(COLUMBUS, Mont.) — Parts of a freight train carrying hazardous materials remain in the Yellowstone River in southern Montana after a bridge collapsed over the weekend.
Nine mangled cars — six that contained hot asphalt, three holding molten sulfur and one with scrap metal — were still in the rushing water on Monday evening as cleanup work continued, according to Columbus Fire Chief Rich Cowger.
“Some divers were brought in to see about how we would attach to those cars,” Cowger said during a press conference. “While those assessments were being done, it was noticed that there is still some products of asphalt that’s leaking out of those cars that are damaged.”
The incident occurred early Saturday near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles west of Billings, in a rural area of the Yellowstone River Valley. The train was traveling over a bridge when it collapsed and 16 cars derailed, sending 10 of them into the river below, some 110 miles downstream from Yellowstone National Park. No injuries were reported.
It remains unclear whether the derailment caused the bridge to collapse or if the collapse precipitated the derailment.
“We honestly have no idea what happened first, whether it was the bridge or the derailment,” Cowger told reporters on Monday evening. “There was an eastbound train across that bridge an hour before and things were fine with the bridge then. So there’s an investigation to figure what that looks like and what exactly happened. That’ll take some time as cars are pulled out of the river.”
The train’s operator, Montana Rail Link, is developing a cleanup plan and will be responsible for all related costs. Both asphalt and sulfur “harden and solidify quickly when interacting with water and modeling suggests that significant downstream movement of material is unlikely,” according to a statement from Montana Rail Link spokesperson Andy Garland.
Two cars containing sodium hydrosulfide were successfully offloaded and removed on Sunday via a 120-ton crane, according to Cowger. There has been no release involving this material, according to Montana Rail Link.
“We’ve made some good progress today with some cleanup,” Joe Racicot, president of Montana Rail Link, said during the press conference on Monday evening.
Test results from water samples taken on Saturday indicated the materials from the derailment had not affected water quality, according to Shasta Steinweden, complaint coordinator for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s Enforcement Program. She said the tests showed no presence of petroleum, while the sulfur levels detected were consistent with upstream water samples.
“We are awaiting results from Sunday’s and Monday’s samples,” Steinweden told reporters on Monday evening. “We will continue to evaluate our sampling plans and locations and expanding those based on the evolving nature of this incident.”
Based on the results so far, Steinweden said officials “don’t foresee any long-term damages” to water quality, though testing will continue for “as long as needed.”
“What we are going to be assessing and looking at as far as long-term cleanup will be asphalt that is on the banks of the river and looking to remove all of that,” she added.
When asked how much substance is being leaked on an hourly or daily basis, Steinweden told reporters: “We can’t determine that at this time. However, when the tank cars are removed, we will do an assessment on what is left product-wise in those cars and from that information, we will be able to tell more accurately what our release estimate is.”
And regarding the possible damages to fish and wildlife in the affected area, Steinweden said: “We don’t know, which is why we’re calling in the experts to sort of make those determinations.”
“What we are concerned about is, you know, the fish and wildlife potentially coming into contact with the product,” she added.
The Colombus fire chief noted that there “isn’t a sheen on the water or anything like that,” since the product is “somewhat solidifying together as it comes out.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has invited both federal and state fish and wildlife agencies to come to the site in Montana’s Stillwater County and assess how the derailment has impacted wildlife, according to Joni Sandoval, the EPA on-scene coordinator. A portion of the Yellowstone River remains closed, she said.
(NEW YORK) — Ralph Yarl, the teenager who was shot after mistakenly going to the wrong house to pick up his siblings, opened up about the harrowing experience for the first time in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts that is set to air on Tuesday morning.
Yarl told Roberts that his mother asked him to pick up his twin brothers from a friend’s house, but he had never been there before and accidentally arrived at the wrong address. According to Yarl, he pulled his car into the driveway and walked up the steps and rang the doorbell and then waited for “a long time” until an older man with a gun opened the door. They were separated by another glass door, Yarl recalled.
“He points [the gun] at me … so I kinda, like, brace and I turn my head,” Yarl told Roberts. “Then it happened. And then I’m on the ground … and then I fall on the glass. The shattered glass. And then before I know it I’m running away shouting, ‘Help me, help me.'”
Yarl was shot in the head and in the right arm on the evening of April 13 by Andrew Lester — a homeowner in Kansas City, Missouri, according to police. The teenager, who celebrated his 17th birthday last month, suffered a traumatic brain injury, his family previously told ABC News.
Lester, 84, was charged with one count of felony assault in the first degree and one count of armed criminal action, also a felony, Clay County prosecuting attorney Zachary Thompson said during a press conference on April 17.
Lester pleaded not guilty and was released on April 18 on a $200,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 31 after a judge agreed to partially seal the evidence in the case in response to a protective order filed by Lester’s attorney, Steven Salmon.
