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.

Brittney Griner is seen on the bottom part of a TV screen as she waits to appear in a video link provided by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service prior to a hearing at the Moscow Regional Court in Moscow, Russia, on October 25.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Brittney Griner’s ongoing transfer to a remote penal colony in Russia “another injustice layered on her ongoing unjust and wrongful detention.”

“Our hearts are with Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, as well as their family, friends, and supporters, who all continue to suffer from Russia’s decision to wrongfully detain U.S. citizens,” the top US diplomat said.

“We continue to work relentlessly to bring them home. I am focused on doing so, as are so many others in the Department,” Blinken said. “We will not relent until they are reunited with their loved ones.”

US basketball star Brittney Griner’s location is currently unknown as she is moved to a Russian penal colony. Meanwhile, on the ground in Ukraine, a CNN team has reported heavy artillery exchanges in the Donetsk region.

Here are the latest developments:

Young men walk in front of a billboard promoting contract army service in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on September 29.

A basic military training course will be added to the Russian school curricula from the next academic year, Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov said Wednesday, according to state news agency TASS.?

“It will be introduced in schools starting from the next academic year. Now it is being drafted and after January 1, it will begin to be tested,” Kravtsov told journalists, according to TASS.

The ministry had said earlier that a course for basic military training in schools and colleges was being developed, according to the news agency.?

The course would be part of the?instruction time reserved for lessons on the basics of civil defense, which is 35 hours over five days, TASS said.?

The US midterm elections are “important” but the outcome won’t have a significant impact on the Russia-US relations, which will likely “remain bad,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.?

“These elections cannot change anything essential. Relationships still exist and will remain bad,” Peskov added.

The destroyed remains of an Antonov An-225 cargo plane in February.

Plans have been confirmed to rebuild the world’s largest commercial plane, after the Antonov AN-225 was destroyed at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The massive aircraft, nicknamed “Mriya” – Ukrainian for “dream” – was attacked at its base in Hostomel, near Kyiv in February.

“Russia may have destroyed our ‘Mriya’. But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state. We shall prevail!” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter at the time.

Now its manufacturers have announced that plans to rebuilt the aircraft are already underway.

The Antonov Company said in a tweet Monday that the rebuild project had begun, with “design work” in the offing.

An Antonov An-225 flies above Warsaw, Poland, in April 2020.

The company predicted a bill of over €500 million ($502 million) to get it back in the air, promising more information “after the victory.”

Already the company has around 30% of the components needed to build a new one, it announced.

Read the full story here.

Two workers in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region were killed by a mine Tuesday while working to repair the road surface, the head of the region’s military administration said.?

“Unfortunately, two road service workers aged 21 and 51 were killed during the day. Two more men aged 55 and 34 were injured. Special equipment triggered a mine while working in Chuhuiv district.”

Mines in formerly occupied parts of the Kharkiv region will “remain one of the biggest problems for a long time,” the official said.

Ukrainian servicemen fire a Polish self-propelled howitzer Krab toward Russian positions on a frontline in?the Donetsk?region, Ukraine, on November 8.

A CNN team visiting the town of Toretsk, near the frontline in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, has reported hearing heavy exchanges of artillery and gunfire.

The team was able to see the impact of incoming artillery from the Russian side and heard outgoing artillery from Ukrainian forces.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said that “fierce positional battles” were taking place in the region.

“The situation is especially difficult in Donetsk region,” Zelensky said. “The occupiers’ activity there remains at an extremely high level - dozens of attacks every day.”

Russia was suffering “extremely large-scale losses,” he said.

As many as 300 Russian troops have been killed in action in the eastern region over the past seven days, according to an open letter published on a Russian military blog Monday.

In the letter, which was purportedly sent from the front lines to a regional governor?in?Russia, the men of the 155th Brigade of the?Russian?Pacific Fleet Marines?say?they were thrown?into an “incomprehensible battle”?in?Donetsk.

Read more here.

The next NATO leaders summit will take place in Vilnius on July 11-12, NATO said on Wednesday.

The summit will be held for the first time in Lithuania and will focus on “strengthening the Alliance’s collective defence and deterrence and on increasing support for Ukraine,” according to a NATO press release.

