November 14, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Russia said on Monday that it was imposing entry bans on an additional 100 Canadian citizens, including American-Canadian actor Jim Carrey, in response to Canada’s sanctions on Moscow.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that it has added more Canadians to its “black list,” which contains hundreds of Western officials and notable individuals.

Moscow in March added Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the travel ban.

The European Union and its member states have sent at least $8 billion worth of military equipment to Ukraine amid Vladimir Putin’s war, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.  

Speaking at a news conference in Brussels after a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, Borrell said this was about 45% of the amount provided to Kyiv by the United States.  

Borrell added the EU would “continue isolating Russia internationally,” and continue imposing “restrictive measures,” against Russia’s economy.  

The Biden administration on Monday released new sanctions meant to target Russia’s military industry as well as networks that support two sanctioned Russian oligarchs as the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine continues.

The US Treasury and State Departments imposed sanctions on “a transnational network procuring technology that supports the Russian military-industrial complex,” according to a press release from Treasury, adding that this affects 14 people, 28 entities and eight aircraft.

Here's a look at some of those affected by the sanctions:

A member of Ukraine's parliament says that a US citizen has been freed from detention thanks to the liberation of Kherson.

"With the liberation of Kherson, one of the prisoners was released, a US citizen Suedi Murekezi," Alexandr Kovaliov said on his Facebook page.

Kovoliav added that Murekezi had "defended the independence of our country, for which he was arrested."

"The coordinated actions of our team led to the release of another US citizen from captivity. Today he is already free and returning home," Kovaliov added. 

Kovaliov said Murekezi had been arrested in Kherson, "and for a long time there was no contact with him. But thanks to the efforts of our team, Mr. Murekezi's location was established and he was returned from captivity."

According to published reports, Murekezi was detained in Kherson in July. 

The State Department is aware of “unconfirmed reports” about the release of a US citizen who was held in Kherson during the Russian occupation. 

A State Department spokesperson said they had “no further comment on the matter “due to privacy considerations.”

“We also once again reiterate U.S. citizens should not travel to Ukraine due to the active armed conflict and the singling out of U.S. citizens in Ukraine by Russian government security officials, and that U.S. citizens in Ukraine should depart immediately if it is safe to do so using any commercial or other privately available ground transportation options,” the spokesperson said.

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.”