November 14, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Rhea Mogul, Jack Guy, Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN

Updated 12:25 a.m. ET, November 15, 2022
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7:48 a.m. ET, November 14, 2022

Ukraine working to restore power lines to Kherson after all four were destroyed

Damaged power lines in the northern Kherson region, Ukraine, on November 7.
Damaged power lines in the northern Kherson region, Ukraine, on November 7. (Hannibal Hanschke/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

“All possible measures” are being undertaken to restore electricity supply to the formerly occupied southern city of Kherson, Ukraine’s top official in the region said Monday.

“We must understand that all four power lines that supplied electricity to Kherson region are destroyed,” said Yaroslav Yanushevych, head of the Kherson region military administration, standing alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“In cooperation with NPC Ukrenergo (Ukraine's national energy company) we are working on solving this problem day and night," said Yanushevych. "The power will be restored in the near future.”

7:04 a.m. ET, November 14, 2022

Putin’s aim is to “leave Ukraine cold and dark this winter,” says NATO chief

From CNN’s Alex Hardie in London

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a joint news conference in The Hague, Netherlands, on November 14.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a joint news conference in The Hague, Netherlands, on November 14. (Piroschka Van de Wouw/Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aim is to “leave Ukraine cold and dark this winter,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson has shown the “incredible courage of Ukrainian armed forces,” said Stoltenberg. However, “it also shows the importance of our continued support to Ukraine.”

The NATO chief was speaking during a press conference in The Hague with Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra and Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren.

“We should not make the mistake of underestimating Russia. The Russian armed forces retain significant capabilities as well as a large number of troops and Russia has demonstrated the willingness to bear significant losses. They have also shown extreme brutality,” Stoltenberg said.

“The coming months will be difficult. Putin’s aim is to leave Ukraine cold and dark this winter so we must stay the course,” he added.

6:56 a.m. ET, November 14, 2022

"This is Russian territory," says Kremlin after Zelensky visits Kherson

From CNN's Anna Chernova

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in central Kherson, Ukraine, on November 14.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in central Kherson, Ukraine, on November 14. (President of Ukraine)

Asked to comment on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the formerly Russian-occupied city of Kherson on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the city was "Russian territory."

"No comment. This is Russian territory," Peskov said Monday during a regular call with reporters. 

Some context: Ukrainian forces swept into the city of Kherson on Friday as the Russian military withdrew from the west bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.

Elated civilians who had survived months of Russian occupation descended on Kherson’s central square, hugging newly arrived Ukrainian soldiers, snapping selfies with them, and waving Ukrainian flags.

The withdrawal delivered a major victory to Kyiv and marked one of the biggest setbacks for Russian President Vladimir Putin since his invasion began.

6:55 a.m. ET, November 14, 2022

Zelensky visits newly-retaken Kherson city, says "we are going forward"

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, center left, visits Kherson, Ukraine, on November 14.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, center left, visits Kherson, Ukraine, on November 14. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the formerly Russian-occupied city of Kherson on Monday.

In a video circulating on Telegram, Zelensky told a group of reporters that he thought it was necessary to visit the city.

“The military takes risks every day, journalists take risks,” he said. “I think it is necessary to be here and talk about Kherson residents, to support people. To make them feel that we are not only talking about it, but we are really returning, really raising our flag.”

“I would also like, in a human way, to get the emotion, the energy from people. It is motivating.”

Zelensky said that “peace for our country is all our country, all our territory.”

“We are step by step coming to our country, to all the temporarily occupied territories,” he told the media during an unannounced visit to the city. “And of course it’s a pity, but it’s a long way, a difficult way, because this war took the best heroes of our country.”

“We are going forward. We are ready for peace. But our peace for our country is all our country, all our territory," added Zelensky.

"We respect the law and respect sovereignty of all the countries. But now we are speaking about our country. That’s why we are fighting against Russian aggression.”

Some context: Crowds have been celebrating the liberation of Kherson city after Ukrainian forces swept into the regional capital and Russian troops retreated to the east on Friday.

But life remains far from normal, with authorities warning residents to be wary of explosives littering the city, and Russian forces still nearby — just across the strategically important Dnipro River.

5:33 a.m. ET, November 14, 2022

Ukraine claims 12 Luhansk settlements recaptured since start of counteroffensive

Ukrainian forces have recaptured 12 settlements in Luhansk since initiating a counteroffensive in September, the top Ukrainian official for the eastern region said Monday.

“The advance is not easy,” said Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, on national television. “Every meter passed in the Luhansk region is a continuous struggle for the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine].”

The Ukrainian military began a slow probe into the Luhansk region in September, after a rapid advance in the neighboring Kharkiv region.

The village of Makiivka was liberated Sunday, according to the military administration, and Ukrainian forces have in recent weeks been pushing towards the road connecting Svatove and Kreminna. For several weeks, they have said that the road is under their "fire control," meaning that the Russian military can only use it with a high risk of coming under fire.

“There is heavy fighting in Luhansk region every day,” Hayday said. “The recently de-occupied settlements are being heavily shelled.”

“The occupiers know exactly where they are firing, as they were knocked out of these settlements a few days ago and they know how many civilians are there and where they are. That is why we are trying to establish evacuation.”

