November 9, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Russia has suffered more than 100,000 killed and wounded soldiers as a result of the war in Ukraine, the top US general said Wednesday evening, and Ukraine is probably looking at similar numbers.

Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley, speaking at an event at The Economic Club of New York, called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “tremendous strategic mistake” for which the country would pay “for years and years and years to come.”

The war, which began in late February, has caused a tremendous amount of human suffering, Milley said, including between 15-30 million refugees and about 40,000 innocent Ukrainian civilians killed. 

Milley said there may be a window of opportunity to negotiate an end to the conflict if and when the front lines stabilize during winter. 

“When there’s an opportunity to negotiate when peace can be achieved, seize it,” Milley said. “Seize the moment.”

But if negotiations never materialized or failed, Milley said the US would continue to arm Ukraine, even as an outright military victory for either side looks increasingly unlikely.

“There has to be a mutual recognition that military victory is probably in the true sense of the word may be not achievable through military means, and therefore you need to turn to other means.” 

Milley also said the US was seeing initial indications that Russia was indeed pulling out of Kherson, as it had stated. But he said the withdrawal of 20,000-30,000 troops from the west bank of the Dnipro River could take days or even weeks. 

“I believe they’re doing it in order to preserve their force, to re-establish defensive lines south of the river, but that remains to be seen,” Milley said. “Right now, the early indicators are they’re doing what they say they’re doing and we’re seeing those early indicators.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Russia’s announcement of a withdrawal near the southern city of Kherson may be a strategic move to regroup forces.

But he also said, in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, that at a time of his choosing, Ukrainian progress on the battlefield would come.

He added that Ukrainians “are not considering this as just one single operation.”

“We have a strategy and different directions,” he added.

Some background: Russian state media reported that Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has ordered a withdrawal of Russian forces from the west bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region. His order comes as Ukrainian forces make advances toward the city of Kherson from two directions. 

Watch a clip from the interview:

US President Joe Biden said he’s hopeful that with the midterm election over, Russian President Vladimir Putin will be more willing to discuss the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was recently transferred to a Russian penal colony to serve the remainder of a nine-year drug smuggling sentence that was upheld in late October. 

The president said the US has had discussions with Russia – but is hoping that with the election over, “there is a willingness to negotiate more specifically with us.”

Asked if he could explain some of the alternative ways forward the administration had previously referred to and how Russia had responded to them, Biden answered, “I can but I won’t.” 

“I’m determined to get her home safely, along with others I might add,” he said.

US President Joe Biden said the timing of Russia’s announcement that it is withdrawing its troops from part of Kherson region was “interesting,” and that he had been told that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not likely to attend the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia. 

“I find it interesting they waited until after the election to make that judgment, which we knew for some time they were going to be doing, and it’s evidence of the fact that they have some real problems – the Russian military,” Biden said Wednesday. 

He said where the withdrawal leads and “whether or not Ukraine is prepared to compromise with Russia” remains to be seen. 

Biden added that he was “told that President Putin is not likely” to attend the G20 in Indonesia, but other world leaders would be “and we’re going to have an opportunity to see what the next steps may be.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country will “move very carefully, without emotions, without unnecessary risk,” in the light of Russia’s announcement that it is withdrawing its troops from part of Kherson region. 

In his daily video message, Zelensky said, “We are gradually moving to the south, strengthening our positions. Step by step.”

“There is a lot of joy in the information space today — and it is clear why,” Zelensky said.

“But our emotions must be restrained — always during the war. I will definitely not feed the enemy with all the details of our operations. Whether in the south, or in the east, or anywhere else — when our result is achieved, everyone will see it.” 

“This is how we will ensure the liberation of Kherson, Kakhovka, Donetsk and our other cities,” the Ukrainian president said.

“And when you fight, you must understand that every step is always the enemy’s resistance, it is always the loss of lives of our heroes.”

Zelensky also referred to warnings from Ukrainian officials that Russia might try to destroy the large hydro-electric project and dam on the Dnipro River.

“I want to warn once again and separately everyone in Moscow who makes the relevant decisions: any attempt to blow up Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and flood our territory and dewater the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant [which is upstream from the dam] will mean your declaration of war to the whole world,” he said.

The Russian general in command of forces in the Kremlin’s so-called Special Military Operation, Sergey Surovikin, has claimed it is the Ukrainians who are planning to destroy the dam.

“The implementation of the enemy’s plans to create a flood zone below the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station can lead to dangerous consequences. This is confirmed by the constant missile attacks on the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, as well as on the spillway gates of this dam,” Surovikin said Wednesday.

