Pentagon has seen "a number of Russian forces" cross back into Russia from the Kharkiv region
From CNN's Ellie Kaufman
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder speaks with reporters on September 13. (CNN)
The Pentagon said some Russian forces have crossed from the Kharkiv region back into Russia.
“We've seen a number of Russian forces, especially in the northeast, in the Kharkiv region, cross over the border back into Russia as they’ve retreated from the Ukrainian counter-offensive,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters during a briefing Tuesday.
But Russian forces still “do exist en masse in Ukraine,” Ryder said.
The US was not surprised that Ukraine forces “pushed as quickly as they have” in the counteroffensive, Ryder said, but based on reports that the Pentagon has seen “on the Russian military response, it was probably the Russians” who were surprised by the push.
3:33 a.m. ET, September 14, 2022
Ukraine says Russian troops are trying to gain ground in some regions and alleges widespread looting
From CNN's Tim Lister and Oleksandra Ochman
Several destroyed civilian cars are seen on a road near the town of Balakliia, Ukraine in Kharkiv region on September 13. (Glen Garanich/Reuters)
As Ukrainian units press their offensive in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Russian forces are trying to gain ground elsewhere, according to the Ukrainian military.
The military's General Staff, in its latest bulletin, said Ukrainian units had successfully repelled Russian attacks around the city of Bakhmut, while Russian artillery and air strikes continued to pound settlements near the front lines across Donetsk.
"During the day, the enemy carried out two missile strikes, eight air strikes and conducted 13 strikes from missile artillery systems," according to the military.
There was also Russian mortar and tank fire in the Zaporizhzhia region, the General Staff said.
Looting claims: The military claimed that in areas of Kharkiv and Luhansk, there was widespread looting from retreating Russian forces.
The General Staff said that on the Starobilsk-Luhansk highway, in the direction of Luhansk, "about 300 civilian cars, mostly with state license plates of the Kharkiv region were spotted – most on trailers driven by Russian military personnel."
It claimed that in the south, around the city of Polohy, Russian troops were also stealing private cars. And in Nova Kakhovka, in the Kherson region, Russians "began to massively remove furniture and household appliances from temporarily abandoned settlements."
CNN is unable to confirm the military's claims, but there has been widespread evidence of looting in Kharkiv and other previously occupied Russian areas.
Military shortage claims: The General Staff also claimed that the Russian military was moving up the graduation of cadets from some Defense Ministry academies, such as the Black Sea Higher Naval School, to make up for shortages of junior officers.
"The shortage of tactical-level commanders is due to the refusal of reserve officers to sign contracts amid recent events. The level of morale and psychological state of the enemy's personnel continues to decline," the General Staff asserted. "A significant number of servicemen do not return to military units after the end of their vacations."
1:23 p.m. ET, September 14, 2022
US House committees will get classified briefings on Ukraine, sources say
From CNN's Daniella Diaz and Melanie Zanona
Relevant US House of Representatives committees will get classified briefings on Ukraine over the next two weeks, multiple sources tell CNN.
The House Armed Services Committee will be briefed on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET, while the House Foreign Affairs Committee will also get a briefing next week, those sources said. Committee members from both parties are invited to attend.
The briefings come in the wake of Ukraine’s recent stunning advances on Russian-held territory. Lawmakers are also pushing to include additional Ukraine aid in the upcoming short-term government funding bill. Current funding expires Sept. 30.
3:33 a.m. ET, September 14, 2022
Zelensky adviser: Ukrainian counteroffensive continues but has "slowed down slightly"
From CNN’s Zeena Saifi
Ukraine continues to liberate swathes of territory from Russian occupation in the east, but presidential military adviser Oleksiy Arestovych says the country’s counteroffensive has slowed.
“The counteroffensive continues but has slowed down slightly because most of the Ukrainian forces are fighting to capture the city of Lyman, to open our way into the Luhansk region. We will intensify our strikes and liberate new territories in a different way,” he told CNN’s Becky Anderson in an interview.
Lyman, an important rail hub, is roughly 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of the strategically important Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk.
President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukrainian forces have taken 8,000 square kilometers of land since the beginning of the month. His adviser also said they conducted a storm operation that liberated “more than 300 settlements in four days.”
We prepared carefully for this. It has taken months of planning. We used reconnaissance and accuracy, we used our allies, especially the United States army, for information on this, and we used Western weapons,” Zelensky added.
During the recent offensive, Ukrainian forces managed to capture Russian weaponry that would support around three brigades in their fighting, Arestovych told CNN. He also said Russia suffered “huge casualties” and lost some soldiers who Ukraine had captured as prisoners of war. Asked by CNN whether they will be afforded the rights they are entitled to under the Geneva convention, he said “absolutely.”
“We are a European army and a European country, we follow international law. We do not break the Geneva Convention or other international conventions about the rules of war… We give them rights and the possibility to call home, their mothers, and fathers…and to speak with journalists if they want,” Arestovych continued.
Arestovych said Ukrainian forces used disinformation to trick Russian soldiers on the battlefield by making them think they were going to strike at Kherson.
“They thought we were going to start the main strike on the city of Kherson. We did start our strike on Kherson, but it was an assisted strike, not the main strike. The main strike we provided in the east of our country, and the Russians were completely surprised about this, because two months before, we were only speaking about the Kherson region. That’s why we liberated territory in four days that Russians tried to keep for about four months.” he said.
3:33 a.m. ET, September 14, 2022
US secretary of state warns Russia might "stir the pot" with Armenia and Azerbaijan to distract from Ukraine
From CNN's Michael Conte, Jennifer Hansler, Aren Melikyan and Eleni Giokos
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a State Department careers conversation at Purdue University on Tuesday, Sept. 13. (Darron Cummings/AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was concerned about whether Russia might try to “stir the pot” between Armenia and Azerbaijan “to create a distraction from Ukraine.”
“But, if Russia can actually use its own influence for good, which is to again calm the waters, end the violence, and urge people to engage in good faith on building peace, that would be a positive thing,” Blinken said while touring the Birck Nanotechnology Center at Purdue University in Indiana.
Blinken said he spoke last night with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan and “urged them to do everything possible to pull back from any conflict and to get back to talking about building a lasting peace between their countries.”
“We’d seen the outbreak of hostilities again, something that is in no one’s interest,” Blinken said.
Some more context: Russia claimed Tuesday it brokered a ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan after fighting erupted on the border between the two countries this week, bringing a decades-old conflict to the brink of reigniting.
We call on the parties to refrain from further escalation of the situation, exercise restraint and strictly observe the ceasefire in accordance with the trilateral statements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021," a Russian foreign ministry statement said.
"We are in close contact with Baku and Yerevan. An appeal was received from the Armenian leadership to assist in resolving the situation ... We expect that the agreement reached as a result of Russian mediation on a ceasefire from 9 a.m. Moscow time on September 13 will be carried out in full," the statement added.
The statement follows a call between Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Vladimir Putin earlier Tuesday. Local media in Azerbaijan also reported on the ceasefire but said it had already been broken.