3:08 a.m. ET, November 14, 2022

"I am not afraid of the dark anymore": Orphaned Ukrainian boy finds hope with new family

From CNN's Salma Abdelaziz and Dennis Lapin in Kyiv

Ilya, center, has found new happiness with Vladimir Bespalov and Maria Bespalaya after losing both parents in the first week of the war.
Ilya, center, has found new happiness with Vladimir Bespalov and Maria Bespalaya after losing both parents in the first week of the war. (Maria Bespalaya)

When Russian forces invaded their country in late February, Vladimir Bespalov and Maria Bespalaya feared their long-held dream of starting a family through adoption was over.

“I remember that morning of Feb. 24, very clearly,” said Vladimir Bespalov, a 27-year-old railroad worker, of the first day of the war. “We thought we were too late. We realized we were already in a state of war, and we thought we could no longer adopt.”

Instead, the situation pushed the couple to try to do it sooner, he said. “We were waiting to earn more money, have a better car, buy a house, and build something to give our children first. But when the war started, we thought why not adopt a child now and accomplish these things together as a family.”

That day, the married couple, who were living in eastern Ukraine, posted an appeal on social media.

“We want to adopt any boy or girl, any newborn or child,” it read.

Weeks later that message would reach a volunteer helping those fleeing Mariupol, a southern city that became emblematic of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ruthless campaign to take Ukrainian land, no matter the cost.

Residents were forced underground for weeks while Russian troops pummeled the city with artillery. It is now a virtual wasteland, with nearly every building damaged or destroyed, and an unknown number of dead beneath the rubble.

Among the survivors was 6-year-old Ilya Kostushevich, orphaned and alone. Both his parents were killed in the first week of the war.

His mother was struck down by Russian artillery after she left home to find food for her family, Bespalov and Bespalaya were later to learn from police.

Unaware of his wife’s fate, Ilya’s father went looking for her the next day, only to be killed by shelling from Moscow’s army, too, police said.

Little Ilya has told how he was left at a neighbor’s house, where he sheltered in a cold, dark basement with strangers for weeks.

He got so hungry he started to eat his toys, Bespalaya said.

Read more here.

3:11 a.m. ET, November 14, 2022

Ukraine's military warns Russia may increase attacks in liberated Kherson

Local residents surround Ukrainian soldiers as they celebrate the liberation of Kherson on November 13.
Local residents surround Ukrainian soldiers as they celebrate the liberation of Kherson on November 13. (AFP/Getty Images)

The Ukrainian military on Monday warned that Russia may be planning to step up attacks on newly liberated parts of the southern Kherson region.

“The enemy is intensifying aerial reconnaissance, which may indicate that they are planning to strike at both military and civilian targets,” the Ukrainian military’s General Staff said in its regular update on Monday.

On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the situation in Kherson "is still very dangerous," adding that the “detention of Russian soldiers and mercenaries who were left behind, and neutralization of saboteurs, are also ongoing.”

In its update Monday, the General staff said the threat from mines "remains high" in liberated parts of Kherson.

“Units of the Defense Forces continue to carry out stabilization measures,” it said.

The warning comes after a family of four, including an 11-year-old child, were injured in an explosion after their car hit a mine in Kherson on Sunday, according to Ukrainian officials.

2:18 a.m. ET, November 14, 2022

Mine explosion injures family of 4 in Kherson, Ukrainian official says

A family of four people traveling by car was injured in a mine explosion Sunday in an area of the southern Kherson region formerly occupied by Russian troops, according to a top Ukrainian official.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the President’s Office, said an 11-year-old child was among those wounded.

"Russian terrorists left behind a lot of mines and tripwires," Tymoshenko said in a Telegram post. "We tirelessly ask people to be cautious and refrain from traveling on those roads that have not yet been checked by experts."

Some context: On Saturday, crowds celebrated the liberation of Kherson city after Ukrainian forces swept into the regional capital and Russian troops retreated to the east. But life remains far from normal, with authorities warning residents to be wary of explosives littering the city, and Russian forces still nearby — just across the strategically important Dnipro River.

1:12 a.m. ET, November 14, 2022

Ukrainian mayor says Russian occupiers have turned Melitopol into a "giant military base"

From CNN's Mariya Knight in Atlanta 

A Russia flag flies in the city of Melitopol, on October 13.
A Russia flag flies in the city of Melitopol, on October 13. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

The mayor of the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, says Russian forces have turned the city into a "huge military base" while under their occupation.

Melitopol has been held by Russian forces since the early days of the invasion. 

“Russians turned captured Melitopol and the Melitopol district into a huge military complex,” Fedorov wrote in a Telegram post on Sunday. “Columns of occupiers are arriving in Melitopol both from the Kherson side and from the side of the temporarily occupied city of Tokmak in Zaporizhzhia region.” 
“Fortifications are being built around the perimeter of the city of Melitopol,” he added. “The Russian military is settling in local houses they seized, schools and kindergartens. Military equipment is stationed in residential areas.” 

Fedorov also reported that “civilians are prohibited from approaching the area of ​​the Melitopol airfield.”