August 15, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Ukrainian officials are slamming comments made by Stian Jenssen, the director of the Private Office of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General, who said in published remarks that ceding territory to Russia could be a way for Kyiv to achieve peace and join the military alliance. 

Jenssen, who has been in his current NATO role since 2017, made his comments in an interview with the Norwegian newspaper, Verdens Gang.

Oleg Nikolenko, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, also criticized the remarks.

Nikolenko added that the "conscious or unconscious involvement of NATO officials in shaping the narrative" surrounding Ukraine potentially ceding territories "plays into Russia's hands." Rather, he said, "It is in the interests of Euro-Atlantic security to discuss ways to accelerate Ukraine's victory and its full membership in NATO."

The Ukrainian government has allocated over 1.2 billion in Ukranian hryvnias (UAH), which is about around $32 million, to build up fortifications in the northeastern regions of the country, prime minister Denys Shmyhal announced Tuesday.

“At the request of the Kharkiv and Chernihiv regional military administrations, more than UAH 1.2 billion has been allocated from the state budget reserve fund,” the government announcement read.

The Kharkiv region will get UAH 911.5 million (which is about $24.69 million), while the Chernihiv region will receive more than UAH 363 million (or about $9.83 million), the announcement added. “These are funds for the construction of military engineering and fortification structures," the statement read.

The head of the Kharkiv region military administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said he was grateful for the support of the government in Kyiv.

The Russian missiles fired on Ukraine overnight were built using foreign chips, according to Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

“Restrictions have already been put in place, but sanctions need to be strengthened to prevent Russia from obtaining critical components and manufacturing missiles,” he added.

Some background: Ukraine has repeatedly called for stronger western sanctions against Russia, arguing that despite the existing tough sanctions imposed by the US, NATO and the EU, Russia is still able to procure components for the weapons it is using in Ukraine.

Russia launched a barrage of missile strikes at Lviv in western Ukraine and other regions far from the front lines, officials said, leaving at least three dead.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited his country’s troops taking part in Kyiv’s counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.

“During a working trip to Zaporizhzhia region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the positions of the brigades engaged in offensive operations in the Melitopol sector,” his office said.

Zelensky met with the commander of the Tavria operational and strategic group of troops, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, as well as with several units, including the 3rd Operational Brigade.

Zelensky received reports from commanders on the status of the offensive and discussed the needs and issues faced by each brigade, his office said.

“In particular, the military emphasized the need for means of electronic warfare and frontline air defense systems to counter enemy aircraft and UAVs,” according to the statement. “There is also a need for unmanned aerial vehicles, as they are quickly consumed in offensive operations.”

Zelensky and commanders also "discussed the issues of professional selection of people, providing brigades with special equipment and machinery, and the need for armored evacuation vehicles," the president’s office added.

Sweden announced another military support package for Ukraine, worth about $315 million, the country’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement Tuesday. 

Transport vehicles, contingency goods and mine clearance equipment, which can be spared for a limited time amounting to a value of just under $200 million, will also be included in this new package according to the ministry.

This is Sweden’s 13th support package.

Russia's missile strikes in Ukraine's western Lviv region overnight wounded at least 19 people, including a 10-year-old child, and extensively damaged civilian infrastructure.

The attacks — which happen in the west less often than on the front lines in the east and south — also resulted in the hospitalization of five people, according to the head of the Lviv regional military administration.

Kyiv's air defenses shot down one of the Russian cruise missiles launched at the western region, Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on Telegram on Tuesday. Six other missiles were not intercepted.

“Russians attacked our region with cruise missiles between 5:20 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. (10:20 p.m and 10:30 p.m. ET),” Kozytskyi said. “Fortunately, no one was killed in this missile attack.”

The youngest civilian to sustain an injury was aged 10, while the oldest was 72 years old, Kozytskyi continued.

“Most of the victims had scratches and cuts due to broken windows and bruises,” Kozytskyi said, adding that around 40 houses were damaged. 

The strikes come as Poland holds its largest military parade in decades, in a flex of defensive muscle that comes as tensions rise on the border between the NATO nation and key Russian ally Belarus.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, at least three people died as a result of additional Russian strikes in the northwest and central parts of the country. The Russian Ministry of Defense said Moscow targeted Kyiv’s military industry.

The Russian defense ministry did not comment when asked if strikes may have targeted residential areas. Russian forces have consistently denied targeting civilian infrastructure, despite evidence to the contrary. 

CNN's Uliana Pavlova contributed reporting to this post.

Ukraine has strengthened its positions east of Kharkiv, along the Lyman-Kupiansk axis, according to Serhii Cherevatyi, deputy commander for strategic communications of the eastern military grouping.

“The Lyman-Kupiansk axis was under the special control of the commander (Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, who is also in command of the grouping of forces in the east, which encompasses Bakhmut, Lyman, Kupiansk). He personally traveled to all the key brigades that ensured a steady defense there,” Cherevatyi said on Ukrainian national TV.

“Everything was done to make it impossible for the enemy to advance,” he added. 

Some context: Russian forces had recently tried to push through Ukrainian defenses in the area, with limited gains. 

Last week, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for Kupiansk and its surrounding areas, as Russia intensified shelling of Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region.

The governor of Russia’s Bryansk region, Aleksandr Bogomaz, says Moscow’s forces prevented a cross-border incursion by Ukrainian forces.

CNN could not independently verify Bogomaz’s claims and Ukrainian officials have not commented on the alleged incident.

Some context: The Bryansk region shares a border to its south with Ukraine, and to its west with Belarus, the close Russian ally nation that helped facilitate Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

The area has been previously targeted in cross border raids.

Last month, a Ukrainian drone hit the Department of Internal Affairs in Bryansk leading to the destruction of the building's roof and windows, Bogomaz said in a Telegram post, before adding there were no casualties.

Two people were wounded after shelling in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka in the southern Russian region of Belgorod, the local governor said on Tuesday.

“Three artillery mines exploded near a private residential building in which restoration work was underway. There are two victims," Vyacheslav Gladkov posted on Telegram.

One man is in a "serious condition" in hospital after he sustained shrapnel wounds in his chest and spine, Gladkov said. Another woman was taken to another hospital with shrapnel injuries.

Russian towns bordering Ukraine have recently seen a significant uptick in the number of shelling and attempted drone attacks, bringing hostilities to its territory.