“In this case, the court entered an order prohibiting the dissemination of information from the discovery by both the prosecution and defense,” Salmon told ABC News in a statement on Monday. “As a party to the criminal case, any statement from Mr. Lester would certainly violate that order. I can say Mr. Lester is looking forward to the upcoming preliminary hearing.”
Yarl told Roberts that after he was shot, he was bleeding from his head and was surprised that he was as “alert” as he was. He said that his “instincts took over” and he went looking for help, but according to Yarl, he had to approach multiple homes after the first house he approached declined to help him and locked the door.
“So then I go to the next house across the street. No one answers. And the house to the right of that house, I go there and someone opens the door and tells me to wait for the police,” he said.
Yarl’s mother, Cleo Nagbe, told Roberts that after her son didn’t return from picking up his siblings, she was worried and drove around looking for him.
Shortly after, she said she received a phone call from police, telling her that Ralph was shot so she headed straight to the hospital.
“It was traumatic,” she said.
According to a probable cause statement obtained by ABC News, Lester told police that he “believed someone was attempting to break into the house” and grabbed a gun before going to the door because he was scared.
Lester, who is white, claimed that he saw a “Black male approximately 6 feet tall” pulling on the door handle and “shot twice within a few seconds of opening the door.” He said that the Black male ran away and he immediately called 911.
Police spoke with Yarl on April 14 while he was recovering at Children’s Mercy Hospital. According to the probable cause statement, he told police that he rang the doorbell and said that he didn’t pull on the door knob.
Yarl’s aunt, Faith Spoonmore, told ABC News last month that after the shooting her nephew didn’t want to go back home because he was shot in the neighborhood where he also lived.
But since then, Yarl and his family have relocated. He said that he is seeing a therapist and hoping to continue his recovery by focusing on his passions for chemical engineering and for music.
“I’m just a kid and not larger than life because this happened to me,” he said. “I’m just gonna keep doing all the stuff that makes me happy. And just living my life the best I can, and not let this bother me.”
Yarl, who played the bass clarinet during his interview on GMA, also plays the saxophone, the tenor saxophone, the clarinet and the contrabass clarinet. He told Roberts that music helped him cope during his recovery.
“Classical music kinda resonates with me,” he said. “Just the feeling that it creates and the fact that you can make it yourself … it kinda invigorates me.”
Nagbe said that her son’s recovery has been a “blessing” and the family is “overwhelmingly grateful” for the outpouring of love and support that they have gotten since the shooting — from people donating to the fund, to those writing letters of support for Ralph.
“Every day I sit and I read a letter and I cry,” she said.
Nagbe told Roberts that Ralph and his family have been writing thank you notes to the people who sent him letters.
“I just feel that if they took the time to send Ralph a letter, I owe them the time to write them a thank you note,” she said.
Asked what justice looks like for him, Yarl said, “Justice is just the rule of the law, regardless of race, ethnicity, and age.”
“[Lester] should be convicted for the crimes that he made,” he added. “I am past having any personal hatred for him.”
(NEW YORK) — Nine years before he was accused of killing four college students in Idaho, Bryan Kohberger was arrested in his native Pennsylvania and charged with misdemeanor theft for allegedly stealing his sister’s iPhone, according to records reviewed by ABC News.
It was Kohberger’s father, Michael, who reported the incident to police, according to the court records.
According to the records, Michael Kohberger told law enforcement Bryan had warned him “not to do anything stupid” after learning his son had taken the phone, adding that his son had struggled with drug addiction.
Bryan Kohberger’s earlier run-in with the law, as described in these records, is only now coming to light, as he prepares to defend himself against charges he killed four University of Idaho students last fall.
According to the records, Bryan Kohberger was 19 years old when he was arrested for the alleged theft in 2014. He served no jail time, according to officials. There is now no public record of that arrest or the outcome of the case.
Monroe County, Pennsylvania, offers first-time offenders the opportunity to enter into a pretrial program called “Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition,” which allows for charges to be dropped and the record to be “expunged” once the accused successfully completes probation.
Martin Souto Diaz, an attorney representing the Kohberger family, declined to comment on the record describing the earlier arrest. The district attorney’s office in Monroe County also had no comment.
In a court filing Monday, Idaho prosecutors announced they intend to seek the death penalty against Bryan Kohberger for the alleged murders.
It remains to be seen whether the alleged incident in 2014, and his previous alleged history with substance abuse, will have any bearing — or offer any clues — in relation to what happened in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, when four college students — Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 — were stabbed to death at an off-campus home on King Road in Moscow, Idaho.
A source briefed on the case told ABC News the alleged 2014 incident is now a subject of inquiry for prosecutors in Idaho, as they prepare for an impending capital trial that could start as early as October.
“You want to get all the puzzle pieces figured out, even as you keep finding new pieces,” said ABC News law enforcement contributor Richard Frankel, a retired senior FBI official and former prosecutor in the New York City suburb of Suffolk County.
“You’re working to figure out how they all fit together,” Frankel said, speaking generally on investigative procedure for building a case.
