November 28, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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

The Ukrainian city of Dnipro was the target of a Russian rocket attack Monday night, according to Valentyn Reznichenko, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.

He did not disclose the identity of the enterprise.?

Some background: Dnipro is frequently targeted by Russian missiles and other longer-range weapons. On Saturday, Reznichenko said at least 13 people were wounded in a Russian rocket attack.

More than half of the damaged heating facilities in Ukraine have been restored, according to the YASNO energy company, which supplies electricity and natural gas.?

The company’s CEO said “316 heat supply facilities have already been restored, which is 53.3% of the total number of affected facilities.”

“Special efforts are now being made to restore the operation of heat generating enterprises in the liberated territories of Kharkiv and Kherson regions, where the situation with access to communications remains difficult,” he added.

The Pentagon is seen on March 3.

The Biden administration has approved a potential $323 million arms sale to Finland, which shares a border with Russia.

The administration informed Congress on Monday of its approval of the possible sale of tactical missiles and Joint Stand Off Weapons, the US State Department said in a notice.

The approval of the proposed sale comes as Finland seeks to join NATO.?

“The proposed sale will improve Finland’s air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons capabilities and will positively impact U.S. relations with countries in the Nordic region,” the notice continued. “Finland intends to use these defense articles and services for its fighter aircraft fleet. Finland will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.”

A woman walks through the city center in Kyiv which lost electrical power on November 24.

The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv is experiencing yet another spate of emergency power restrictions in addition to already scheduled blackouts.

The sustained power outages come as Ukraine scrambles to find equipment to repair power infrastructure damaged and destroyed by Russian missile attacks. Freezing temperatures and less daylight are compounding the hardship for people.

Here are the latest developments:

Ukrainians board the Kherson-Kyiv train at the Kherson railway station in southern Ukraine on November 21.

The United Nations says that the situation in the southern Ukrainian cities of Mykolaiv and Kherson remains “dire” and “critical.” Nearly a quarter of a million people in Mykolaiv alone face a lack of heat, water and power.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown visited the two southern cities over the weekend. Brown reported that people fleeing Kherson are going to Mykolaiv, according to Dujarric.

“Some heating points have already been established in Mykolaiv to help people who cannot heat their homes. Aid workers are providing supplies and generators to make these places functional,” Dujarric said.

In Kherson, “We expect that, with support of the authorities, we will be able to cover the basic needs of people who have stayed in the city, if we are able to sustain the same level of aid sent over the past two weeks.”??

Donors have provided $3.1 billion in humanitarian aid through the UN this year, but Dujarric said continued funding is important to “maintain the moment or the response,” especially during winter months.

“We continue to be concerned about the plight of civilians in Ukraine especially as winter sets in. We are working to support people with services and supplies to make sure they can be protected and keep warm during these harsh months,” Dujarric said.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visit an exhibition at the Louvre Museum in Paris on November 22.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine, among other topics, during his upcoming state visit to the United States, according to a French official.?

Macron is slated to arrive in Washington, DC, on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, he’ll have a number of working sessions focused on space, biodiversity, climate and nuclear energy.

Political discussions, the official said, will begin at the White House Thursday morning following a welcoming ceremony. The private discussions will be followed by a news conference with Macron and US President Joe Biden.?

Macron will subsequently attend a state lunch at the US State Department hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the official said. He’ll later meet with a bicameral, bipartisan group of US lawmakers at the invitation of the Speaker of the House.

French ministers and parliament members are also expected to be part of Macron’s delegation traveling to the US for the state visit.?

“We want to adapt our support for Ukraine in this moment and France will organize together with Ukraine,” they added, saying it was an important moment to reaffirm and adapt and increase support for Ukraine and face the global challenges which are interconnected and worsened by the war in Ukraine.?

Strategic defense, energy and space are “at the core of the bilateral partnership side” of Macron’s state visit in Washington, the official said.

Ukrainian military's Grad multiple rocket launcher fires rockets at Russian positions in the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on November 24.

