Three killed in Russian strikes on Volyn; Russia raises interest rates to 12%

Three people were killed, several people were wounded and buildings were damaged in a large-scale air-attack on Ukraine’s western region of Lviv and the north-western region of Volyn. “Many missiles were shot down, but there were also hits in Lviv,” city mayor Andriy Sadovyi said, adding that orders were given to evacuate at least one burning apartment building. The barrage came just hours before top Russian military officials and their counterparts from allied countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa gathered outside Moscow for a security conference.

The Bank of Russia raised its key rate to 12% from 8.5%. The statement announcing the increase did not mention the rouble, which dropped to its lowest level in nearly 17 months on Monday. The Russian currency was boosted by the central bank’s move.

Russia fined social media site Reddit for the first time for not deleting “banned content” that it said contained “fake” information about Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, RIA reported, citing a Moscow court. Reddit joins a list of sites under scrutiny in Russia for failing to remove content that Moscow deems illegal, including Wikimedia, streaming service Twitch, and Google.

Three Bulgarian nationals suspected of spying for Russia while living in the UK have been arrested and charged, police have said. The defendants were among five people detained in February after a long-running counter-terrorism investigation. Three of those were then charged with possession of false identity documents, according to the Metropolitan police, which is responsible for espionage cases.

Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the president of Ukraine, said Russian athletes should be banned from participating in international competitions after Russian strikes destroyed a sports facility in Dnipro. Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian MP and the leader of the liberal Golos party, also said Ukraine will boycott the Olympic Games if Russia and Belarus participate in the competition.

Mali’s military leader Assimi Goita said on Tuesday that he had spoken on the phone to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, about the coup in Niger. Putin “stressed the importance of a peaceful resolution of the situation for a more stable Sahel,” Mali’s interim president, Assimi Goita, said on Twitter. The Kremlin said the call was initiated by Mali. The statement added: “The parties specifically focused on the current situation in the Sahara-Sahel region and emphasised, in particular, the importance of settling the situation in the Republic of Niger solely through peaceful political and diplomatic means.”

The US said that Russia would be violating UN resolutions if it reaches an arms deal with North Korea, after the two countries’ leaders called for greater cooperation. State department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters: “Any kind of security cooperation or arms deal between North Korea and Russia would certainly violate a series of UN security council resolutions.”

Sweden’s government said Tuesday that it would donate to Ukraine ammunition and spare parts for previously donated weapon systems worth over $300m (£240m). Speaking at press conference, defence minister Pal Jonson said the military aid package, Sweden’s 13th to Ukraine, would include ammunition and spare parts valued at about 3.4bn kronor ($313m/£250m).

The Ukrainian government is to build new fortifications and military infrastructure in northeast regions that border Russia and Belarus at a cost of nearly $35m, prime minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday.

Ukrainian president Zelenskiy visited the south-eastern region of Zaporizhzhia and met troops fighting in the counteroffensive against Russian forces, the president’s office said on Tuesday. Zelenskiy was shown in a video with senior Ukrainian soldiers examining a battlefield map at what the president’s office said was the frontline command point of the 46th separate airmobile brigade, near the town of Orikhiv.

Russia and North Korea on Tuesday advocated closer collaboration including in the defence sector. Moscow and Pyongyang have drawn closer since the Kremlin deployed troops to Ukraine and commenced large-scale hostilities last year, according to AFP.

The Ukrainian air force said it destroyed 16 out of the 28 cruise missiles launched by Russia overnight. This blog is now closed

Russia’s central bank has announced it will hold an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday to discuss the level of its key interest rate after the rouble fell to its weakest point in almost 17 months.

The currency has been steadily losing value since the beginning of the year and slid past the psychologically important level of 100 to the dollar on Monday morning.

Some are spending life savings to stay out of the war, but such actions are seen as treasonous by those already fighting

At the last military checkpoint before he exited Ukraine in April, a 39-year-old man from Odesa handed over papers showing he had a serious spinal injury, thus exempting him from military service and from the ban on adult men leaving the country.

“One of the soldiers said, ‘That hospital really likes this diagnosis, huh?’” recalled the man. “I could see they knew exactly what was going on, and it wasn’t the first time. But they were powerless to do anything, so waved me through,” he said.

