November 16, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Tara Subramaniam, Sana Noor Haq, Ed Upright, Adrienne Vogt, Aditi Sangal and Mike Hayes, CNN

Updated 1:02 a.m. ET, November 17, 2022
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2:51 p.m. ET, November 16, 2022

Polish President Duda meets with US CIA director in Warsaw, Polish security official says

From CNN's Chris Liakos and Katie Bo Lillis

Polish President Andrzej Duda met with CIA Director Bill Burns in Warsaw Wednesday after an incident in eastern Poland that left two people dead, according to Poland’s National Security Bureau chief, Jacek Siewiera.

“In the evening, the President @AndrzejDuda spoke with the head of the CIA, William Burns, who is in Warsaw after his visits to Ankara and Kiev,” Siewera wrote in a post on Twitter sharing a picture of the meeting.

He added that the general security situation as well as the context of the recent events were discussed. “Lots of work on the PL-US line today.”

A US official told CNN that Burns had previously scheduled meetings with Polish officials including Duda. They discussed the current situation and the director reaffirmed the US commitment to providing support to Ukraine and thanked Poland for its continued partnerships including in intelligence channels, according to the official.

Poland has said that it will continue to jointly investigate with the US the site where a missile landed on Tuesday.

1:54 p.m. ET, November 16, 2022

Top US general tried to speak with Russian counterpart on Tuesday but attempts were "unsuccessful"

From CNN's Ellie Kaufman

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley attempted to speak with his Russian counterpart Gen. Valery Gerasimov on Tuesday following the missile that fell in Poland, but the attempts were not successful, Milley said during a press conference at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

Milley spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, his Polish counterpart and other chiefs of defense in Europe after the explosion in Poland yesterday, he said.

“My staff was unsuccessful in getting me linked up with General Gerasimov,” Milley said.

“I did talk to my Ukrainian counterpart, Gen. [Valerii] Zaluzhny — talked to him several times in fact — also Polish counterpart and several other (chiefs of defense) in Europe,” he added.

#Poland##

1:45 p.m. ET, November 16, 2022

Top US general: Russia has lost strategically, operationally and tactically

From CNN's Michael Conte

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley speaks at a press conference at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on November 16.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley speaks at a press conference at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on November 16. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Image)

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley says Russia has failed "every single" objective in its war against Ukraine.

“Russians have failed every single time. They’ve lost strategically, they’ve lost operationally and, I repeat, they lost tactically. What they’ve tried to do, they failed at,” Milley said Wednesday at a press conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. “The strategic reframing of their objectives, of their illegal invasion, have all failed, every single one of them.”

Milley listed Russia’s failure to “overrun all of Ukraine” at the start of the war as well as after their refocus on the Donbas region and the capture of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

“Across the entire frontline trace of some 900 or so kilometers, the Ukrainians have achieved success after success after success, and the Russians have failed every single time,” said Milley.

2:16 p.m. ET, November 16, 2022

US defense head: No contradiction of assessment that Ukrainian defense missile caused Polish explosion

From CNN's Ellie Kaufman

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speak to members of the press at the Pentagon on November 16 in Arlington, Virginia.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speak to members of the press at the Pentagon on November 16 in Arlington, Virginia. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The US has seen no information so far that contradicts Polish President Andrzej Duda’s “preliminary assessment” that the explosion in Poland yesterday that left two dead “was most likely the result of a Ukrainian defense missile,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at a press conference at the Pentagon on Wednesday. 

“Whatever the final conclusions may be, the world knows that Russia bears ultimately responsibility for this incident,” Austin added. 

The US has “full confidence” in the Polish government’s investigation into it, Austin said.

“They’ve been conducting that investigation in a professional and deliberate manner, and so we won’t get ahead of their work. We’re going to stay in close touch with our Polish counterparts as well as with our NATO allies and other valued partners,” Austin said. 

The explosion in Poland and Russia’s continued attacks against civilian infrastructure are “another reminder of the recklessness of Russia’s war of choice,” Austin said.

1:52 p.m. ET, November 16, 2022

US says it is confident in Polish investigation into deadly missile incident

From CNN's Sam Fossum

Polish police officers search for missile wreckage in a field in Przewodow, Poland, on November 16.
Polish police officers search for missile wreckage in a field in Przewodow, Poland, on November 16. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

The United States said it has "full confidence" in the Polish investigation into the missile that killed two people near the country's border with Ukraine.

The "party ultimately responsible" for the incident is Russia for its ongoing invasion, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a written statement Wednesday. 

"We have full confidence in the Polish government’s investigation of the explosion near their border with Ukraine, and we commend them for the professional and deliberate manner in which they are conducting it," Watson wrote.

"We have seen nothing that contradicts President Duda’s preliminary assessment that this explosion was most likely the result of a Ukrainian air defense missile that unfortunately landed in Poland," she added.

Earlier Wednesday, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that the missile that hit his country Tuesday was "probably an accident" from Ukraine's air defenses and that "there is no indication that this was an intentional attack on Poland." 

"That said, whatever the final conclusions may be, it is clear that the party ultimately responsible for this tragic incident is Russia, which launched a barrage of missiles on Ukraine specifically intended to target civilian infrastructure. Ukraine had — and has — every right to defend itself," Watson said.

