By Kathleen Magramo, Sana Noor Haq, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Aditi Sangal, Mike Hayes, Elise Hammond and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN
From CNN's Josh Pennington
At least six people, including a 6-year-old-boy, have been injured as a result of Ukrainian shelling in Russian-occupied areas of the Donetsk region, the head of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said Monday.
Pushilin said the boy was injured in a village in the south of the region, while the rest of the others were injured in eastern parts of the city of Donetsk.
He also said there was damage to infrastructure.
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler and Victoria Butenko
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new package of security assistance for Ukraine, including air defense munitions, artillery rounds, anti-armor capabilities, and additional mine-clearing equipment.
The package is worth $200 million, and comes from “previously authorized Presidential Drawdown Authority” — money that remained after the Defense Department’s accounting error.
“Russia started this war and could end it at any time by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine and stopping its brutal attacks. Until it does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine, for as long as it takes,” Blinken said in a statement Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US and President Joe Biden on Monday for the latest package of security assistance for Ukraine.
"Air defense missiles, artillery ammo, mine clearing systems, and anti-tank weapons will add strength to our Defense Forces. Another step toward our joint victory," Zelensky tweeted.
From Jennifer Hansler
US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich at Lefortovo Prison in Moscow on Monday, the spokesperson for the US Embassy told CNN.
The US State Department officially designated Gershkovich as wrongfully detained by Russia in early April.
"Ambassador Tracy reported that Evan continues to appear in good health and remains strong, despite the circumstances," spokesperson Jenny Palmer said.
From CNN’s Eve Brennan and Radina Gigova in London
British Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon jets were launched to intercept two Russian long-range maritime patrol bombers as they transited north of Scotland within NATO’s northern air policing area on Monday morning, the UK Ministry of Defense said in a press release.
A Voyager tanker was also scrambled "and remained airborne for the duration of the mission to offer air-to-air refueling, ensuring the Typhoons could remain in the air for the extended period necessary to complete their mission," the ministry said.
“Pilots launched in their Typhoon jets to intercept two Russian long-range bombers this morning, monitoring them as they passed north of the Shetland Islands, ready to counter any potential threat to UK territory," Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey said.
The Russian Tu-142 Bear-F and Tu-142 Bear-J maritime patrol aircraft, used for reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare, were monitored by RAF Typhoons in international airspace as they passed north of the UK, according to the ministry.
The ministry went on to say that Russian military aircraft entering the UK Flight Information Region, the UK’s controlled zone of international airspace, can pose a hazard to other aircraft as these Russian aircraft often do not talk to air traffic control or ‘squawk’ (broadcasting a code ensuring they are visible to other air users and air traffic controllers on the ground).
The Typhoons and Voyager have returned to their base, the ministry said, adding that the aircraft has been refueled to remain ready to respond to any future potential threats.
From CNN's Katharina Krebs and Radina Gigova in London
Russia is open to military cooperation with other countries, including taking part in joint military training and exercises, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday.
"We propose to develop cooperation in a variety of areas, including in personnel training, in training foreign military personnel and improving their qualifications, in conducting joint command-staff and other exercises. And we expect that, as before, important agreements and export contracts will be signed on the sidelines of the forum," Putin said in a video greeting to the participants of the Army-2023 forum near Moscow.
Russia is "open to deepening" equal technological partnerships and military-technical cooperation with other countries "who defend their national interests, their independent path of development and consider it fundamentally important to build together an equal indivisible security system that would reliably protect each state," Putin added.
"We are also pleased that more and more foreign defense companies are joining the forum," Putin said. "Last year, 32 foreign participants exhibited their products here. This year, their number has grown to 82."
The annual International Military-Technical Forum is a platform where prominent Russian military companies present their products. About 1,500 leading Russian defense enterprises are taking part in this year's forum exhibition and business programs. They will be discussing projects with the Russian Defense Ministry as well as cooperation with other countries, according to state news agency TASS.
About 80 foreign companies and organizations from seven countries plan to participate in the forum, which is organized by the Russian Defense Ministry, according to TASS. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is also attending the forum.
From CNN’s Uliana Pavlova
Russia deployed a MiG-29 jet after it detected a Norweigan air force plane near its air space over the Barents Sea, the defense ministry said Monday.
The plane turned back after the jet approached, the ministry said.
"On August 14, 2023, Russian airspace control detected an air target approaching the state border of the Russian Federation over the waters of the Barents Sea. To identify an air target and prevent violation of the state border of the Russian Federation, a MiG-29 fighter was sent into the air,” the ministry said in a statement.
"As a Russian fighter aircraft approached, the foreign military aircraft made a U-turn from the state border of the Russian Federation. Violation of the state border of the Russian Federation was not allowed," the statement added.
From CNN's Svitlana Vlasova and Lauren Kent
The Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar said Monday that Russia is continuing its offensive in the east and intensifying its activity near Kupiansk and Lyman.
"Currently, there is a certain decrease in the number of attacks and ammunition used by the enemy in the east, but this does not mean that the enemy has retreated from its plans," Maliar said in a Telegram post. The enemy is currently regrouping and trying to restore the lost capabilities. The fighting continues."
"Our defenders managed to prevent the enemy's advance and significantly reduced its offensive potential," she said.