Overnight attack on southern port city wounded three, according to local governor; currency falls to weakest point in almost 17 months

• What we know on day 537 of the invasion

Ukraine has condemned what it called “provocative” Russian actions, a day after a Russian warship fired warning shots at a cargo vessel in the Black Sea.

The ministry said in a statement:

The ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns the provocative actions carried out by the Russian Federation on August 13 in the Black Sea in relation to the Turkish dry cargo vessel ‘Sukru Okan,’ which was en route to the port of Izmail,

The Russian Navy grossly violated the UN Charter, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and other norms of international law. These actions exemplified Russia’s deliberate policy of endangering the freedom of navigation and safety of commercial shipping in the Black Sea.

Seven people, including a young baby, killed by Russian shelling in Kherson; Russian warship’s ‘warning shots’ at Black Sea cargo ship

Seven people including a 23-day-old girl were killed by Russian shelling in the Kherson region on Sunday, Ukraine’s internal affairs ministry said. An attack on the village of Shiroka Balka killed four members of the same family – including their young baby – and another resident. Two men were killed in the neighbouring village of Stanislav.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy promised justice for the attacks on Kherson. “There is no day when Russian evil does not receive our entirely just response,” said Ukraine’s president in his Sunday night video address, adding: “We will not leave any of Russia’s crimes unanswered.”

A Russian warship fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the south-western Black Sea, the first time Russia has fired on a merchant ship since exiting a UN-brokered grain deal last month. Russia said in a statement that its Vasily Bykov patrol ship fired automatic weapons on the Palau-flagged Sukru Okan vessel after the ship’s captain failed to respond to a request to halt for inspection.

Three civilians were injured in the Kursk region from shells coming over the Ukrainian border, the regional governor said. Roman Starovoit said Ukraine was behind the shelling, Ukraine did not claim responsibility and it was unclear where the shelling originated.

Ukrainian forces were trying to pierce Russian lines in the western parts of Donetsk region, a Russian-installed official said. Vladimir Rogov said there had been intense fighting south of Velyka Novosilka as Ukrainian troops tried to push down to the coast on the Sea of Azov. “The enemy managed to enter and gain a foothold in the northern part of Urozhaine after two weeks of the heaviest and bloodiest battles for this settlement,” Rogov said.

The governor of the Russian region of Belgorod blamed a Ukrainian drone for damage to an apartment building on Sunday, after Russia’s defence ministry said air defences shot down at least four Ukrainian drones close to the border. Russia’s defence ministry said air defences shot down another drone later on Sunday and there were no casualties.

Germany will deliver a Luna New Generation drone system to Ukraine, Bild am Sonntag has reported. The equipment will include a ground control station with several drones, a launch catapult and military trucks.

Authorities briefly halted traffic on the Russian-built Kerch Bridge connecting occupied Crimea with Russia – but did not provide a reason why. It came one day after Russian air defence reportedly thwarted three Ukrainian missile attacks.

Ukraine has become the most heavily mined country on Earth after a year and a half of Russian troops laying them down. Soldiers have been unearthing five mines for every square metre in some places, Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defence minister, told the Guardian.

Southern region has been the scene of intense fighting in recent weeks as Ukrainian forces counterattack

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Seven people including a 23-day-old baby girl were killed in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on Sunday, the country’s internal affairs ministry said.

Artillery shelling in the village of Shiroka Balka, on the banks of the Dnipro River, killed a family – a husband, wife, 12-year-old boy and the 23-day-old girl – and another resident.

Action marks first time Russia has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting grain deal

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

A Russian warship fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the south-western Black Sea on Sunday as it made its way northwards, the first time Russia has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting a landmark UN-brokered grain deal last month.

In July, Russia halted participation in the Black Sea grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export agricultural produce via the Black Sea. Moscow said that it deemed all ships heading to Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons.

Russian military targeted residential areas, factories and mobile communications towers, says regional governor

• What we know on day 536 of the invasion

Here’s video of Ukrainian border guards placing a new sign on Snake Island.

“The next border sign will be installed in our Ukrainian Crimea after its liberation by the defence forces of Ukraine,” a uniformed man said, standing before a post painted blue and yellow like the country’s flag, in a video shared on Facebook by the head of the border service, Serhiy Deineko.