“One, that’s a big jump to go from [an alleged] non-violent theft — and from a family member — to being charged with multiple homicides. And two, eight years is a long time for nothing to happen,” Frankel said. “So, I would want to know, both as a prosecutor and as the investigator, what he did in those years in between?”
ABC News contributor Robert Boyce, the retired chief of detectives for the New York City Police Department, said, “What you look for now, is, was this a foundational moment, and was this a precursor for things to come.”
A trial in the quadruple homicide has been set for Oct. 2, though that could be delayed.
Bryan Kohberger is due to appear at the Latah County Courthouse Tuesday afternoon, for another in an ongoing series of pretrial hearings connected to the murder case. He is being held without bail at the Latah County Jail.
Bryan Kohberger’s team is pushing for a pause in his case while the defense and prosecution argue over the scope of which grand jury materials can or should be released. His lawyers are looking to determine whether there are grounds to dismiss his indictment based on the way the grand jury was selected, according to court documents.
The defense is asking Idaho prosecutors to disclose more information about their investigation, including more detail on their forensic DNA analyses, and information obtained from cellphone records, according to court filings.
The hearing Tuesday is also expected to focus on Bryan Kohberger’s request for more time to decide whether to offer an alibi at trial, as his attorneys say they are trying to navigate the “voluminous” and “still ongoing” discovery process, according to recent court filings. Prosecutors said they wouldn’t object to a “reasonable extension” to decide, so long as any potential alibi is offered within the next month.
Back in Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, Bryan Kohberger had “recently exited a rehab center and rejoined the family,” his father told police, according to the records reviewed by ABC News. Home from rehab, Bryan took his sister Melissa’s iPhone, which had an estimated value of $400, Michael Kohberger told police, according to the records.
Authorities said, according to the records, Bryan Kohberger paid a friend $20 to pick him up and take him to a local mall, where he sold the phone for $200 at an automated kiosk for used electronics.
The records say Bryan Kohberger was charged with misdemeanor theft and offer no further explanation about what happened from there.
“With any case, we’d always do a timeline. And on this case, I would want to do the timeline not just of the actual [alleged homicide] incident, minute by minute — but also I would want to do a behavioral timeline from his teens into his adulthood, because I want to know who this guy is,” Frankel said.
“It all goes to the assessment of his character — it may also help me when I interview other people about him, because I may know what the right questions are to ask going in,” Frankel added.
Bryan Kohberger, now 28, was indicted in Idaho last month and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
At his Idaho arraignment in late May, Bryan Kohberger declined to offer a plea, so the judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Authorities allege that in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, Bryan Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University, broke into an off-campus home and stabbed to death the four students from the nearby University of Idaho.
After a more than six-week hunt, according to police documents, police zeroed in on Bryan Kohberger as a suspect, tracking his white Hyundai Elantra, cellphone signal data, and recovering what authorities say was his DNA on a knife sheath found next to one of the victims’ bodies.
That DNA evidence taken from the knife sheath at the crime scene “showed a statistical match” with a cheek swab taken directly from Bryan Kohberger after his arrest, authorities said in a recent filing.
Bryan Kohberger’s attorneys pushed back on that analysis in several recent court filings, casting doubt on whether that DNA evidence irrefutably implicates their client, saying the “statistical probability is not an absolute,” and pointing to what they called a “total lack of DNA evidence” from the victims in Kohberger’s home or car.
He was arrested on Dec. 30, 2022, at his family’s home in Pennsylvania, after driving cross-country to spend the holidays in Albrightsville.
Some of Bryan Kohberger’s childhood acquaintances have recalled to ABC News that the “quiet” but “funny” person they knew began to alienate some of his friends in high school, as his drug habit developed.
Casey Arntz, who went to high school with Kohberger, told ABC News he would ask her for rides that she later found out were to buy drugs.
“Bryan used me to, you know, drive him around and get heroin,” Arntz said. “A lot of people are like, well, why were you still friends with him after that? And I’m like, because you gotta forgive him. I mean, you can’t fault him for being so sucked down this hole. And I did, I did forgive him.”
(SARASOTA, Fla.) — Five people caught malaria locally in the U.S. for the first time since 2003, according to health officials.
Four people in Sarasota County, Florida, and one person in Cameron County, Texas, reported cases of the mosquito-borne illness, state officials said. Cameron County is the southernmost county in Texas, about 1,300 miles away from Sarasota, Florida.
All four Florida patients “have been treated and have recovered,” according to a statewide mosquito-borne illness advisory from the Florida Department of Health released Monday. Residents have been advised to “take precautions by applying bug spray, avoiding areas with high mosquito populations, and wearing long pants and shirts when possible — especially during sunrise and sunset when mosquitos are most active,” the health department said.
The last locally acquired Texas cases occurred in 1994 and 2003 in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The illness is caused when a person is bitten by a mosquito carrying malaria parasites, the CDC said. Malaria isn’t contagious and can’t be spread person-to-person.
