September 15, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Follow the latest news on Russia’s war in Ukraine here and read more about today’s developments in the posts below.

Pope Francis said Thursday it could be morally acceptable to sell weapons to Ukraine if they were used in self-defense.

Asked by a journalist if it was right to sell weapons to Ukraine, the Pope said, “It’s a political decision. It could be morally acceptable if done morally.”

“It is immoral if it’s done with the intention of provoking more war, or to sell weapons, or to get rid of weapons that are no longer needed,” Francis said.  

“Morality is defined by motivation,” the Pope said.  

In answer to a question about Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Pope said that dialogue is important, “even if you have to hold your nose.”

“I don’t exclude dialogue with any power that is at war,” the Pope said, “even if it is the aggressor.” 

“It may smell but one has to do it,” Francis said.

A Ukrainian serviceman uses a metal detector to inspect a mass grave in the recently retaken area of Izium, Ukraine,on Thursday, September 15.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday a mass burial site has been discovered in the Ukrainian city of Izium after the area was re-captured last weekend from Russian forces.

“In Izium, Kharkiv region, a mass burial of people was found. The necessary procedural actions have already started there, more information — clear and verified — should be available tomorrow,” Zelensky said in his nightly address.

He added that Ukrainian and international journalists will visit Izium Friday to see what they have uncovered.

“Bucha, Mariupol and now, unfortunately, Izium… Russia leaves death everywhere. And must be responsible for it. The world must hold Russia to real responsibility for this war. We will do everything for this,” he added.

There has been “movement but not breakthrough” in the efforts to free detained Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, a senior administration official told CNN on Thursday.

The US has urged Russia to present “a serious counteroffer” to the proposal on the table to secure the release of the two, but “we’ve not gotten a serious response back.”

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday that “there have been discussions with the Russian government,” but acknowledged the negotiations process “certainly hasn’t moved with the speed we would like.” He said he wouldn’t call the process “stalled.”

Tomorrow: President Joe Biden is expected to meet with the Griner and Whelan families on Friday — something officials say has “been in the works for a little while now,” but he doesn’t have a specific development to share with the families.

Ukrainian servicemen drive atop a self-propelled artillery vehicle in the recently retaken area of Dolyna, in the Donetsk region on Sept. 14.

Ukraine’s military said Thursday that Russian efforts to advance in Donetsk region continue but have been thwarted. It also claimed that some Russian units retreating in the Kharkiv region have been disbanded.

CNN could not verify the claims by the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

There has been little movement on the Donetsk front lines since late June. Recent Ukrainian gains in the neighboring Kharkiv region have complicated Russian objectives.

The US on Thursday unveiled new sanctions on 22 individuals and two entities for their role in Russia’s aggression in Ukraine both prior to and during the war. 

Among those sanctioned is “Task Force Rusich, a neo-Nazi paramilitary group that has participated in combat alongside Russia’s military in Ukraine, as well as two of its senior leaders,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. 

In addition, the sanctions target a Russian official who “has led Russia’s efforts to deport thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia,” seven individuals working for Russia in occupied Crimea, and four individuals the US said were involved with attempted sanctions evasion.

The US also re-designated Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, three of his wives, three of his daughters, and his cousin.

According to the Treasury Department, Kadyrov “has mobilized Chechens to fight in Ukraine.”

Kadyrov today urged Russian regions to “self-mobilize,” according to his Telegram.

The Polish delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna said the agency’s governing board has passed a resolution requesting the withdrawal of Russian forces from around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. 

The delegation tweeted that the “Polish- Canadian IAEA resolution requesting withdrawal of Russian Armed Forces from Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was adopted by great majority of Board of Governors’ members.” 

Earlier the delegation had posted that Poland introduced the resolution on nuclear safety and security in Ukraine “as a result of the aggression of Russia. Presence of Russian soldiers and Russian military equipment creates big risk for Zaporizhzhia NPP and may result in nuclear accident,” it tweeted. 

The IAEA itself has not published the result of the vote, nor the text of the resolution.

Herman Halushchenko, the Ukrainian Energy Minister, welcomed the vote.