“If the Kyiv regime goes for a further increase in the release of water from reservoirs or a more powerful missile attack on the Kakhovka dam, a flow of water will be formed that will create vast flood zones and cause significant casualties among the civilian population,” Surovikin said.

Zelensky also addressed ongoing power outages caused by waves of Russian missile attacks. 

“As of this evening, there are stabilization (scheduled) restrictions on electricity supply in 15 regions and the city of Kyiv. There are no emergency shutdowns,” he said.

The UK government said Wednesday that a British man lost his life in Ukraine.

The UK foreign office in a statement said that it was “supporting the family of a British national who has lost his life in Ukraine,” but did not reveal the person’s name.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) added that it was in touch with “the local authorities in connection with his death.” 

In June, former British Army soldier Jordan Gatley was shot and killed while fighting in Ukraine’s Severodonetsk, CNN reported at the time. 

British aid worker Paul Urey died in the annexed Donetsk region of Ukraine earlier this year after the Russian invasion started, CNN reported.

US diplomats have asked Russia for information about the current location of WNBA star Brittney Griner and where she is going but the Russians have not provided any answers, a senior State Department official said Wednesday.  

The diplomats’ requests come after news broke that Griner is being transferred to a remote penal colony in Russia, a move that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called “another injustice layered on her ongoing unjust and wrongful detention.”

Russia “unfortunately followed past practice” and did not notify the US ahead of moving Griner to a penal colony, the official said. While the US expected that she would be transferred, they found out about the move from Griner’s legal team and press reports. 

Past American detainees in Russia have gone to a central location before they arrive at a prison camp and that process can take a couple of weeks, the official said. The US does not know how she will be treated at the prison camp because Russia has many different kinds of camps that treat prisoners differently. 

Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Russian province of Chechnya gestures speaking to about 10,000 troops in Chechnya's regional capital of Grozny, Russia, on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the the pro-Kremlin leader of Russia’s Chechnya region, said he supports the decision by the Russian Defense Ministry and the commander in Ukraine to withdraw troops from part of the Kherson region.

Kadyrov, who has frequently criticized the ministry and the leadership of the operation, said that Gen. Sergey Surovikin had “saved a thousand soldiers who were in actual encirclement.”

“After weighing all the pros and cons, General Surovikin made a difficult but right choice between senseless sacrifices for the sake of loud statements and saving the priceless lives of soldiers,” he said.

“There is no need to talk about the ‘surrender’ of Kherson. ‘Surrender’ means together with the fighters. And Surovikin protects the soldiers and takes a more advantageous strategic position - convenient, safe,” Kadyrov said on his Telegram channel. 

But again criticizing past mistakes, he asked: “Why was this not done from the first days of the special operation? This is another question.”

“I believe that Surovikin acted like a real military general, not afraid of criticism. He is responsible for the people,” Kadyrov concluded.

The Ukrainian military said that all information “has to be perceived critically,” an apparent reference to the Russian announcement that troops will be withdrawn from the west bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson.

Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Operational Command South, said Wednesday that “we have said multiple times and will repeat again: all the information has to be perceived critically,” especially when it comes from “the military and political authorities of the aggressor country.” 

“We do not exclude provocation. We see that the words to do not coincide with the actions. We continue the defense operation and counteroffensive actions that were planned before. We are asking everyone to be patient for us to reveal the results of our operation,” she added.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, right, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speak during a meeting inside 10 Downing Street in London, on Wednesday, November 9.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that it was “encouraging” to see Ukrainians “able to liberate” more territory, after Russia ordered a withdrawal of its forces from the west bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region. 

Stoltenberg made the comment while speaking to reporters outside Downing Street in London after a meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. 

Asked about the situation in Kherson, Stoltenberg said: “We have seen the announcement, but we will of course wait and see what actually happens on the ground.”

He said the meeting with Sunak was “very good and productive,” calling the UK “a key and leading ally.” 

Earlier on Wednesday, Stoltenberg said he visited a site in England where Ukrainian soldiers are being trained by British trainers. 

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a new support package for Ukraine of up to 18 billion euros (around $18 billion) for 2023.

If the proposal is approved, the support would be given in “highly concessional loans” in regular installments averaging 1.5 billion euros per month, the commission statement said. 

The European Commission said support would “help cover a significant part of Ukraine’s short-term funding needs for 2023,” including contributing to maintaining essential public services and restoring critical infrastructure. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the media outside 10 Downing Street, in London, Wednesday, Nov. 9

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN on Wednesday that a partial Russian withdrawal from Kherson shows that support provided by the military alliance to Ukraine is successful.  