Intense fighting continues around the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, according to both Russian and Ukrainian accounts.

The city has become an important target for Russian forces, which have had no success in recent months in winning territory in eastern Ukraine and have been forced to withdraw from many areas. Social media video over recent days has illustrated the immense destruction in Bakhmut, where thousands of people still live, without power and piped water.

Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said on Monday that Russian forces were now close to encircling Bakhmut.

“The situation in Bakhmut remains difficult, but our units, in particular the Wagner group unit, are definitely moving forward,” Pushilin said on Russian television.

Wagner is a private military contractor whose fighters have played a significant role in the fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk.

“There is also success in the vicinity of Bakhmut. The situation of the operational encirclement is quite close,” Pushilin claimed.

What Ukraine is saying: Ukrainians have acknowledged Russian offensives in the area but deny losing any ground.

The Ukrainian military’s General Staff said Monday that “the enemy continues to focus its main efforts on conducting offensive operations,” listing about half-a-dozen settlements in the Bakhmut area.

Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the military in the east, said on Ukrainian television Monday that “Bakhmut remains the epicenter of the main battle for Ukraine. The enemy acts most aggressively in this direction. He conducts attacks and fire strikes. On average, the enemy inflicts about 180-200 artillery strikes per day.”

A man carries plastic bottles after refilling them at a tank in Mykolaiv on October 24.

The city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine suffered another strike to its water supply, according to mayor?Oleksandr Sienkievych.

Sienkievych said that a pumping station in neighboring Kherson had been damaged — and the city was now reliant on non-potable water “for an indefinite period of time.”

The strike is part of a Russian campaign to attack Ukrainian infrastructure providing water, power and heat as winter sets in.

He said repair work continued on networks that were destroyed by salt water.

“As soon as the security situation allows, we will promptly restore the pumping station and return drinking water to Mykolaiv city,” the mayor said.

The governor of Kherson region,?Yaroslav?Yanushevych, speaks to a soldier in Kherson's Freedom Square, in Kherson, Ukraine, on November 16.

Civilians continue to leave the recently liberated Ukrainian city of Kherson amid persistent shelling of residential areas by Russian forces stationed on the east bank of the Dnipro river.

Much of the city remains without power and water.?

Yaroslav Yanushevych, head of the Kherson region military administration, said the Kherson district had been hit 30 times Sunday.

He said the town of Beryslav and surrounding settlements further upstream had also been shelled.

One person had been killed, Yanushevych said.

He said trains would take civilians to safer regions.

The Kherson region military administration also said that power supply had been restored to 17% of household consumers in Kherson.

Equipment from Germany for the Kherson hospital’s intensive care unit was delivered, while 62 base and 3 portable mobile communication stations had been restored.

At the same time, the Ukrainian security service (SBU) says it arrested three more alleged collaborators in the region, including the acting head of the local detention center and his deputy.

Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launchers parade through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow, Russia, on May 9.

The Biden administration blamed Russia for postponing meetings to discuss the nuclear arms agreement between the two countries that were scheduled to begin in Egypt on Tuesday, with a State Department Spokesperson saying the decision was made “unilaterally” by Russia.?

“The United States and the Russian Federation were set to convene a meeting of the New START Treaty’s Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC) in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss New START Treaty implementation on Tuesday, November 29.?The Russian side informed the United States that Russia has unilaterally postponed the meeting and stated that it would propose new dates,” the spokesperson said.?

The US “is ready to reschedule at the earliest possible date as resuming inspections is a priority for sustaining the treaty as an instrument of stability,” the spokesperson added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry told Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti that the talks had been postponed, but did not give a reason for the delay.?

“The session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission on the Russian-American START Treaty, previously scheduled in Cairo (November 29 - December 6), will not take place on the dates indicated. The event has been postponed to a later date,” the ministry said.

The date for the rescheduled talks remains unclear.

The New START Treaty puts limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that both the US and Russia can have. Under the treaty, Washington and Moscow conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites.?But due to COVID-19 inspections have been halted since 2020.?