Symptoms include fever, chills, muscle aches, nausea headache and anemia, and can sometimes be fatal if not treated, according to the CDC.
Malaria used to be common in the U.S., but a 1947 campaign by southeastern states to spray insecticides and drain breeding grounds eliminated transmission, according to the CDC.
There are around 2,000 malaria cases a year, the CDC said, but they’re most often diagnosed in people who caught the disease while abroad.
The risk to most people of locally acquired malaria is currently extremely low, the CDC said in a statement regarding one of the Florida cases.
Climate change could reverse progress made in fighting the illness, with warmer temperatures possibly expanding the range for mosquitoes that carry diseases like malaria, research published in the Lancet Planetary Health indicates.
“The presence of competent mosquitoes and warmer temperatures in the Southeast will likely lead to additional cases in the coming months and years,” Dr. John Brownstein, an infectious disease epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, told ABC News. “Future invasion of new mosquitoes, coupled with potential climate change effects, could significantly expand the malaria risk.”
“While the permanent return of malaria is still unlikely, these cases represent a broader warning of mosquito-borne diseases in the region,” he said.
People can protect against mosquito bites by draining standing water in gutters and flowerpots, wearing long sleeves and long pants, wearing insect repellent and using screens on windows, according to the CDC.
(WASHINGTON) — ABC News has obtained an audio recording of former President Donald Trump appearing to acknowledge he held onto a sensitive military document after leaving office — but can no longer declassify it because he is no longer president.
The contents of the recording, made during a July 21, 2021, meeting at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, have been previously reported and are quoted in the Justice Department’s 37-count indictment related to Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving office — but the recording itself has never before been heard publicly.
ABC News was able to confirm the authenticity of the recording from another source who has heard it.
The meeting involved people who were helping Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, with his memoir, according to sources. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has spoken to the meeting’s attendees, which included autobiographers for Meadows and at least two aides to Trump, sources tell ABC News.
On the recording, Trump is heard attacking Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and referencing a document that Trump claimed Milley had compiled.
“Well, with Milley — uh, let me see that, I’ll show you an example,” Trump says on the recording. “He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this — this is off the record, but — they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him. We looked at some — this was him. This wasn’t done by me, this was him. All sorts of stuff — pages long, look.”
“Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found, isn’t that amazing?” Trump says. “This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this. This was done by the military and given to me. As president I could have declassified, but now I can’t.”
Trump pled not guilty this month to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities. He has denied all charges and denounced the probe as a political witch hunt.
Prosecutors say that Trump’s acknowledgement on the recording that he could no longer declassify the document undercuts his argument that he had declassified all the documents in his possession before leaving the White House.
The audio recording was first published by CNN.
“The audio tape provides context proving, once again, that President Trump did nothing wrong at all. The president is speaking rhetorically and also quite humorously,” a Trump campaign spokesperson said regarding the recording.
“As we’ve been saying from the moment President Trump rode down the golden escalator, the president did nothing wrong,” Trump himself said in a statement.
In an interview with Fox News last week, Trump denied that the material in his possession at Bedminster was a classified document.
“It wasn’t a document, OK? I had lots of paper — I had copies of newspaper articles, I had copies of magazines,” Trump said during the Fox News interview. “There was no document. That was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things. And it may have been held up or may not, but that was not a document.”
“I didn’t have a document, per se,” Trump said. “There was nothing to declassify. These were newspaper stories, magazine stories and articles.”
ABC News reported earlier this month that Trump’s attorneys had not located the material Trump was referencing in the recording.
(MOSCOW) — Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed Saturday on an “attempted armed rebellion,” the Kremlin said, after the leader of the mercenary Wagner Group claimed control of military facilities in Rostov-on-Don, a key Russian city near the Ukrainian border.
Forces loyal to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary leader, were traveling north toward Moscow in the “most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 27, 5:15 AM EDT
Belarus was ‘combat’ ready during rebellion, president says
The military in Belarus was ordered to “full combat readiness” during the Wagner Group’s rebellion in neighboring Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko said.
Lukashenko, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was said to have helped broker a deal to halt the choatic rebellion by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“I will not hide, it was painful to watch the events that took place in the south of Russia,” Lukashenko said Tuesday during brief remarks before a military presentation. “Not only me. Many of our citizens took them to heart. Because the fatherland is one.”
The fatherland comment appeared to allude to Lukashenko’s longstanding belief that Russia and Belarus share a special bond.
He added, “I gave all orders to bring the army to full combat readiness.”
Jun 27, 5:01 AM EDT
Russia closes case against Wagner Group leader
The Russian Federal Security Service on Tuesday dropped the criminal case investigating the rebellion by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his forces.
The FSB said it closed the case because it has been established that participants stopped actions directly aimed at committing a crime.
Jun 26, 6:28 PM EDT
US to announce 500M in military aid to Ukraine, official says
The U.S. will announce another military aid package for Ukraine Tuesday, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The $500 million aid package will include 30 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, 25 Stryker armored vehicles, missiles for the HIMARS system and the Patriot air defense system, TOW missiles, Javelins and more ammunition for artillery, according to the official.
