November 14, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

A resident of Kherson city in southern Ukraine has told CNN that his home was damaged when several shells landed in the neighborhood on Monday afternoon.

The shells landed in an area on the northeastern outskirts of the city

The resident, who asked not to be named, said he thought the shelling had come from the east bank of the Dnipro river, where Russian forces have been redeployed after withdrawing from the city last week.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on any shelling of the city or its surroundings since it was liberated. Ukrainian forces began arriving in the city on Friday. 

Russian forces are just a few kilometers from the city center in newly fortified positions.

Ukraine's air force says it is seeing a lull in Russian missile attacks, which were heavy and persistent through October.

Yurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Air Force Command, said at a briefing in Kyiv: "Now we see some kind of a lull, nothing much is happening."

Ihnat said there were still "shelling and rocket attacks on the frontline cities with rocket artillery and S-300 anti-aircraft systems. The enemy launches this type of missiles on a ballistic trajectory."

And he said that on Saturday there had been one attack on a central region by "TU-22M3 bombers; several X-22 missiles were launched."

But Ilhat said that "over the past week we haven’t seen the use of cruise missiles or Shahed drones. The enemy is unable to constantly launch massive missile strikes due to the shortage of weapons."

He said the Russians were running short of ballistic missiles and air-launched cruise missiles.

Ihnat said Ukrainian defense forces had destroyed over 330 self-detonating drones and that "in total, the enemy launched over 400 Iranian UAVs in Ukraine," from the south, east and north.

Ihnat said Ukrainian air defenses were being improved with the arrival of advanced western systems.

"Ukrainian air defense will be strengthened by American Avenger systems," he said. "The Avengers supplied by our American partners have their own radar, can effectively operate eight Stinger missiles at once on their base; they are extremely mobile. "

He said the German-supplied IRIS-T system had destroyed 100 percent of targets.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) says its officers have detained a Russian serviceman in liberated Kherson in southern Ukraine. The man was dressed in a civilian uniform and tried to pretend to be "local," it said in a statement.  

The SBU said the man admitted that he was a soldier from the 69th separate brigade of the Russian armed forces. 

The Security Service said it had established that his task in Kherson "was to collect information, [help] adjust fire on the Armed Forces of Ukraine and carry out sabotage." 

Mikhail Fedorov, Ukraine's minister of digital transformation, said mobile Starlink terminals are being deployed in Kherson city to help people reconnect with their families. 

Mobile operators Kyivstar and Vodafone have launched the first base stations in Kherson, Fedorov said, noting that "there is still no electricity in the city, so the stations are operating on generators and Starlink terminals."

Fedorov said his ministry immediately sends Starlink terminals to the de-occupied settlements. "Starlink terminals help to maintain communication while operators restore the damaged optical cable."

"We are returning the connections to Kherson," he said. "People who had been under occupation for nine months were finally able to call their relatives and say that they are alright. While there are problems with other infrastructure in the city, even a one-minute conversation helps Kherson residents to feel at home again."

Fedorov said there were problems with the sabotage of mobile base stations in the area. "The occupants destroyed part of the infrastructure and mined the rest. The State Emergency Service finds tripwires with grenades at mobile base stations. This slows down the process of restoring communication, but heroic rescuers and telecom operators work 24/7," the official said.

The Ukrainian liberation of Kherson “was a significant, significant victory for Ukraine,” President Joe Biden told reporters traveling with him to the G20 summit in Bali Monday. He emphasized that any negotiations towards a ceasefire will require Ukraine have a seat at the table.

“First of all, it was a significant, significant victory for Ukraine – a significant victory – and I can do nothing but applaud the courage, determination and capacity of Ukrainian people and Ukrainian military. I mean, they’ve really been amazing,” Biden said. “I've been very clear that we're going to continue to provide the capability for the Ukrainian people to defend themselves – and we are not going to engage in any negotiation. There's nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, this is a decision Ukraine has to make.” 

During a news conference earlier Monday, Oleh Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said that Russia is “in no position” to be setting rules for negotiations.

“The peace formula for Ukraine remains unchanged: Immediate cessation of the war, withdrawal of all Russian troops, restoration of Ukrainian territorial integrity, damages reimbursement and provision of effective guarantees of non-repetition of aggression,” Nikolenko said.

Still, Biden said Monday in Bali, he believes hostilities in the region will “slow down a bit because of the winter months, and the inability to move as well, as easily around the country,” later adding he remains confident “that Russia will not occupy or defend Ukraine as they intended from the beginning.”

CIA Director Bill Burns is meeting with his Russian intelligence counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, in Ankara today as part of an ongoing effort by the US to "communicate with Russia on managing risk" and to discuss the cases of "unjustly detained US citizens," a National Security Council spokesperson tells CNN. 

"We have been very open about the fact that we have channels to communicate with Russia on managing risk, especially nuclear risk and risks to strategic stability," the spokesperson said. "As part of this effort Bill Burns is in Ankara today to meet with his Russian intelligence counterpart."

CNN has previously reported that National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has also been in touch with his Russian counterparts to warn them of the consequences should Russia use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. 

The spokesperson emphasized that Burns "is not conducting negotiations of any kind."  

"He is not discussing settlement of the war in Ukraine. He is conveying a message on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, and the risks of escalation to strategic stability. He will also raise the cases of unjustly detained US citizens," the spokesperson added, saying that the US briefed Ukraine on the meeting in advance of Burns' trip. 

"We firmly stick to our fundamental principle: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," the spokesperson said. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an unannounced visit to the formerly Russian-occupied city of Kherson on Monday, where work is underway to restore the power supply as NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warns that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to “leave Ukraine cold and dark this winter.”

Here are the latest headlines:

A pro-Russian tank gunner who was accused of firing into residential buildings in Mariupol will spend 12 years in prison, Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) said on Monday.

“The Security Service of Ukraine collected indisputable evidence of crimes committed by the militant of the ‘DPR’ [Donetsk People’s Republic] terrorist organization nicknamed ‘Phil,’” the SBU said in a statement. “The evidence allowed the court to imprison him for 12 years.”

As the gunner of a T-72 tank, the SBU said that the man “fired at least 20 shots at residential high-rise buildings in Mariupol.”

The SBU said that he was found guilty of high treason and the “creation of unauthorized armed groups or participation in its activities.”

He was taken captive near the eastern village of Rivnopil in April after his tank came under attack by the Ukrainian military.

The SBU said that the man joined separatist, pro-Russian militants in 2014, and then joined Russia’s 8th Army after the full-scale invasion this February.

Russia is “in no position” to be setting rules for negotiations, said a Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson on Monday.

“Russia is in no position to laying down the rules,” Oleh Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said during a press conference.

“The peace formula for Ukraine remains unchanged: Immediate cessation of the war, withdrawal of all Russian troops, restoration of Ukrainian territorial integrity, damages reimbursement and provision of effective guarantees of non-repetition of aggression.

"Achieving sustainable peace is impossible under any other conditions.”