11:39 a.m. ET, November 16, 2022

Ukrainian security Service says Russian "torture chamber" in Kherson discovered

From CNN's Julia Kesaieva

A Ukrainian police officer stands at a preliminary detention centre which Ukrainians say was used by Russian service members to jail and torture people in Kherson, Ukraine, on November 16.
A Ukrainian police officer stands at a preliminary detention centre which Ukrainians say was used by Russian service members to jail and torture people in Kherson, Ukraine, on November 16. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)

The Ukrainian Security Service (the SBU) says it has discovered another "torture chamber" allegedly used by Russian forces during the occupation of Kherson.

The Russians had "kept local patriots who refused to cooperate with the enemy in inhuman conditions," the SBU said.

"Kherson residents were interrogated and brutally tortured. During the inspection of the torture chamber, law enforcement officers found items that directly indicate signs of torture." 

12:18 p.m. ET, November 16, 2022

NATO should "keep a cool head" following missile incident in Poland, Estonia's prime minister tells CNN

From CNN’s Emmet Lyons and Arnaud Siad

Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas arrives for the second day of a EU leaders Summit at The European Council Building in Brussels, Belgium, on October 21.
Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas arrives for the second day of a EU leaders Summit at The European Council Building in Brussels, Belgium, on October 21. (Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images)

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told CNN that NATO allies must “keep a cool head” in light of Tuesday’s missile incident in Poland that left two people dead.

“I think we really have to keep a cool head, knowing there might be a spillover effect, especially to those countries that are very close [to Ukraine],” Kallas told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview Wednesday.

“This is up to the Polish government to say how they want to address this,” she said.

On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that "materials collected by our services and provided by our allies most probably indicate that the explosion in Przewodów, in eastern Poland, was caused by the shooting down and destruction of a Russian missile." Polish President Andrzej Duda said that the missile was "probably an accident" from Ukraine's air defenses.

Russia blamed Ukraine's air defense system for the missile explosion and said there was "a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation." 

Estonian leader Kallas told Amanpour that NATO allies should see the bigger picture when it comes to the incident. 

“Of course, Russia wants to concentrate on this one incident, but the problem is Russia is waging a full-scale war in Ukraine,” the Estonian prime minister told CNN.

“Yesterday, they did [their] biggest rocket attacks so far, hitting civilian infrastructure, hitting civilians everywhere, trying to make Ukraine really run out of electricity, bombing the electricity grid so it will be dark and very cold. This is the reason we’re talking about this," Kallas said about Russian missiles striking across the country on Tuesday.

“We must understand that Russia’s aim is to terrorize us, to say that now the war is spilling over the borders, and now we have to stop. Actually, it’s vice versa. The only thing the aggressor understands is strength and we have to show this unity and resolve," she added.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that one of NATO's top priorities at the moment is to provide more air defense systems to Ukraine.

Kallas told Amanpour that “air defense, all the equipment that we have, must be given to Ukraine so they can defend themselves.”

“I can’t look into their warehouses, and see what they [NATO members] actually have, but I can call on the leaders of NATO allies who have more, and say ‘please look to your storage, look to your warehouses, find things that you have, do agreements with [the] private sector who is developing equipment,' so that we can send top equipment to Ukraine and end this war once and for all,” Kallas said.

10:44 a.m. ET, November 16, 2022

Russian says delegation was denied visas to participate in session of security organization in Warsaw

From CNN's Katharina Krebs and Radina Gigova

Russia's delegation won't attend the fall session of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is set to take place next week in Warsaw, because Poland has rejected the delegation members' visas, a senior Russian official said Wednesday. 

Admission of the Russian delegation to the OSCE session "would violate the principle of solidarity with Ukraine," the head of Poland’s delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Barbara Bartus, said in response to the request for visas, according to Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy chair of the Russian Federation Council Committee on International Affairs. 

"Unfortunately, we received an outrageous response from the head of the Polish delegation to the OSCE parliamentary assembly, Ms. Bartus, who literally said that she does not see any possibility of Russian and Belarusian representatives participating in the autumn session of the OSCE PA in Warsaw," Dzhabarov said during a parliament session. 

"We expect that a similar problem with restricting the access of the members of our delegation to the assembly’s events may be repeated in February when the winter session is planned in Vienna and also next July with regards to the annual session in Canada," Dzhabarov said.

10:27 a.m. ET, November 16, 2022

Pro-Russian authorities in Kherson urge evacuation as shelling continues

From CNN's Denis Lapin and Katharina Krebs 

A woman walks past a damaged building in the town of Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine, on October 30.
A woman walks past a damaged building in the town of Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine, on October 30. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

Residents and officials in the part of Kherson region still occupied by Russian forces are being urged to leave for Russia.

The Military and Civil Administration in Russian-occupied Oleshky, which lies on the east side of the Dnipro river, said on Telegram that it "strongly recommends that the residents of the district leave for safe regions of the Russian Federation."

Employees of the Russian-installed administration of Nova Kakhovka, a city in Kherson, have already relocated to safe places, according to the city administration Tuesday.

"After the well-known events of 11th of November, when Russian troops left the west bank of the Kherson region by order, Nova Kakhovka came under direct fire from large-caliber artillery and mortars of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Indiscriminate fire from the east bank of the Dnipro river made life in the city unsafe," its statement read. "Employees of the State Administration of Nova Kakhovka, state and municipal institutions left the city and were relocated to safe places in the region."

As a result of damage to fiber-optic lines in the city, there is no internet or mobile network.

According to the statement, "this does not mean that Nova Kakhovka, Tavriysk and all other settlements were abandoned." Crews of communal enterprises and services work in standby mode and ensure the functioning of energy and water supply systems in the city.