Damage to a building in Lviv in western Ukraine from a Russian missile strike, August 15, 2023 (Reuters)

Monday’s Coverage: Russia Kills A Family in Kherson

Map: Institute for Study of War

UPDATE 1400 GMT:

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has visited troops on the southern front of Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Zelenskiy’s office said in a statement, “The President listened to reports by the commanders on the course of combat actions in frontline areas…and discussed the most problematic issues of their units together with the brigades and combatants.”

From the Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak:

UPDATE 1226 GMT:

In its 13th military aid package for Ukraine, Sweden has announced 3.4 billion kronor ($313 million) in ammunition and spare parts for CV-90 infantry fighting vehicles, Archer artillery systems, and Leopard 2 tanks.

Sweden is also sending mine-clearing equipment and ammunition for air defense systems.

UPDATE 1110 GMT:

The Russian Defense Ministry has released video of its naval personnel firing upon and boarding the Palau-flagged cargo ship Sukru Okan in the southwestern Black Sea on Sunday.

The interception was the first since Vladimir Putin ripped up the July 2022 deal which had lifted Russia’s blockade of three Ukrainian Black Sea ports and shipments of grains, foodstuff, and other essential goods.

In the video, crew memberes are kneeling on deck with their hands on their head as a Russian Ka-29 helicopter approaches. Russian servicemen with automatic weapons check the ship and enter the bridge.

Ukrainian open-source intelligence monitor InformNapalm claimed on Monday that the Russian Defense Ministry had lied about the interception: “Sukra Okan did not comply with the demand to stop, but temporarily changed its course in the direction of Turkish territorial waters.”

UPDATE 1026 GMT:

UK authorities have arrested three Bulgarian nationals suspected of spying for Russia.

The suspects were held in February under the Official Secrets Act by counter=terrorism detectives in London’s Metropolitan Police.

UPDATE 1021 GMT:

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has updated on this morning’s Russian missile strikes, “Civilian objects in eight regions were damaged. Among them: residential buildings, educational institutions, a hospital.”

A sports complex was destroyed in Dnipro in south-central Ukraine.

More images from Lutsk and Lviv in western Ukraine, where three were killed and dozens wounded:

UPDATE 0832 GMT:

Trying to stem the sharp decline of the rouble and to check inflation, the Central Bank of Russia has raised its key interest rate to 12% from 8.5%.

Acting after an emergency meeting, the Bank cited a rise in the official annual rate of inflation to 4.4% with “price growth” expected to continue to increase.

It did not directly mention the 25% fall of the rouble this year, but mentioned “exchange rate dynamics through elevated demand for imports”.

The rouble has fallen amid a halving of Russian oil revenues have halved and the sharp increase in military spending straining the economy.

It broke 100:1 v. the US dollar on Sunday and fell to 101:1 on Monday morning. With the news of the Bank’s action, it stood at 98.2:1 just after noon, Moscow time.

UPDATE 0752 GMT:

Increasingly isolated over his invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is looking to North Korea for more help.

Putin sent a congratulatory message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the country’s National Liberation Day.

I am sure that we will continue to build up bilateral cooperation in all areas for the benefit of our peoples, in the interests of strengthening stability and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the Northeast Asian region as a whole.

Last month Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu visited Pyongyang and met his North Korean counterpart Kang Sun Nam.

US officials said they believed Shoygu’s trip was to secure supplies of weapons for frontlines in Ukraine.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: At least three people have been killed and scores wounded in Russian airstrikes on west and northwest Ukraine early Tuesday.

The fatalities were in Lutsk in the Volyn region, bordering Poland, where a business was struck.

No casualties are reported so far in the Lviv region in western Ukraine. More than 100 residential houses were damaged, 500 windows broken, and a kindergarten playground destroyed.

Far from the frontlines, the regions in the west have been periodically attacked with drones and missiles. In July, seven people were killed in Lviv when a missile slammed into a residential building.

However, Tuesday’s assault on Lviv is the largest during Vladimir Putin’s 18-month invasion, according to Ukrainian officials.

The Ukraine Air Force said its forces downed 16 of at least 28 Russia-launched air and sea-based missiles. The relatively low rate indicates that the Russians used KH-47 Kinzhal sea-launched missiles, which are more difficult to intercept.