“It is expected that Finland and Sweden will participate in the summit as full-fledged members of the Alliance for the first time in Vilnius,” NATO said.

Finland and Sweden both announced their intention to join NATO in May following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in a historic policy shift after decades of military non-alignment.

NATO formalized its invitation to the two countries on July 29, after Turkey dropped its long-standing opposition a month earlier, removing a major hurdle to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.

The ratification process usually takes about a year, as the parliaments of all individual 30 NATO countries need to approve new members.

CNN’s Sophie Tanno contributed to this report

After a public competition, Ukraine’s post office has released a holiday stamp designed by an 11th-grade girl from Mykolaiv,?Valeria Mykhailova.

Ukraine’s post office has released a holiday stamp designed by an 11th-grade girl from Mykolaiv,?Valeria Mykhailova,?who was forced to flee the country. The girl’s design was chosen after she won a public competition.

The illustration, called “Separated by War,” depicts a split image of a woman sitting by a Christmas tree, watching fireworks, and a man sheltering next to a wall, reloading his rifle.

“Everyone can understand the depth of this idea, as well as the emotions of the author herself, whose hometown has not been shelled for only 46 days since the beginning of the war,” Igor Smelyansky, the CEO of Ukrposhta, the Ukrainian postal service, said on Telegram.

“That is why I really want this Christmas and New Year stamp to become for you another symbol of invincibility and a reminder that we will stand against all odds and raise a glass to our victory on December 31, with or without electricity!” Smelyansky added.

U.S. basketball player?Brittney?Griner stands inside a defendants' cage in court in Khimki, Russia, on August 4.

Representatives for Brittney Griner have confirmed they do not know her current location or condition after attorneys for the US basketball star said she was being transferred to a Russian penal colony on Wednesday.

Some background: Last month, Griner lost her appeal against a nine-year drug sentence following her detention in February and conviction in August for deliberately smuggling drugs into Russia. She has repeatedly apologized for bringing a small amount of cannabis into the country, where she played basketball in the off-season.

Russian penal colonies are known for their lack of hygiene and access to medical care, with inmates often subjected to manual labor.

Russian forces hit the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro with self-detonating drone attacks early Wednesday, seriously wounding four and causing a large fire to break out, according to a spokesman for the Odesa regional administration.

CNN cannot independently confirm Bratchuk’s claim.?

Some context: Self-detonating drones have?played a significant role?in the conflict since Russia launched its invasion in late February. They are capable of circling for some time in an area identified as a potential target and striking only once an enemy asset is identified.

Russia has launched a series of drone attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks, striking vital civilian infrastructure and?sowing terror in Ukrainian cities?far from the front lines of the war.

US women’s basketball star Brittney Griner, is escorted from a courtroom after a hearing in Khimki just outside Moscow, on Aug. 4.

US women’s basketball star Brittney Griner is in the process of being moved to a Russian penal colony where she is due to serve the remainder of a nine-year drug smuggling sentence that was upheld in late October.

Griner “is now on her way to a penal colony,” her attorneys said in a statement to CNN Wednesday.

Read more here.

Kyiv’s forces destroyed two Russian ammunition depots in southern Ukraine on Tuesday, according to the Ukrainian military.

Ukraine’s Operational Command South said on Facebook Wednesday that the depots were in Snihurivka, Mykolaiv region, and Kostromka, in neighboring Kherson.

The command also listed losses for Russia across southern Ukraine over the past 24 hours, including four tanks, a “Tor-M2” anti-aircraft missile system, an “Acacia” self-propelled howitzer, two mortars and nine armored vehicle units.

Some 55 Russian troops were also killed, it added.

The statement said Russian forces were seeking out Ukrainian resistance activists and attempting to disrupt channels of information by dismantling mobile communication towers.

CNN cannot independently verify the Ukrainian military’s claims.?

Some context: Russia has probably lost half its main battle tanks and used up the majority of its precision-guided weapons in a war that has become a “massive strategic failure” for the Kremlin, Colin Kahl, the Pentagon’s Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, said Tuesday.?

Pro-Kremlin Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov attends a ceremony in Grozny, Russia on October 5, 2021.