The treaty was last extended in early 2021 for five years. Under the treaty, Washington and Moscow conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites. However, the inspections had been halted since 2020 due to the pandemic, and complications arose when the US attempted to resume inspections earlier this year

Earlier this month Biden administration officials viewed it as a positive development that the New START talks are happening, particularly as they were set to occur in the wake of Moscow’s nuclear saber-rattling toward Ukraine.?

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated when the nuclear talks are set to begin. The talks begin Tuesday.

The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv is experiencing yet another spate of emergency power restrictions in addition to already scheduled blackouts.

“We do our best to supply electricity to each customer for 2-3 hours twice a day,” DTEK said. “As soon as we manage to balance the situation, we will return to scheduled outages.”

The sustained power outages come as Ukraine scrambles to find equipment to repair power infrastructure damaged and destroyed by Russian missile attacks.

Sub-zero temperatures and less daylight are compounding the hardship for people.

A vehicle drives past during a blackout after a Russian rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 23.

Ukraine’s electricity operator Ukrenergo is running at a 27% deficit, the company said on Monday.

Ukrenergo said in a statement on Telegram that it had implemented a series of “emergency shutdowns” across the country at “several power plants”.?

Given deteriorating weather conditions, power usage is on the rise, it added, saying that it hoped the power deficit would reduce as “units return to operation.”

Seven waves of Russian missiles contributed to the recent outages, it claimed. CNN is unable to independently verify the number of missile waves.

U.S. basketball player Brittney?Griner is escorted in a court building in Khimki court house, outside Moscow, Russia, on August 4.

Washington and Moscow continue to discuss the release of US prisoners Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, the US Chargé d’Affaires in Russia told Russian state media Monday.

“As we have already said, the United States has submitted a serious proposal for consideration. We worked on this proposal and offered alternatives. Unfortunately, no serious response has been received from the Russian Federation to this proposal,” Elizabeth Rood said in an interview with Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.

“I mean a response that would help us come to an agreement,” she added.

US basketball star Griner is imprisoned in Russia after being convicted of deliberately smuggling drugs into the country in October. There are concerns she is being?used as a political pawn in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Whelan is a US citizen who has been wrongfully detained in Russia for nearly four years.

According to Rood,?Griner has not complained about the conditions of her detention in a penal colony and the issue of visiting her is now being worked out.

“As far as we understood from talking to her, she is healthy and doing as well as can be expected in her difficult circumstances,” said Rood.

She added that the embassy staff would visit her “as soon as the Russian authorities give us permission.”

Russian forces have hit communities in near Nikopol – which lies across the river from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – with more than 30 shells.

Meanwhile, Russian-backed authorities say Moscow is not planning to withdraw from the Zaporizhzia plant despite Ukrainian claims to the contrary.

Here are the latest headlines:

Shelling near Nikopol: Russian shelling hit Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region overnight, a local Ukrainian official said Monday.?More than 30 shells landed but there were no casualties despite the fact that three communities near the city of Nikopol were hit with heavy artillery.?

Russian forces not planning to leave nuclear plant: Russian-backed authorities have hit back against Ukrainian claims that Moscow is planning to leave the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.?The administration of Russian-occupied Enerhodar has accused Ukraine of “actively spreading fakes” about a possible Russian withdrawal from the area.

US and Russia managing nuclear risks: The two nations have ways to manage nuclear risks through talks between intelligence agencies, according to senior US diplomat Elizabeth Rood, Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Moscow. Rood’s comments come after CIA director Bill Burns met with his Russian intelligence counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, in Turkey earlier this month.

Sunak commits to Ukraine support: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to reaffirm Britain’s commitment to Kyiv amid Russia’s war, saying the country will “stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” in his first major foreign policy speech since taking office. Sunak is also expected to set out a so-called “evolutionary” approach to countries including Russia and China.

