On the 173rd day of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops continue their attempts to capture the neighboring country’s settlements. Ukraine’s armed forces and territorial defense units resist aggression. It is impossible to verify the statements of representatives of both sides of the conflict from independent sources. According to the UN, about 14 million Ukrainians have already left their homes. DW continues to monitor developments on Monday, August 15 (Moscow time).

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Kharkov again came under artillery fire, said the city’s mayor Igor Terekhov. “Now the Kyiv district. I ask everyone to be careful, respect the two-wall rules,” said the mayor. Terekhov said nothing about the consequences of the attacks.

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Since the beginning of the war in Slovakia More than 700,000 Ukrainian residents have entered, according to data from the Slovak Ministry of Internal Affairs, published by the state news agency TASR. At the same time, on 15 August, the Slovak authorities counted around 500,000 returnees who had crossed the Slovak-Ukrainian border to the east.

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RF is getting ready for Massive missile attack in Ukraine of the “Zyabrovka” airfield in Belarus, reports the Telegram monitoring channel “Belarusian Gayun”. According to him, the Russians transferred from 10 to 14 S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, up to 60 missiles for them, as well as many other heavy weapons, to Zyabrovka. The preparation of the attack “is also evidenced by the fact that since the last massive bombing – on July 28 – not a single rocket has been fired from the Belarusian territory of Ukraine”, observers noted.

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In the self-proclaimed “DPR” the charges were announced even five foreign prisoners of war who fought in the “International Legion” on the Ukrainian side. Three of them – Matis Gustafsson of Sweden, Vekoslav Prebeg of Croatia and John Harding of the UK – are called mercenaries and are accused of “participating in hostilities and training for the violent seizure of power”. They face the death penalty. In addition, the British Andrew Hill is accused of participating in hostilities and Dylan Healy of recruiting mercenaries. Hill faces up to seven years in prison. Healy – up to eight years. It is reported that all five will be tried by the “supreme court” of the “DPR”.

UN to support IAEA mission to Zaporozhye nuclear power plant

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The United Nations stands ready to support the dispatch of any International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plantif Russia and Ukraine agree to such a mission. This is stated in a statement by the representative of the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric. Furthermore, Dujarric objected to Russian officials who accused the UN Secretariat of obstructing the visit of IAEA representatives to the ZNPP, emphasizing that the Secretariat does not have the authority to block or cancel IAEA activities.

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Swedish company IKEA completed the online sale announced in connection with its departure from Russia. “Shopping cart, shopping list and personal account on the site are not available,” reads the main page of the Russian IKEA website. All company stores are closed, they will only work for issuing completed orders, as well as returning and exchanging goods.

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German network of construction hypermarkets OBI sold all its 27 Russian stores for 600 rubles. This figure was confirmed in an interview with the Russian edition of Forbes magazine by the new owner of the OBI business in the Russian Federation, Josef Liokumovich, who owns 60% of the company. “You can’t say that this business came to nothing. Now circumstances have arisen that have changed a lot. We need to invest a lot in this business, put things in order. This is an economically healthy, wonderful company, but it needs 2.5 billion rubles”, said Liokumovich. According to him, the new owners settled the debt with the parent company – OBI GmbH – for more than 30 million euros.

Latvia sent helicopters to Ukraine

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Latvia delivered four helicopters to Ukraine – two Mi-17s and two Mi-2s, said the Ministry of Defense in Riga. According to him, Latvia has already provided Ukraine with weapons and other military assistance worth more than 200 million euros. The head of the ministry, Artis Pabriks, called on Western countries to step up military assistance to Kyiv.

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The issue of visas for Russians entering the European Union “must be discussed”, moreover, at the level of individual EU states “there is room for discussion”. This was stated by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, commenting on proposals to ban the issuance of visas to citizens of the Russian Federation. At the same time, he recalled that many refugees were forced to leave Russia. “It’s important for us to understand that many people are fleeing Russia because they don’t agree with the Russian regime. Every decision we make must not complicate the escape from Russian authorities and the dictatorship,” Scholz said, according to Reuters. “This is Putin’s war, not the Russian people’s,” stressed the chancellor.

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Three people died as a result of a mine explosion on the beach in the urban-type settlement of Zatoka, near Odessa., said the spokesman for the Regional Military Administration of Odessa Sergei Bratchuk. Two more people were hospitalized with injuries. Bratchuk recalled that in the Odessa region it is forbidden to go to the beaches and coast, as well as to swim in the sea.

The explosion occurred the day before, authorities the same day reported two dead, the body of another person was found on August 15 using a quadrocopter. The local department of the National Police specified that men aged 25, 32 and 53 from the Chernihiv, Zaporozhye and Zhytomyr regions were killed.