Heavy fighting also continues near Bakhmut, Maliar said, adding that Russian forces are attempting to regain lost ground in the areas west of Klishchiivka, west of Andriivka and Kurdyumivka. Ukraine has managed to liberate three more square kilometers in the Bakhmut area, bringing the total area recaptured to 40 square kilometers, she said.
In the south, Ukrainian Defense Forces are conducting offensive operations in the areas of Melitopol and Berdiansk, according to Maliar.
"In the direction of Urozhaine, south and southeast of Staromayorsk in Donetsk region, they [Ukrainian forces] have succeeded and are consolidating the achieved positions," Maliar added. "In the course of the offensive, the Ukrainian defense forces in the Tavria sector continue to liberate Urozhaine."
Kyiv has pushed back on criticism that its troops are not advancing fast enough, saying that it is focused on destroying Russia's capabilities and disrupting its logistics.
"The task of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is not to organize large-scale battles for every settlement on the way to the 1991 borders, but to systematically destroy the capabilities of the enemy army: its logistics, technical potential, officers and personnel. And today, Ukrainian defenders are coping with this task one hundred percent," said Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office.
"Long-range missiles for Ukraine now mean a sharp reduction in Russia's combat capabilities. This is the active destruction of Russia's reserves and resources on the far outskirts," Podolyak said in a Monday post on the social media platform “X.”
"This is the destruction of rear logistics — warehouses, transportation, fuel. It is the acceleration of Ukrainian offensive operations. It is about saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, minimizing losses... And most importantly, it is about de-escalation," he added.
From CNN's Gül Tüysüz in Kyiv and Lauren Kent in London
An official of the Turkish shipping company that owns the cargo ship Sukru Okan spoke to CNN about the crew's experience of Russians firing warning shots and boarding the vessel on Sunday, noting that the cargo ship is now in Romanian waters and waiting to move to the Ukrainian port of Izmail.
Russia said the warship fired warning shots when the captain of the Palau-flagged ship failed to respond to a request to stop for an inspection.
The general dry cargo ship was empty at the time of the incident and was on the way to pick up grain from Danube ports to carry to European and Turkish ports, in what was a "routine" journey, according to the official of the shipping company.
The official said that it is routine for the ship to go to the Romanian port of Sulina first before carrying on to Ukraine's Izmail port, but also said that at some point overnight, a crew member logged the Sukru Okan's destination as Izmail.
The Danube grain corridor is separate from the Black Sea grain corridor that was once protected by the now-defunct UN-brokered grain deal.
Here's how it played out, according to the shipping company official: The Sukru Okan's 12-person Turkish crew was radioed by the Russian warship Sunday as it was en route to Izmail, at which point the vessel tried to turn back to Turkish waters in order to get in touch with the country's Coast Guard and other officials.
Shortly after, the Russian warship fired warning shots at the cargo ship and began following it, according to the shipping company official who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity.
A helicopter then took off from the Russian warship and more warning shots were fired. The crew waited, and Russian servicemen boarded the ship. A video captured by the Sukru Okan crew showed several crew members sitting on the ship deck as a Russian helicopter hovered over them.
Russian soldiers questioned the captain about why he did not stop the vessel, and he told them he was in international waters, adding that "in order to notify officials, we turned our direction.”
The Russian soldiers then searched the cabins of the ship with the captain for about an hour, and also looked through the documents and passports of all the crew members, according to the official of the shipping company, who was not on board at the time of the incident.
The company official told CNN he believes the Russians were pleased that everyone on board was Turkish, adding that once the Russians were onboard they didn’t make any threats or take negative actions against the crew.
The Russian soldiers did make the captain of the Sukru Okan sign a document in Russian, which the shipping company official believes was a statement certifying that there was "no injury or damage" onboard.
"Since there were no negative outcomes, and the ship was not seized, we decided it should continue on its path," he told CNN.
The official said the Sukru Okan is now in Romanian waters, waiting for the operators of Ukraine's Izmail port to allow them to proceed. He described this manner of reaching Izmail as "the normal procedure." Data from MarineTraffic shows that the Sukru Okan was in waters near Romania's Sulina Port on Monday afternoon.
"For the last year, we have been going routine back and forth to those ports," said the official who noted that the shipping company purchased the vessel in 2021 and registered it under the flag of Palau due to restrictions on Turkish-flagged vessels.
Regarding Russia's previous announcement that it would consider ships going to Ukrainian ports as suspicious of carrying ammunition, he told CNN, "I guess we are the first," adding, "but I foresee these types of things becoming more common."
From CNN’s Uliana Pavlova
Russian air defense systems detected and destroyed multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, over the territory of the Belgorod region, the defense ministry said Monday.
There were no casualties or damage, it added.
“On August 14, at about 12:15 Moscow time and 12:45 Moscow time, attempts by the Kyiv regime to carry out terrorist attacks by aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles against objects on the territory of the Russian Federation were thwarted,” the defense ministry said in a statement.
Belgorod, a city within the Belgorod region, sits near the Russia-Ukraine border just 80 kilometers from Kharkiv, Ukraine. In recent months, drone attacks or attempted drone attacks on Belgorod have become an almost daily occurrence.