“It demonstrates the courage, the determination, the commitment of Ukrainian Armed Forces and also the importance of the continued support,” Stoltenberg told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview.  

His comments come after Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu earlier on Wednesday ordered a withdrawal of Russian forces from the west bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region, according to Russian state media. Ukrainian forces have made advances toward Kherson city from two directions.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon’s Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said that Russia has suffered “tens of thousands of casualties” since the war began in February. 

Stoltenberg told CNN’s Amanpour that NATO has the same analysis of Moscow’s losses.  

However, the NATO chief cautioned that the Kremlin should not be underestimated.  

“Russia still has a lot of military capabilities. We have seen the missile attacks, the drone attacks, against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure and power plants. Therefore, the war is not over and we should not underestimate the brutality of the Russian armed forces,” he said.  

Mykhailo Podolyak, a political adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaks during an interview with Reuters on November 2.

A senior Ukrainian official has expressed skepticism that Russian forces will leave the west bank of the Kherson region altogether.

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, tweeted: “Actions speak louder than words. We see no signs that Russia is leaving Kherson without a fight.”

Ukraine “is liberating territories based on intelligence data, not staged TV statements,” Podolyak added.

Russian military reporters in the northern part of the Kherson region said there has been a withdrawal in some areas after what was described as “massive enemy strikes.”

A prominent Russian Telegram channel reported “there was a withdrawal to back up positions,” near the town of Snihurivka, which is in neighboring Mykolaiv region.

“A bridge was also blown up by our forces in this area today,” according to the channel RVVoenkor, which has more than 1 million subscribers.

CNN has geolocated the photograph of the flag on a tower in Snihurivka.

The channel also said that the Ukrainians had entered the nearby village of Kalynivske and that “the front line is steadily moving towards Kherson.”

Separately, another Russian military reporter, Alexander Kots, said on Telegram: “This morning, after seeing that the Russian flags had disappeared from the administrative buildings in Kherson and receiving several urgent recommendations to cross to the east bank, we decided to take two more flags with us to the ferry. So that those who would mock our state symbols would not get them.”

“One was taken from the flagpole at the City Council…..I’ll keep the state flag until we come back. So I can hang it up again,” Kots added.

What Ukraine said earlier: Serhii Khlan, a member of the Ukrainian Kherson Regional Council, said that Russian forces appeared to be staging a tactical retreat from some frontline villages and blowing up bridges.

“The occupiers are now blowing up absolutely all bridges” in the occupied Kherson region west of the Dnipro River, he said.

Images and reports from Russian propagandists and military analysts on Telegram appear to corroborate those claims. 

On Snihurivka, Khlan said: “As I understand, the occupiers are reinforcing [fortifications] in order to ensure the withdrawal of their units from the front line. We can say that under the onslaught of our Armed Forces, the occupiers are preparing and doing everything possible to make it look like a planned retreat from the front line, rather than an absolute failure of the front,” he said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a meeting with American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer, Sean Penn, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on November 8.

Actor Sean Penn during a visit to Kyiv honored Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by handing him his Oscar in a symbolic move, as shown in a video posted on the Ukrainian president’s Telegram account on Tuesday.

“If I know this is here with you, then I’ll feel better and stronger for the fight,” Penn told Zelensky on the video, adding that “when you win, bring it back to Malibu.”

This was Penn’s third visit to Ukraine during the war.  

Zelensky on his end presented Penn with Ukraine’s Order of Merit of the third degree, thanking him “for such sincere support and significant contribution.”

A Ukrainian serviceman patrols at the frontline in the northern Kherson region, Ukraine, on November 7.

The order for Russian troops to be withdrawn to the east bank of the Dnipro River happened at a meeting in Moscow between Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and the commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, Gen. Sergei Surovikin.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Surovikin said that “Kherson [city] and adjacent settlements in the current conditions cannot be fully supplied and function.”

Surovikin claimed that “the Armed Forces of Ukraine are attacking schools, hospitals and civilians in Kherson, who are being evacuated to the other side of the Dnipro River.”

Surovikin, who had warned that difficult choices would be required when he was appointed overall commander of the operation, said: “The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation successfully resisted the attempts of the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the direction of Kherson.”

He claimed that “from August to October, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more than 9,500 people in Kherson,” a number he said was seven to eight times more than Russian losses.

It’s impossible to independently verify Surovikin’s claim.

Defending occupied territory on the west bank of Kherson had become increasingly difficult for the Russians as Ukrainian forces disabled bridges across the Dnipro and attacked Russian supply lines. More recently, the Ukrainian army has made advances along two fronts toward Kherson city. In response, Russian forces have begun fortifying positions on the opposite bank of the river.  