CNN military analyst, retired Colonel Cedric Leighton, explains how the changing seasons could affect military strategy on both sides in Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Watch the video below:

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The?Zaporizhzhia?nuclear?power?plant?outside Enerhodar in the?Zaporizhzhia?region of Russian-controlled Ukraine, on October 14.

Russian-backed authorities have hit back against Ukrainian claims that Moscow is planning to leave the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP).

The administration of Russian-occupied Enerhodar has accused Ukraine of “actively spreading fakes” about a possible Russian withdrawal from the area.

Writing on Telegram, the occupying administration said “this information does not correspond to reality” and that Zaporizhzhia NPP “remains under Russian control.”

On Sunday, Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s nuclear energy provider, said the company had received information that Russian forces may be preparing to leave the facility.

Kotin emphasized that “it is still too early to say that the Russian military is leaving the plant,’ but that they are “preparing.”

However the Russian-backed administration said that Rosenegeatom, a Russian state-run firm, has announced plans to “create a back-up power supply source for Zaporizhzhia NPP.”?

A source at Rosenegeatom is quoted as saying that the company took into account “the great importance of the power supply reserve for the nuclear safety of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, especially in winter.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency has not released any information supporting Kotin’s statement and CNN has reached out to the UN nuclear watchdog for comment.

The plant and the area around it, including the nearby city of Enerhodar, have endured persistent shelling that has raised fears of a nuclear accident through the interruption of the power supply to the plant. Russia and Ukraine continue to?blame each other for the shelling.

British Prime Minister Rishi?Sunak?speaks during Prime Minister's weekly question time debate, at the House of Commons in London, England, on November 2.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is to set out a so-called “evolutionary” approach to countries including Russia and China on Monday, as he delivers his first major foreign policy speech since taking office.?

“Our adversaries and competitors plan for the long term. In the face of these challenges, short-termism or wishful thinking will not suffice … So we will make an evolutionary leap in our approach,” Sunak is expected to say in his speech to diplomats and business leaders at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London, according to a government press release.?

“This means being stronger in defending our values and the openness on which our prosperity depends. It means delivering a stronger economy at home – because it is the foundation of our strength abroad. And it means standing up to our competitors, not with grand rhetoric but with robust pragmatism.”

UK inflation has hit record highs recently amid political chaos and a cost-of-living crisis.

Sunak will also stress the importance of reinvigorating relationships in Europe following Brexit, as well as his plans to deepen ties in the Indo-Pacific region, the press release said.?

The prime minister is also expected to reaffirm Britain’s commitment to Ukraine amid Russia’s war, saying the country will “stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

“We will maintain or increase our military aid next year. And we will provide new support for air defense, to protect the Ukrainian people and the critical infrastructure that they rely on,” he is expected to pledge.

The United States and Russia have ways to manage nuclear risks through talks between intelligence agencies, a senior US diplomat told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti in a video released Monday.

The comments from Elizabeth Rood, Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Moscow, come after CIA director Bill Burns met with his Russian intelligence counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, in Turkey earlier this month.

The Biden administration has dispatched Burns several times over the past year for talks with the Russians, using the veteran diplomat and former US ambassador to Russia as a key intermediary as US-Russia relations have continued to decline.

US prisoners: In a second video released by RIA, Rood said Washington continues to talk with Moscow about the release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, two US citizens jailed in Russia.?

“The United States, as we have said, has put a significant proposal on the table. We have followed up on that proposal and we have proposed alternatives,” she said. “Unfortunately, so far, the Russian Federation has not provided a serious response to those proposals.”

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand contributed reporting to this post.

Valentyn Reznichenko during a visit in Dnipro on July 8.

Russian shelling hit?Ukraine’s?central Dnipropetrovsk?region overnight, a local Ukrainian official said Monday.

Valentyn Reznichenko, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said in a Telegram post there were no casualties but three communities near the city of Nikopol were hit with heavy artillery.

Some context: Nikopol is located across the river from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces since March. On Sunday, the head of Ukraine’s nuclear energy provider said the company had received information that the Russians were preparing to leave the plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency has not released any information supporting the statement by Energoatom chief Petro?Kotin, and CNN has reached out to the UN nuclear watchdog for comment.