This will be the 41st aid package under the Presidential Drawdown Authority that allows the transfer of weapons from U.S. military stockpiles to Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 26, 3:42 PM EDT
Putin expresses defiance against attempted Wagner rebellion
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his first public remarks after the Wagner Group attempted to march to Moscow and overthrow the government.
In a pre-recorded video statement, Putin thanked the Russians for their endurance, solidarity and patriotism during the ordeal and claimed that any blackmail attempt was doomed to fail.
Putin said an armed rebellion would have been suppressed.
“The organizers of the rebellion, betraying their country, their people, betrayed those who were drawn into the crime. They lied to them, pushed them to death, under fire, to shoot at their own,” Putin said.
The Russian president noted that the majority of Wagner fighters were “patriots.”
“I thank those soldiers and commanders of the Wagner Group who made the only right decision,” Putin said. “They did not go to fratricidal bloodshed, they stopped at the last line.”
Putin offered Wagner Group members who participated in the rebellion the option of joining the defense ministry or other law enforcement agencies or returning home.
Jun 26, 12:52 PM EDT
Biden says US, NATO not involved in Wagner rebellion
President Joe Biden spoke out addressed the Wagner Group’s actions over the weekend.
He said the U.S. and its allies convened on Friday when the rebellion began.
“They agreed with me that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse, let me emphasize, gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO,” Biden said at a news conference at the White House.
The president added that the incident was “part of a struggle within the Russian system.”
-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler
Jun 26, 12:44 PM EDT
European leaders respond to Wagner attempted rebellion
The European Union Foreign Affairs Council met Monday and discussed the attempted rebellion by the Wagner paramilitary group over the weekend.
Josep Borrell, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, told reporters at a news conference after the meeting that “the situation remains complex and unpredictable” and 27 EU states are remaining vigilant.
U.K. Foreign Minister James Cleverly released a statement Monday claiming the “Russian government’s lies have been exposed by one of President Putin’s own henchmen.”
“Prigozhin’s rebellion is an unprecedented challenge to President Putin’s authority, and it is clear that cracks are emerging in the Russian support for the war,” he said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Jun 26, 12:18 PM EDT
‘We had no goal of overthrowing’ the government: Prigozhin
Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin released an 11-minute recording Monday explaining why his troops reversed course on their campaign against Moscow over the weekend.
Prigozhin said the purpose of the “march” was to prevent losses of his troops “and to bring justice to all persons who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during” the war in Ukraine.
“We had no goal of overthrowing the regime,” he added, referring to Putin’s government.
Prigozhin said that the march escalated after their convoy was hit by a missile attack from Russian forces.
Prigozhin said that the marched stopped when his troops approached “Moscow deployed artillery.”
“We did not want to shed Russian blood. We went to demonstrate our protest and not to overthrow the government in the country,” he said.
He claimed that several of his troops were wounded and two were killed.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, Natalia Shumskaia and Tanya Stukalova
Jun 26, 5:47 AM EDT
Ukrainian forces appear to cross river into occupied Kherson
The Ukrainian military has landed troops on the Russian-held eastern bank of the Dnipro River across from the city of Kherson, according to Russian reports.
Media posted online by pro-Russian accounts suggested small boatloads of Ukrainian soldiers have managed to establish a small beachhead at the foot of the destroyed Antonivskiy Road Bridge that spanned the river before Ukraine brought it down last year.
The size of the Ukrainian force on the bank is unclear, but Russian accounts suggested it was relatively small.
Some Russian accounts posted dramatic video showing fighting on the eastern bank, including what appears to be a Russian armored vehicle firing intensively at Ukrainian soldiers as it recovers Russian wounded.
The video was undated but Russian reports suggested around several dozen Ukrainian troops landed on June 24 and Russian airborne units have been trying to dislodge them since.
Another video shows a small boat carrying perhaps a dozen Ukrainian soldiers landing by the ruined bridge, coming under shell fire.
The Russian military blogger account, Two Majors, reported a small group of Ukrainian soldiers had succeeded in digging in around the bridge. It noted Russian forces had been forced to pull back to a distance from the bank because their positions had been flooded after the Kakhovka dam was blown up earlier this month.
Russian military bloggers said Russian aircraft and artillery were firing on the Ukrainians Monday.
If Ukraine is able to keep hold of its foothold, it will put further pressure on Russia’s forces in the south, already battling to hold back Ukraine’s counteroffensive on the Zaporizhzhia front.
In the wake of Saturday’s short-lived attempted rebellion against the Kremlin by the Wagner private military company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled oligarch considered one of Putin’s best-known opponents, told ABC News he supports the mutiny and encourages Russians to back the leader of the mercenary group.
Once Russia’s richest man, Khodorkovsky, a Putin opposition activist, spent 10 years imprisoned after he challenged Putin, his case now considered a foundational moment for Putin’s regime.
When Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters marched on Moscow Saturday before making a sudden about-face, Khodorkovsky was notable among Russia’s pro-democracy opposition in calling on people to support Prigozhin, arguing that allowing him to remove Putin would create an opportunity for the democrats.
Khodorkovsky told ABC News he believed Prigozhin’s actions were a real coup attempt and that it had “seriously undermined” Putin’s power. He predicted that similar opportunities to collapse the regime will be launched soon.
“The blow to Putin’s reputation, to the authorities’ reputation, was absolutely fantastical,” Khodorkovsky said. “Putin’s government today is, without a doubt, strongly undermined by what happened — his authority, his ability to control the security services is seriously undermined.”
Khodorkovsky said Prigozhin’s march on Moscow had undermined Putin’s popularity, showing neither ordinary Russians nor the security services were prepared to act to protect him.
“Along the entire route of Wagner’s columns, no one in any way tried to hinder him (Prigozhin). Even the security forces did not try to stop him,” Khodorkovsky said. “It showed that, in fact, inside the country, Putin has an absolute void.”
Khodorkovsky said he did not support Prigozhin himself — considering him a “war criminal” — but that the democratic opposition should have sought to help him overthrow Putin, and then taken power from him after.
Khodorkovsky criticized other parts of the anti-Kremlin opposition who attacked him for calling on people to assist Prigozhin, saying he believed the opposition had “slept through” the opportunity and suggesting it should have sought to stage a rebellion in Moscow at the same time.
“There will definitely now be more such opportunities because of Putin’s weakening. But the next time we need to simply be more ready,” said Khodorkovsky, who is living in exile in England. “If an uprising had started in Moscow to meet Prigozhin then a situation could have developed quite differently.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jun 24, 6:53 PM EDT
US official says it’s a ‘mystery’ why Prigozhin stopped march to Moscow
A senior U.S. official says it is a mystery as to why Yevgeny Prigozhin stopped his march to Moscow given that he was seemingly in a dominant position.
The official said he was greeted as a hero in Rostov-on-Don. However, the senior official told ABC News that Prigozhin is in an “emotional state,” and perhaps did it because he thought this would destroy Russia, or because he glimpsed his own end. It is impossible to tell whether Prigozhin thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin will actually honor their deal which included allowing Wagner group soldiers to be folded into the Russian military.
The official said that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko was very effective, telling Prigozhin and Putin that this was all a misunderstanding and that they are both patriots and aligned for the same goals.
Putin is said to be completely shocked by how fast Wagner Group moved through Russia. For now, he is just trying to secure his position. He does not want to be seen negotiating over his defense minister, but the official says the U.S. believes concessions were made over Sergei Shoigu’s future as well as others.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Jun 25, 3:56 AM EDT
Moscow highway restrictions remain, Russian media reports
Travel restrictions remained in place on Sunday on the major M-4 highway near Moscow, according to Russia’s state-run media.
“According to the previously issued regional decisions, traffic restrictions remain in force on the M-4 Don highway near the Moscow Region and the Tula Region,” the federal road agency said, according to TASS.
The security checkpoints had been put in place Saturday as a column of Wagner Group forces traveled toward Moscow. Roadblocks in southern Russia, including in Rostov-on-Don and the Krasnodar Region, were reportedly lifted.
“All previously imposed restrictions on highways have been lifted,” TASS reported, citing a branch of the Russian Interior Ministry.
-ABC News’ KJ Edelman
Jun 24, 10:20 PM EDT
‘Gang of 8’ briefed about Wagner Group movements
Senior congressional leaders were briefed about the ongoing situation in Russia, according to a congressional aide.
U.S. intelligence officials told the so-called “Gang of Eight” — the top Republicans and Democrats currently in congressional leadership– in recent days about potentially concerning movements of Wagner Group forces and equipment build-ups near Russia. However, it was unclear to U.S. intelligence what was going to happen and when.
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
Jun 24, 5:18 PM EDT
Blinken holds call with Turkish counterpart for ‘ongoing situation in Russia’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Saturday with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss the ongoing situation in Russia.
“Secretary Blinken reiterated that U.S. support for Ukraine will not change. The United States will stay in close coordination with Allies and partners as the situation develops,” spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Blinken also spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday to discuss the situation in Russia, Miller said. Blinken reiterated that support by the U.S. for Ukraine will not change.
The U.S. will stay in close coordination with Ukraine as the situation develops.
-ABC News Shannon K. Crawford
Jun 24, 4:45 PM EDT
Wagner chief will not be prosecuted, Kremlin says
Yevgeny Prigozhin will go to Belarus to ease tensions and the fighters of PMC Wagner Group who took part in the so-called “campaign” against Moscow will not be prosecuted, the Kremlin said Saturday evening.
The rest will be able to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense, the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“In the end, we managed to resolve this situation without further losses, without raising the level of tension,” Peskov said.
