aug.15 press briefing.

Czech Republic freezes around €350M of sanctioned Russian assets. The Czech Republic froze €347.36 million of Russian sanctioned assets, the Czech Ambassador to Ukraine Radek Matula announced on Aug. 15 during a meeting with the head of Ukraine’s Agency for Search and Asset Management (ARMA).

North Macedonia joins G7 declaration on Ukraine’s security guarantees. North Macedonia has become the 15th country to formally join the G7 security guarantees declaration, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on Telegram on Aug.15.

Latvian Railways proposes exporting Ukrainian grain via Baltic ports. Ukraine could export up to 1 million tons of grain per year through Latvia’s ports on the Baltic Sea, Rinalds Plavnieks, the CEO of state-owned Latvian Railways, said on Aug. 15.

Want to get the news faster? Follow our website: kyivindependent.com.

Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Dinara Khalilova, Toma Istomina, Lili Bivings, Elsa Court, Oleg Sukhov, Martin Fornusek, Rachel Amran, Daria Bevziuk, and Abbey Fenbert.

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider joining our membership program. Start supporting independent journalism today.