Latest Developments in Ukraine: August 15

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. All times EDT.   6 a.m.:  A program that started last year to support evacuated Afghans following the U.S. military’s chaotic withdrawal has recently been expanded to help Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion of their country, Reuters reported.  The program — started by a coalition of non-profit organizations in partnership with the U.S. State Department — allows any group of five or more individual adults to support a refugee’s temporary resettlement in the United States, a job traditionally performed by a handful of well-established resettlement agencies.  The effort is still small. Local sponsor circles have supported the arrival of around 600 Afghans and just 20 Ukrainians, according to Sarah Krause, the director of the New York City-based Community Sponsorship Hub, leading the national initiative. Another staff member from the hub told Reuters that an additional 40 Ukrainians are currently being processed to receive support.  5:30 a.m.: The British Ministry of Defense published its updated map Monday with details that include Russian military attacks and troop locations in Ukraine.  4:50 a.m.: The defense team of Brittney Griner, the U.S. basketball star jailed for nine years in Russia on drugs charges, has appealed against her conviction for narcotics possession and trafficking, Griner’s lawyer Maria Blagovolina told Reuters on Monday.  Griner, who had played for a Russian club, was arrested at a Moscow airport on February 17 after cannabis-infused vape cartridges were found in her luggage.  She pleaded guilty to the charges but said she had made an “honest mistake” by entering Russia with cannabis oil, which is illegal in the country. She was convicted on August 4.    The U.S. government says Griner was wrongfully detained. It has offered to exchange her for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States. 4 a.m.: Manila’s ambassador to Washington said Monday that the Philippines is looking to buy heavy-lift Chinook helicopters from the United States, after scrapping a deal with Russia worth $227.35 million (12.7 billion pesos) in order to avoid sanctions, Reuters reported. In June, days before President Rodrigo Duterte ended his six-year term, the Philippines scrapped a deal to buy 16 Mi-17 Russian military transport helicopters because of fears of U.S. sanctions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This cancellation of this contract is precipitated mainly by the war in Ukraine. While there are sanctions expected to come our way, from the United States and western countries, obviously it is not in our interest to continue and pursue this contract,” ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez told journalists in a virtual forum. Moscow says it is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Romualdez said the Chinooks would replace existing hardware used for the movement of troops and in disaster preparedness in the Southeast Asian country. The United States is willing to strike a deal for the amount the Philippines was set to spend on the Russian helicopters, Romualdez said, adding the deal with Washington will likely include maintenance, service and parts. The Philippines is pursuing discussions with Russia to recover its $38 million down payment for the helicopters, the delivery of which was supposed to start in November next year, or 24 months after the contract was signed. The Philippines is at the tail-end of a five-year, 300 billion-pesos modernization of its outdated military hardware that includes warships from World War Two and helicopters used by the United States in the Vietnam War. Aside from military deals, the Philippines, under new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, also wants increased economic exchanges with the United States including in fields of manufacturing, digital infrastructure and clean energy, including modular nuclear power, Romualdez said. 3 a.m. According to Telegram feed of The Kyiv Independent, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Russian forces shelled Slobidsky district of the city and hit a factory around 2:50 a.m. Monday. There was no information on casualties at the time of the publication. 2:30 a.m.: Rustem Umerov, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, shared a picture of Canadian military on his Twitter account, thanking them for providing assistance in training members of the Ukrainian armed forces.   2 a.m.: 1:45 a.m.: Several major Wall Street banks have begun offering to facilitate trades in Russian debt in recent days, according to bank documents seen by Reuters, giving investors another chance to dispose of assets widely seen in the West as toxic. Most U.S. and European banks had pulled back from the market in June after the Treasury Department banned U.S. investors from purchasing any Russian security as part of economic sanctions to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine, according to an investor who holds Russian securities and two banking sources. Following subsequent guidelines from the Treasury in July that allowed U.S. holders to wind down their positions, the largest Wall Street firms have cautiously returned to the market for Russian government and corporate bonds, according to emails, client notes and other communications from six banks as well as interviews with the sources. The banks that are in the market now include JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N, Bank of America Corp BAC.N, Citigroup Inc C.N, Deutsche Bank AG DBKGn.DE, Barclays Plc BARC.L and Jefferies Financial Group Inc JEF.N, the documents show. The return of the largest Wall Street firms, the details of the trades they are offering to facilitate and the precautions they are taking to avoid breaching sanctions are reported here for the first time. Bank of America, Barclays, Citi and JPMorgan declined to comment, Reuters reported. A Jefferies spokesperson said it was “working within global sanctions guidelines to facilitate our clients’ needs to navigate this complicated situation.” A source close to Deutsche Bank said the bank trades bonds for clients on a request-only and case-by-case basis to further manage down its Russia risk exposure or that of its non-U.S. clients, but won’t do any new business outside of these two categories. 1 a.m.: New Zealand is sending 120 military personnel to Britain to help train Ukrainians in front-line combat, Reuters reported Monday, citing the government. The deployment will enable two infantry training teams to equip Ukrainian personnel with the core skills to be effective in combat, including weapon handling, combat first aid, operational law and other skills. The training of about 800 Ukrainian soldiers will be conducted exclusively at one of four locations in Britain, and New Zealand defense personnel will not travel to Ukraine, the government said in a statement. “We have been clear that a blatant attack on a country’s sovereignty and the subsequent loss of innocent lives is wrong and intolerable. Our condemnation will continue to extend beyond words and include critical support,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference to announce the deployment. She stressed that New Zealand troops have not and would not engage in combat in Ukraine. Thirty New Zealand defense personnel completed a deployment in May to train Ukrainian military personnel in operating artillery. The training deployments are part of a series of actions in response to Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of its southern neighbor that have included more than $25.70 million (NZ$40 million) in financial support and the sanctioning of 840 individuals and entities. Russia calls its intervention in Ukraine a “special operation” to demilitarize it. 12:01 a.m.: Ukrainian forces reported that, though there has been heavy Russian shelling and attempts to advance on several towns in the eastern region of Donetsk that has become a focus of the near six-month war, they have repelled many of the attacks, according to Reuters. The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces also reported Russian shelling of more than a dozen towns on the southern front — particularly the Kherson region, mainly controlled by Russian forces, but where Ukrainian troops are steadily capturing territory. Much attention has been focused on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine amid fears of a catastrophe over renewed shelling in recent days that Russia and Ukraine blame on each other. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned Russian soldiers who shoot at Europe’s largest nuclear power station or use it as a base to shoot from that they will become a “special target” of Ukrainian forces. The Zaporizhzhia plant dominates the south bank of a vast reservoir on the Dnipro River. Ukrainian forces controlling the towns and cities on the opposite bank have come under intense bombardment from the Russian-held side. Some information in this report came from Reuters.

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