CNN is seeking a response from the Russian government.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks to the press before boarding a train during his visit in Kyiv on September 8.

The US State Department on Thursday announced a slew of new sanctions, including against five individuals for “supporting or enabling the theft of Ukraine’s grain” on behalf of Russia. 

The top US diplomat also said more actions would be taken “against major Russian defense entities, key advanced-technology firms that support Russia’s defense industrial base, and financial infrastructure,” as well as against a “Russian military intelligence agency and against individuals connected to human rights abuses, both in the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine and within Russia itself.”

The State Department sanctions were among a series of actions taken by the Biden administration against Russia on Thursday. According to a State Department fact sheet, the individuals sanctions for their role in grain theft had been appointed to leadership roles in some of occupied regions of Ukraine. As CNN reported in May, Russian forces have stolen farm equipment and thousands of tons of grain from areas they were occupying.’

Some context: The new sanctions come the week before the United Nations General Assembly when the Biden administration is expected to urge world leaders – once again – to double down on stepping up to support the global food crisis that has been triggered in part due to the war in Ukraine.

Russia has “already used some hypersonic weapons in the Ukraine war almost to no effect,” according to US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.

Hicks made the remarks during a fireside chat at the AFCEA/Intelligence and National Security Alliance 2022 Intelligence and National Security Summit on Thursday.

CNN has previously reported that Russia had used hypersonics in Ukraine.

Some context: Essentially, all missiles are hypersonic — which means they travel at least five times the speed of sound. Almost any warhead released from a rocket miles in the atmosphere will reach this speed heading to its target. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin downplayed the effectiveness of the missile in March, telling CBS that he “would not see it as a game-changer.”

Brittney Griner, left, and Paul Whelan, right.

President Biden will personally meet with the families of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan at the White House on Friday, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

This is the first time he will meet with them in person.

The Associated Press was first to report on the meeting.

Some background: The families of Whelan, who has been held by Russia for alleged espionage since 2018, and WNBA star Griner, jailed in Moscow for drug possession since February, have urged the White House to secure their release, including via a prisoner exchange if necessary.

Russia and China leaders said they reaffirmed their ties at a summit Thursday — although there were hints of divergent views on the war — while Ukraine said Russia hit a dam in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, the latest in a series of bombardments on civilian infrastructure.

Here are the latest headlines from today so far:

The leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has urged Russian regions to “self-mobilize,” according to a Telegram post published on Thursday. 

Kadyrov has been outspoken about changes to the Russian campaign following the military setback in Kharkiv, saying that the Ministry of Defense should learn from mistakes — and that in his personal view, martial law should be introduced in Russia.

“I believe that each leader of the region is quite capable of preparing, training and staffing at least one thousand volunteers,” Kadyrov added. 

Sergey Aksenov, the Russian-appointed leader in Crimea, added his voice to calls for the Russian regions to raise more volunteer units for the military.

Aksenov said on Telegram: “I fully support the initiative of the Head of the Chechen Republic, my friend and brother Ramzan Kadyrov to train volunteers in the regions.”

“We must make every effort to defeat the Nazis as quickly as possible and restore peace,” Aksenov added, parroting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unfounded claims for his invasion.

He said Crimea had already fielded more than 1,200 volunteers and is forming two more battalions, and is providing them with equipment.

Russian Army servicemen stand outside a mobile recruiting center in central Saint Petersburg, Russia May 28, 2022. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Related article Russia is recruiting thousands of volunteers to replenish its ranks in Ukraine. Prior experience isn't always required | CNN

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen arrive to deliver a press conference in Kyiv on September 15.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the US, Germany, Italy, France and Israel to provide air defense systems to counter Russian strikes on civilian infrastructure during a press conference with the European Commission’s Ursula von der Leyen Thursday. 

Ukrainian officials are concerned that after suffering losses on the battlefield, Moscow is turning to missile strikes on critical civilian infrastructure.

Regarding air defense systems, Zelensky said that in addition to talking to the US, “we are talking with France, Italy, Germany, and Israel, though we have not received a positive reaction from the latter [Israel]. There are not many countries capable of guaranteeing sky protection to us in terms of air defense. This issue is to be solved around these five countries.”

