Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
Russian journalist deported over "national security" concerns:
By RFE/RL
Ukrainian authorities have deported Russian journalist Tamara Nersesian over national security concerns.
Olena Hitlyanska, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), wrote on Facebook on August 15 that "Russian propagandist" Nersesian had been deported overnight and barred from entering Ukraine for three years.
Russia's Rossia-24 television channel reported earlier on August 15 that Nersesian, who works for the channel, was deported after being questioned at the SBU.
Kyiv has banned more than a dozen Russian television channels since 2014, accusing them of spreading war propaganda.
Russian-Ukrainian relations soured after street protests in Kyiv toppled Ukraine's then-President Viktor Yanukovych, a Kremlin ally, in February 2014.
Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and threw its support behind separatists in the country’s east in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014. (w/RIA Novosti, UNIAN)
Recent images from the Kerch Strait show work moving apace to connect Russia with the annexed Crimean Peninsula. (click image for photo gallery)
Putin Officially Opens Massive Bridge Linking Crimea To Russia
Russia Claims Ukrainian Reconnaissance Officer Detained In Crimea
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) says it has detained a senior reconnaissance officer of a Ukrainian military unit who was allegedly planning acts of sabotage in Crimea.
The FSB said on August 15 that Hennadiy Lemeshko was detained on August 12 while attempting to disrupt electricity lines on the Crimean Peninsula.
According to the FSB, the suspect had explosive devices in his possession.
There was no immediate response from Ukraine.
The announcement came days after a Russian court sentenced two Ukrainian nationals in separate cases to lengthy prison terms on terrorism charges.
Rights activists say Russia has jailed several Ukrainians on trumped-up, politically motivated charges since Moscow seized Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014.
In March, the European Parliament called on Russia to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who are in prison or who have had their freedom of movement restricted in Russia, Crimea, and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists. (RIA Novosti, Interfax)