“An agreement was reached that PMC Wagner would return to their camps,” he added.
Jun 24, 2:55 PM EDT
Wagner Group chief orders mercenaries to halt march on Moscow
The Wagner Group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said he has ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow and return to their field camps, saying he wants to avoid shedding Russian blood.
Prigozhin made the announcement in an audio message posted on his Telegram channel.
Russian state media has shown Wagner fighters packing up and reportedly leaving Rostov.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and thanked him for his efforts de-escalating the situation.
Jun 24, 1:12 PM EDT
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff cancels trip to Israel, Jordan due to situation in Russia
Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has canceled his planned trip to Israel and Jordan due to the situation in Russia. The trip was to have begun Saturday.
Milley also spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
“They discussed the unprovoked and ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and exchanged perspectives and assessments. The Chairman reaffirmed unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to Joint Staff spokesperson Col. Dave Butler.
The Pentagon said Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is monitoring the ongoing situation in Russia and will continue to be briefed on any significant developments.
Jun 24, 12:47 PM EDT
Moscow suspends schools, events until July 1
Andrey Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, has suspended mass events outdoors and at educational institutions until July 1.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin urged residents to refrain from traveling around the city. Monday was also declared a non-working day for the city. Sobyanin said that a counter-terrorism regime was declared in Moscow and that the situation was difficult.
Jun 24, 12:34 PM EDT
Biden speaks with leaders of France, Germany, UK about ‘situation in Russia’
President Joe Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about the developments in Russia.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also briefed by their national security team on the developments in Russia and will continue to receive updates throughout the day, the White House said Saturday.
Jun 24, 10:11 AM EDT
Wagner troop column 300 miles south of Moscow, Russian media says
The governor of the Lipetsk region, which is about 300 miles south of Moscow, said a column of Wagner troops has been spotted in the region, Russian state media reports.
Jun 24, 9:15 AM EDT
What is the Wagner Group?
The Wagner Group is a private military organization run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, with tens of thousands of fighters, according to U.S. officials.
Earlier this year, the U.S. labeled the group a “significant transnational criminal organization” and levied new sanctions, while human rights observers this week said they suspected Wagner fighters were linked to the mass killing of people in Mali last year.
Government reports, statements from U.S. officials and insights from experts, as well as other sources, shed light on the Wagner group’s history and goals, its alleged wrongdoings and its importance to Russia — in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.
Jun 24, 7:24 AM EDT
NATO monitoring Russian situation, official says
A NATO representative said the alliance was watching what was happening in Russia on Saturday.
“We are monitoring the situation,” spokesperson Oana Lungescu said.
Jun 24, 6:31 AM EDT
‘Operational combat’ underway north of Rostov, official says
A governor of the Voronezh region, about 300 miles south of Moscow, says Russia’s armed forces are conducting “operational combat operations” there as part of “counter terrorism operation.”
Earlier the region’s government reported a column of Wagner Group fighters was moving through the region, an area between Rostov-on-Don and Moscow.
“In the bounds of the counterterrorist operation on the territory of the Voronezh region, the armed forces of the Russian Federation are conducting necessary operational combat operations,” the official said. “We will inform further about the development of the situation.”
Jun 24, 6:03 AM EDT
Russia in ‘so much chaos that no lie can hide it,’ Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia appeared to be suffering “full-scale weakness” after the Wagner Group mercenaries said they’d taken hold of a key Russian city.
“Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government. And now there is so much chaos that no lie can hide it,” he said on Twitter.
Jun 24, 5:47 AM EDT
Prigozhin responds to Putin, says Wagner not going to surrender
The Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calling him a “traitor,” by saying he will not surrender or turn back.
“Putin was deeply mistaken about the betrayal. We are patriots of our homeland, we fought and are fighting,” Prighozin said in an audio message. “No one is going to turn around at the request of the president, the FSB or anyone else, because we do not want the country to live longer in corruption, deception and bureaucracy.”
Prigozhin accused Russia’s military of targeting a Wagner column with helicopters and jets.
Jun 24, 5:37 AM EDT
Chechen leader backs Putin, says forces moving into ‘zones of tension’
The powerful head of Chechnya, the semi-independent Russian region, Ramzan Kadyrov, said on Saturday he supported President Vladimir Putin.
Kadyrov saiud he fully backs Putin and called Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s actions “treacherous.”
Kadyrov has tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters. He said his forces are already moving to “zones of tension.”
It raises prospect of Chechen forces fighting with Wagner Group troops.
Kadyrov has previously been friendly with Prigozhin — his coming out in support of Putin is a boost for Putin, but also raises prospect of serious clashes in Russia.
Jun 24, 5:27 AM EDT
Next 48 hours ‘will define’ Russia, Zelenskyy advisor says
Russian leaders are “now choosing which side they are on,” an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday.
“The next 48 hours will define the new status of Russia,” Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. “Either a full-fledged Civil War, or a negotiated Transit of Power, or a temporary respite before the next phase of the downfall of the Putin regime.”