Russian missile strikes damaged a water pumping station at a major dam in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, one of the latest attacks from Moscow in a series of bombardments on civilian infrastructure. 

During the presser, Zelensky also asked for more weaponry to try to consolidate their gains and complete this war as quickly as possible.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Thursday, Sept. 15.

In his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged “strong support” for their “respective core interests,” according to according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. 

“China is ready to work with Russia in extending strong support to each other on issues concerning their respective core interests,” Xi Jinping said to Putin during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, according to Xinhua. 

Xi called for both China and Russia to “strengthen coordination” within the SCO, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, the BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — and “other multilateral mechanisms to promote solidarity and mutual trust among related parties,” according to Xinhua. 

Some context: Putin on Thursday praised China’s “balanced position” on the Ukraine war, though he conceded Beijing had “questions and concerns” over the invasion, in what appeared to be a veiled admission of their diverging views over the protracted military assault. China has so far refused to outright condemn Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine while stepping up economic assistance to its neighbor, boosting bilateral trade to record levels in a boon to Russian business amid Western sanctions.

Xi also told Putin that “China is willing to make a great effort with Russia” to “take responsibilities and to play a role in the midst of the chaotic interweaving world,” adding that it will be to “provide stability to the world.”  

Ahead of their meeting, Xi had said he was glad to be meeting Putin while “facing the change of the world, the change of time and the change of history.” 

A file image of a Wizz Air Airbus A321 aircraft approaching to land in southern Cyprus on August 28.

Budget airline Wizz Air confirmed to CNN Thursday that it operated the aircraft that flew from Ukraine to Poland on Tuesday, the first time since April that a commercial airplane left Ukraine.  

“Wizz Air confirms that, following an in-depth risk assessment and thorough preparation, its one aircraft based in Lviv departed from Danylo Halytskyi International Airport and successfully landed in Katowice on 13 Sep 2022,” Wizz Air UK’s press office told CNN.

Ian Petchenik, Flightradar24’s director of communications, told CNN on Wednesday that Wizz Air still has three aircraft on the ground in the Ukrainian capital, with Hungarian registrations. 

The Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry has said that it is ready to restart operations from Lviv airport if it obtains Western security guarantees. It’s unclear as of yet how those would be arranged. 

CNN’s Tim Lister contributed reporting to this post.

While most of the Beryslav district in the southern Kherson region remains under Russian control, several villages have been liberated — including Novovorontsovka on the Dnipro river — according to Dmytro Slyvchenko, head of the district council.

The village had 6,500 people before the war, but the population has gone down to only 400, he said. 

“People have already started to come back to these liberated villages, to their homes, and started renovating their damaged houses, even though there is still shelling from the occupiers from time to time,” Slyvchenko added. 

In Russian-controlled Beryslav, he said there is no gas and electricity is intermittent, but the hospital is still open.

Germany will supply two more multiple rocket launchers and rockets to Ukraine to bolster its defense, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced Thursday in Berlin.

“We have decided to deliver two more MARS II multiple rocket launchers, including 200 rockets, to Ukraine,” Lambrecht said at a conference of German armed forces.

Training of the Ukrainian operators is expected to begin this month, she added.

Additionally, Germany will also deliver 50 Dingo armored vehicles, Lambrecht said.

She also announced that a three-way exchange of armored vehicles involving Greece was almost completed, adding that Germany will soon hand over 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to Greece while it, in turn, would pass on 40 of its Soviet-built BMP-1 IFVs to Ukraine. 

To note: While Germany in recent months has sent dozens of missiles, howitzers and anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine, the German government so far has not approved the direct transfer of Leopard battle tanks and Marder IFVs requested by Ukraine.

Russian military on a roadside in the Kherson region in May.

The US has also been careful not to call the rapid Ukrainian territorial gains a turning point in the war or a critical moment that will decide the outcome for good.

“It’s more important than ever that we don’t appear to be spiking the ball,” a defense official said.

