Kyiv to fortify borders with Russia and Belarus as Putin’s forces unleash missile barrage

A big group of Russian military drones entered the mouth of the Danube River and headed towards the Izmail river port close to the border with Romania, the Ukrainian armed forces mentioned right this moment.

Social media teams reported listening to air defence programs firing within the space close to two Danube ports – Izmail and Reni.

The governor of the southern Odesa area, Oleh Kiper, requested residents of Izmail district to take shelter at round 1.30am (native time) and cancelled the air raid alert one hour later.

The Danube port accounted for round 1 / 4 of grain exports earlier than Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal to offer protected passage for the export of Ukrainian grain by way of the Black Sea.

Russia has launched its largest aerial assault on areas bordering Nato in western Ukraine for the reason that starting of its invasion almost 18 months in the past.

Russian air strikes hit two western areas of Ukraine bordering Poland – a Nato member – and different areas yesterday, killing three folks in a manufacturing unit and wounding greater than a dozen, in response to officers.

The deaths have been reported within the northwestern area of Volyn. Officials mentioned an industrial enterprise within the regional capital Lutsk was struck within the in a single day assault. Several folks additionally wanted hospital therapy, governor Yuriy Pohulyaiko mentioned.

Swedish industrial bearings maker SKF mentioned its manufacturing unit in Lutsk was hit by a missile in a single day, killing three workers. Footage launched by Ukraine’s state emergency service confirmed rescuers pulling a person from the rubble.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday visited troops near the frontline in jap Ukraine, together with his army reporting good points across the city of Bakhmut.

The deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, mentioned that Kyiv’s troops had managed to retake almost 2 sq. miles through the previous week across the ruined Bakhmut – the scene of a number of the bloodiest preventing of Russia’s close to 18-month conflict, which has gained symbolic significance for each nations.

Mr Zelensky visited brigades concerned in assaults on the part of the frontline going through Soledar, the Russian-held city north of Bakhmut.

Western strain on Ukraine’s counteroffensive to realize a “Hollywood”-style breakthrough in opposition to Russia’s forces is “unrealistic” and Kyiv’s allies should be ready for the conflict to “drag on far longer” than they imagined, specialists have mentioned.

Facing closely fortified Russian defences, together with huge minefields and heavy shelling throughout its summer time counteroffensive, Ukraine has been pressured to broaden its focus away from the entrance traces

With rains anticipated to muddy the battlefield in areas of the south and east of the nation – together with Zaporizhzhia – as quickly as September, the “odds are getting longer” on the “triumphant breakthrough” many within the West have been hoping for, analysts have advised The Independent.

Fifteen folks have been additionally wounded within the Lviv area, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi mentioned, as Russian strikes hit western Ukraine.

Six missiles broken dozens of buildings and a kindergarten playground in and across the regional capital. Kozytskyi mentioned the youngest sufferer was 10 years-old.

Both Volyn and Lviv border Poland and are lots of of miles from the entrance line, the place Ukraine‘s military is fending off Russian troops in the nearly 18-month-old war.

“The children are very scared. They were hysterical, they were shaking. One of them even vomited from fear,” said Lviv resident Dmytro Ivaschyshyn outside an apartment block as firemen dug through debris. “Thank God we are all alive.”

National grid operator Ukrenergo said power lines in the region were also damaged but that electricity was being restored to those affected.

“These are the parts of the country where millions of people are seeking safety and refuge after fleeing the horrors of Russia‘s invasion,” Denise Brown, the United Nations resident coordinator in Ukraine, said in a statement condemning the attacks.

“Russia‘s persistent attacks hitting essential infrastructure in populated areas cause immense human suffering.”

At least two people were also wounded in the southeastern city of Dnipro, where Governor Serhiy Lysak said a business enterprise and a sports complex had been hit.

Russian air strikes hit two western regions of Ukraine bordering NATO member Poland and other areas on Tuesday, killing three people in a factory and wounding more than a dozen, Ukrainian officials said.

Local media said the attacks were the largest air assault on the Lviv region since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

The fatalities were reported in the northwestern region of Volyn. Officials said an industrial enterprise in the regional capital Lutsk was struck in the overnight attack. Several people were also hospitalised, Governor Yuriy Pohulyaiko said.

Swedish industrial bearings maker SKF said its factory in Lutsk was hit by a missile overnight, killing three employees.

Footage released by Ukraine‘s state emergency service showed rescuers pulling a man from the rubble. Reuters was able to confirm the location as the SKF factory.

Neighbours have revealed the suburban lives of suspected Russian spies who lived subsequent door to a police officer for years.

Bulgarian nationals Orlin Roussev, 45, Biser Dzhambazov, 42, and Katrin Ivanova, 31, have been arrested in February as a part of a serious police sting however earlier than that appeared to have held down bizarre jobs.

The trio have been charged with possessing false passports and ID playing cards and different paperwork “with improper intention” after counterterrorism police swooped on houses in Harrow and Great Yarmouth.

A former FBI agent admitted to working for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska whereas he was below U.S. sanctions and pleaded responsible to 1 depend of conspiracy in a New York courtroom on Tuesday, in change for prosecutors dropping different expenses.

Prosecutors in January mentioned Charles McGonigal, who led the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York earlier than retiring in 2018, acquired hid funds from Deripaska in change for investigating a rival businessman and unsuccessfully pushed in 2019 to have Deripaska’s sanctions lifted.

At the time, McGonigal pleaded not responsible to 4 legal counts together with sanctions violations and cash laundering.

McGonigal, 55, mentioned in federal courtroom in Manhattan on Tuesday that he labored for Deripaska between spring and autumn of 2021 to seek out adverse data on Vladimir Potanin in an try to have the Deripaska rival placed on the U.S. sanctions record.

The former FBI agent acquired $17,500 for that work, which was routed from Russia by way of accounts in Cyprus and New Jersey in an try to masks the supply of the funds, he mentioned.

McGonigal advised the courtroom he was “deeply remorseful” for his actions. His lawyer Seth DuCharme advised reporters after the listening to that his shopper was handled pretty.

A kindergarten and a residential constructing have been broken because of the in a single day missile assault in Ukraine’s western metropolis of Lviv.

The multi-story residential constructing caught fireplace because of the falling missile particles early Tuesday morning (15 August) in response to regional governor Maxim Kozytskyi.

Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi mentioned one of many strikes hit the yard of a neighborhood nursery, injuring 4 folks.

“Two hours ago, this place was a children’s pavilion of our kindergarten. A missile directly hit the pavilion, creating a crater that is nine meters deep and 20 meters wide,” he claimed, in a video message from the positioning.

Poland is deploying hundreds of troops to its border with Belarus, calling it a deterrent transfer as tensions between the 2 neighbors ratchet up.

Those tensions between Poland — a NATO and European Union nation — and Belarus, which is Russia’s ally in its conflict on Ukraine, have been increase in current months on the border. Here is why:

Poland has been backing the Belarusian opposition ever for the reason that 2020 presidential elections, the place pro-Russian Belarusian chief Alexander Lukashenko received a sixth time period in a vote that Poland and the broader Western group noticed as rigged.

In 2021, Belarus started organising and pushing hundreds of migrants from the Middle East and Africa throughout the border into Poland.