Kherson was one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia declared annexed in September. Once the withdrawal is complete, several thousand square kilometers of that annexed territory will have been surrendered.

A Ukrainian howitzer fires in the Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, on November 5.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has ordered a withdrawal of Russian forces from the west bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region, according to Russian state media.

His order comes as Ukrainian forces make advances toward the city of Kherson from two directions. 

The Russian withdrawal would be the most significant military development since Ukrainian forces swept through the northern Kharkiv region in September. 

Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city and the only regional capital that Russia has captured since the February invasion.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-backed Kherson administration, is pictured in his office in the city of Kherson, Ukraine, on July 20.

One of the most senior Russian-appointed officials in occupied Ukrainian territory has been killed, according to the Russian-installed leader of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, and reported in Russian state news agencies.

Saldo called Stremousov, the Russian-appointed deputy head of the region, “one of the brightest, able to speak and present to people the truth about what is happening in the Kherson region.”

Stremousov died in a road accident, the press secretary of the head of the region said, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Russian state media company Vesti (VGTRK) said that, according to the Minister of Health of the Kherson Region Vadim Ilmiev, Stremousov was killed in an accident on the highway between Kherson and Armyansk in Crimea.

Valeria Petrusevich, head of the nonprofit organization Good Peace-Crimean Volunteers, also wrote on her Telegram channel that “Kirill Stremousov, deputy governor of the Kherson region, died. The information is accurate, I know personally. It was an accident. Details later.”

Stremousov, a Ukrainian who was quick to side with the Russian occupation when Kherson fell early in the invasion, had become one of the most vocal and outspoken of Russian appointees.

As deputy head of the Kherson region military administration, Stremousov was prominent in organizing and supporting the referendum on Kherson’s declared annexation by Russia and more recently had been the driving force in the evacuation of civilians from the west bank in Kherson, as Ukrainian forces pushed toward the Dnipro River.

On Tuesday, Stremousov said: “Most residents who decided to stay in Kherson are only now beginning to realize the gravity of the situation and my warnings.”

Stremousov frequently wrote on Telegram to describe Ukrainian officials and forces as “Nazis” and “fascists.” But he was also critical of missteps by the Russian military. He had blamed the military setbacks in Kherson on “incompetent commanders” who had not been held accountable for their mistakes.

Sevastopol Gov. Mikhail Razvozhaev said that Stremousov “was a true patriot of Russia, brave and courageous, in any situation he remained in touch and considered it his duty to inform the residents of the Kherson region about what was happening. This was the case this morning as well. This is an irreparable loss.” 

Earlier Wednesday, Stremousov had published a video on the situation on the front lines, particularly on the fighting around Snihurivska north of Kherson city, where there are reports that Ukrainian forces have broken through Russian defenses.

Stremousov was 45 years old, according to Vesti.

 Russian forces have destroyed bridges across occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson region west of the Dnipro River, a local Ukrainian official and Russian military analysts on Telegram reported on Wednesday.

Serhii Khlan, a member of the Ukrainian Kherson Regional Council, said that Russian forces appear to be staging a tactical retreat from some frontline villages to “slow down the onslaught of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” CNN cannot independently confirm his claims.

“The occupiers are now blowing up absolutely all bridges” in the occupied Kherson region west of the Dnipro River.

Images and reports from Russian propagandists and military analysts on Telegram appear to corroborate those claims. 

A popular Russian military analysis channel said Wednesday that “the destruction of bridges across the Kherson Front began to slow down the advance of the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine].”

Khlan said that Russian forces were withdrawing “en masse” from frontline villages along the western bank of the Dnipro River. He said that though it was not yet possible to officially say that Russia had abandoned the settlements, Russian forces were no longer present in Kachkarivka, Mylove, Novokairy, Berezynske, Sukhanove, Chervonyi Yar, Piatykhatky and Sadok.

“We must admit that the occupiers are running away, the occupiers are retreating,” Khlan said. “The most important task for them with the reinforced checkpoints that they are now doing in Niddniprianske, on the approaches to Kherson, and in Kozatske, on the approaches to Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam, is to ensure the withdrawal of their troops.”

There appears to have been fierce fighting around the Russian-occupied town of Snihurivka in the Mykolaiv region, just north of the Kherson region.

“As I understand, the occupiers are reinforcing [fortifications] in order to ensure the withdrawal of their units from the front line. We can say that under the onslaught of our Armed Forces, the occupiers are preparing and doing everything possible to make it look like a planned retreat from the front line, rather than an absolute failure of the front,” he said.