Russian attacks in Ukraine have damaged about 32,000 civilian targets and more than 700 critical infrastructure facilities?since?the?invasion began in February, a Ukrainian government official said Sunday.

“As one would expect of the terrorists, Russians target civilian targets. To date, about 32,000 such targets have been damaged by Russian missiles and shells. These are primarily private houses or?civilian?apartment buildings,” Yevhenii Yenin, a?Ukrainian diplomat, said in an interview with Ukrainian media Sunday.??

“Only 3% of recorded attacks have been on military facilities,” he added.?

“As of now, more than 700 critical infrastructure facilities — airfields, bridges, oil depots, electricity substations, etc — all of these got hit,” Yenin said.?

Russia has repeatedly targeted civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, causing widespread power outages ahead of winter. CNN has not independently verified the specific numbers cited by Yenin.

President of Ukraine's nuclear energy agency Energoatom Petro Kotin in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 9.

Ukraine can get by for the next two years with its existing nuclear fuel reserves, the president of?the country’s state nuclear company said Sunday.

Petro Kotin, who heads Energoatom, made the comment in an interview with Ukrainian media.

Since the start of the war, Ukraine has not bought Russian nuclear fuel, relying on its own reserves. Energoatom says it is transitioning any units from its nuclear power plants that relied on Russian fuel to Westinghouse Electric, a?Pennsylvania-based,?nuclear-focused technology?company?in the United States.?

The head of Ukraine’s nuclear energy provider says the company has received information that Russian forces may be preparing to leave the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

“First of all, a lot of publications began to appear in the Russian media that the Zaporizhzhia NPP should perhaps be left alone, perhaps it should be handed over to the (International Atomic Energy Agency) for control,” Kotin said in an interview with Ukrainian media Sunday. “It’s like, you know, they’re packing and they’re stealing whatever they can find.”?

The IAEA has not released any information supporting Kotin’s statement, and CNN has reached out to the UN nuclear watchdog for comment.

The head of Energoatom emphasized that “it is still too early to say that the Russian military is leaving the plant,” but that they are “preparing.”?

Kotin also claimed that Russians “crammed everything they could into the Zaporizhzhia NPP site — both military equipment and personnel, trucks, probably with weapons and explosives,” and that they mined the territory of the plant.?

Remember:?Zaporizhzhia is home to?Europe’s largest nuclear power facility, which provided up to 20% of the country’s electricity before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February. It has been under Russian control since March.

The plant and the area around it, including the nearby city of Enerhodar, have endured persistent shelling that has raised fears of a nuclear accident through the interruption of the power supply to the plant. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the shelling.

A group of mothers of Russian soldiers joined an activist group to demand the withdrawal of Moscow’s troops from Ukraine, launching a petition online Sunday.

The drive, organized by the Russian?Feminist Anti-War Resistance?group, coincides with Mother’s Day in Russia.

The petition is?published on Change.org?and addressed to parliamentarians on relevant committees of the State Duma and the Federation Council. The petition had over 1,500 signatures by 5:45 p.m. Moscow time (9:45 a.m. ET) Sunday, and the number was climbing.

The appeal describes the mothers of conscripts and mobilized soldiers as being “forced to humiliatingly knock on the thresholds of city administrations,” trying to return their men home. They hold pickets, write collective appeals, file petitions, but “no one hears them,” the petition reads.

“We are against the participation of our sons, brothers, husbands, fathers in this. Your duty is to protect the rights and freedoms of mothers and children, you should not turn a blind eye to all this.”

Power,?water, heat, internet and network coverage have “been almost completely restored” in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv as of 9 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) Sunday, the city military administration wrote on Telegram.?

Authorities said crews have entered the final stage of repair work on the?power?grid system.

Officials also said most of the city’s residents are no longer experiencing emergency blackouts — imposed last month to limit the consumption of energy — as a result of the restored and stable?power?supply and low consumption by citizens.?