Ramzan?Kadyrov, the?pro-Kremlin?leader?of?Russia’s Chechnya region, has?dismissed as “enemy propaganda” reports?that?his?loyalist?troops?suffered?heavy?losses?in?recent fighting?in?the Luhansk region of eastern?Ukraine.???

In a video posted to?his?Telegram account?late Tuesday, Kadyrov responded to Ukrainian claims?that?many Chechen troops from the Akhmat battalion?had been killed in the city of Lysychansk. Ukraine’s General Staff?said earlier that at least 30?Chechen?fighters had been killed?when their unit was destroyed?and up to 15?others wounded.

He claimed Chechen?squads?were “doing very well”?in Ukraine, adding his troops were preparing “more?surprises” for Ukrainian forces. “These?are?not empty words,”?he warned.

Chechen fighters: Kadyrov has been accused by international and independent observers of gross?human rights violations?in his home territory and beyond. He leads sizeable paramilitary forces that —? while formally a part of Russian security structures —? have personal loyalty to him.?

Destroyed Russian tanks and armored vehicles are seen in the liberated town of Lyman, Ukraine on October 5.

Russia has probably lost half its main battle tanks and used up the majority of its precision-guided weapons in a war that has become a “massive strategic failure” for the Kremlin, Colin Kahl, the Pentagon’s Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, said Tuesday.?

Kahl said Russia has suffered “tens of thousands of casualties” since the war began in February, which is “orders of magnitude” more than the Soviet Union suffered in Afghanistan.?

Kahl noted that there is considerable bipartisan support for Ukraine moving forward, but what that support looks like and what Ukraine’s military needs going forward may change.

Ukrainian forces fire a howitzer round toward Russian positions in the Donetsk Oblast on Tuesday.

Amid fierce fighting in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the “situation is complicated along the entire front line.”

He said Russian forces “suffer extremely large-scale losses, but their order has not changed — to reach the administrative borders of Donetsk region. We do not surrender a single centimeter of our land there. And I thank all our heroes who hold positions in Donbas.”

In the southern Kherson region, Zelensky said Ukrainian units were acting “carefully, thoroughly and in the interests of liberating our entire territory. We are strengthening our positions, breaking Russian logistics, consistently destroying the potential of the occupiers to keep the south of our country in occupation.”

Zelensky said work continued to restore normal life in the liberated areas. In two districts of Kharkiv region, he said, “more than a thousand households have their gas and electricity supply restored.”?

Across the country, repair work continued on energy facilities, he said.

“As of this evening, about 4 million Ukrainians in 14 regions and the city of Kyiv are cut off from electricity supply. But the majority of them are under stabilization power cut off schedules, not emergency ones.” The schedules implement 12 hours of power cuts a day.

US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaks with CNN on Tuesday, November 8.

The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has said that American support for Ukraine is “unwavering” and will continue until the nation “wins this war.”

When asked about reports that US officials have urged Ukraine?to signal that they are still open to diplomatic discussions with Russia, amid concerns that public support for the country’s war effort could wane, Thomas-Greenfield demurred.

The international community, she said, “wants justice for the people of Ukraine.”

“Any negotiations that take place have to take place with Ukraine in the driver’s seat,” she said. “They have to determine that, when they are ready for those negotiations, with the backing and support of the international community, following the charter that Russia has violated.”

The US and Russia have agreed to hold talks on the?single existing nuclear treaty?between the two countries in the near future, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Tuesday.

The New START treaty limits all deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons by Russia and the US.

The treaty —?the only one left regulating the two largest nuclear arsenals in the world — was extended by five years in February 2021 during the first weeks of Joe Biden’s presidency.

It requires both countries to allow on-site inspections of its nuclear weapons-related facilities by the other. Those inspections were paused in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A resumption of the inspections is expected to be a topic of discussion at the upcoming meetings, US officials said.

Diplomatic relations between Russia and the US are in the doldrums following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine with no end to the war in sight but US officials have viewed it as a positive development that Moscow has continued to express interest in the treaty, despite Putin’s alarming nuclear threats as the conflict rages on.

Russia has expressed a willingness to discuss extending the treaty and the US has said that negotiations would only happen once the on-site inspections resume.

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