The Russians still have a tremendous amount of firepower, manpower and equipment in the fight in Ukraine, and the victories this month of the Ukrainian military have not sealed the outcome of the war. In military terms, Russia still has “mass,” even if it has been unable to bring that to bear at a critical time and place to shape the outcome of a particular fight.

Still, the Ukrainian counteroffensive — planned with US assistance — does appear to have been “expertly executed,” the official said.

One thing that has changed in the last several months is the Ukrainians’ willingness to share intelligence with the US, allowing American officials to better help the Ukrainians shape their battlefield operations.

A US military source added that there has been “decent communication at varying levels about what’s being planned on the political side and the military side. There’s pretty good military transparency.”

In Kherson, where Ukraine telegraphed its intentions for months before the counteroffensive began, Russia had time to prepare, digging in to protect the territory around one of the first cities they occupied early in the war. Ukraine’s advances there have been incremental and deliberate, one official said, and there is no rapid advance through collapsing Russian lines.

Some analysts have described the Kherson offensive as a “fixing” operation designed to keep Russian troops engaged away from the fight in Kharkiv.

In Kharkiv, however, the attack caught the Russians by surprise and without any well-prepared defenses, allowing the Ukrainian military to rapidly reclaim thousands of square miles of territory.

Russia has so far failed to meaningfully stop the counteroffensive in Ukraine’s south or east as the problems they had early in the war — supply line issues, logistical problems, and a lack of effective command and control — still plague the Russian military, officials said. Russia proved unable to hold the territory it had seized, partially because of the high cost imposed on them by Ukrainian defenders.

U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on September 14.

US President Joe Biden’s administration is unlikely to significantly change its approach to helping Ukraine fight Russia, sources tell CNN, and is rebuffing some Ukrainian weapons requests for now — even as Ukrainian forces have made sweeping gains and recaptured thousands of miles of territory from Russia in recent days.

US officials broadly view Ukraine’s recent momentum as evidence that the types of weapons and intelligence that the West has been providing to Ukraine in recent months has been effective. And some caution that it’s too early to call Ukraine’s rapid progress in recent days a turning point in the war, warning that Russia is far from a spent force militarily.

Officials do not believe the battlefield landscape has changed enough to warrant a dramatic strategy shift in the short term despite recent Ukrainian requests to lawmakers and the Pentagon for long-range missile systems and tanks, which they assert can help them sustain the push for longer and keep the territory they have regained.

But for now, at least, the US is still not inclined to provide Ukrainian forces with the long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, also known as ATACMS, that they have been requesting for months, officials told CNN.

Some background: ATACMS have a range of up to 300 kilometers (around 185 miles). The administration still thinks providing those systems could be escalatory because they could be used to fire into Russia itself. Currently, the maximum range of US-provided weapons to Ukraine is around 49 miles.

Last week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin intimated the US position hasn’t shifted. “The HIMARS, using the GMLRS rockets, have been extraordinary in terms of enabling the Ukrainians to service the targets that they need to service inside of Ukraine,” Austin said in Prague on Friday, making no mention of ATACMS.

Since the beginning of the conflict in February, the Biden administration has taken an incremental approach to providing arms to Ukraine — in some cases, later agreeing to send weapons that earlier in the conflict would have been deemed far too escalatory. Its calculus has largely been based on avoiding systems that might be seen by Russian President Vladimir Putin as too provocative, although those lines have moved over time and been criticized by some former officials as arbitrary.

Some US military officials also acknowledged that systems currently considered too escalatory — like F-16 jets, for example — might eventually be provided to Ukraine. But those sources cautioned that such a decision is likely far in the future and isn’t linked to Ukraine’s recent, but nascent, successes. And there are no indications that such discussions are underway now.

Rescuers evacuate people from a flooded area after a Russian missile hit a hydraulic structure in Kryvyi Rih on September 14.

Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih civil military administration, said another Russian cruise missile had hit the city Thursday, hours after an attack on water infrastructure in the area.

Seven earlier missile strikes caused flooding affecting dozens of households and led to the evacuation of scores more, said Vilkul, but repair work means flood levels are now receding.