He added, “A deafening ‘elite’ silence is in Russia so far…”
Jun 24, 3:52 AM EDT
Uprising ‘significant challenge’ to Russian state, UK says
Members of the mercenary Wagner Group have begun moving north “almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow,” in what amounts to the “most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.
“Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia’s security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how the crisis plays out,” the ministry said on Twitter.
Jun 24, 3:25 AM EDT
Putin: Wagner Group moves are ‘stab in the back’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said moves taken by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime ally, to bring his troops into a key Russian city amounted to a “stab in the back.”
Putin didn’t mention Prigozhin by name, but said that “necessary orders have been given” to defend Russia in a recorded address aired on Russian television on Saturday.
“Actions that divide our unity are in essence defeatism before one’s own people,” he said. “This is a stab in the back of our country and our people.”
Jun 24, 3:12 AM EDT
Kremlin briefs Putin on ‘attempted armed rebellion’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed by the country’s security agencies about what was referred to as an “attempted armed rebellion,” according to Russia’s state-run media.
The late-night statement from Putin’s spokesman suggested that the Kremlin considered Wagner Group’s move into Rostov-on-Don, a key Russian city close to the border with Ukraine, to be a “rebellion.”
Wagner’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in an audio message on Friday claimed his forces would now punish Russia’s defense minister and chief of general staff, telling other units to stand down and not offer resistance.
“Special services, law enforcement agencies, namely the Ministry of Defense, the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rosgvardiya, in round-the-clock mode, constantly report to the president on the measures taken in the context of the implementation of the instructions previously given to him,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.
Jun 24, 2:42 AM EDT
Wagner Group claims control over Rostov military facilities, airport
Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, said on Saturday that the headquarters of the Southern Military District and all military facilities in Rostov-on-Don were under his control.
Prigozhin in a video demanded that Kremlin bring him Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Sergei Shoigu.
He also threatened in the video that he would go to Moscow.
“We will destroy anyone who stands in our way,” he said in one of a series of video and audio recordings posted on social media.
He added, “We are moving forward and will go until the end.”
(SARASOTA, Fla.) — Five people caught malaria locally in the U.S. for the first time since 2003, according to health officials.
Four people in Sarasota County, Florida, and one person in Cameron County, Texas, reported cases of the mosquito-borne illness, state officials said. Cameron County is the southernmost county in Texas, about 1,300 miles away from Sarasota, Florida.
All four Florida patients “have been treated and have recovered,” according to a statewide mosquito-borne illness advisory from the Florida Department of Health released Monday. Residents have been advised to “take precautions by applying bug spray, avoiding areas with high mosquito populations, and wearing long pants and shirts when possible — especially during sunrise and sunset when mosquitos are most active,” the health department said.
The last locally acquired Texas cases occurred in 1994 and 2003 in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is considering launching an impeachment inquiry over Attorney General Merrick Garland’s handling of the investigation into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
McCarthy tweeted on Sunday that he wants Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss to provide answers to the House Judiciary Committee regarding accusations made by two former IRS agents about Weiss’ probe of the younger Biden, on which they worked.
“If the whistleblowers’ allegations are true, this will be a significant part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland’s weaponization of DOJ,” McCarthy wrote. (An inquiry would be a precursor to the House potentially voting on specific articles of impeachment on Garland.)
On Monday, McCarthy said on Fox News: “If it comes true what the IRS whistleblower is saying, we’re going to start impeachment inquiries on the attorney general.”
One of the whistleblowers, Gary Shapley, has claimed that during an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting at the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office, Weiss said he did not have the ability to charge in other districts and unsuccessfully requested special counsel status from the Department of Justice.
Garland refuted that account last week.
“The only person with authority to make somebody a special counsel or refuse to make somebody a special counsel is the attorney general,” he said. “Mr. Weiss never made that request to me.”
Garland also told ABC News’ Alexander Mallin that he would approve of Weiss speaking or testifying whenever he sees fit.
In a June 7 letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, Weiss wrote that Garland had granted him “ultimate authority” over the Hunter Biden investigation, “including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges.”
On Monday, McCarthy referred on Fox News to a July 6 deadline set by Republicans for Weiss to answer the Judiciary Committee’s questions before initiating an impeachment inquiry.
Weiss’ office did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News on Monday.
Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanors for failing to pay federal income tax in 2017 and 2018. Under the deal, he would also enter into a pretrial diversion agreement to avoid prosecution on a felony gun charge, potentially ending the DOJ’s yearslong probe of his conduct.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
(CHICAGO) — A Chicago-area pharmacist was convicted of stealing and selling COVID-19 vaccination cards, the Justice Department announced on Monday.
Tangtang Zhao, 36, of Chicago, stole CDC-issued COVID-19 vaccination cards from the pharmacy where he worked, and sold them to buyers across the country through an online marketplace, according to the DOJ.
“During a three-week timeframe in March and April 2021, Zhao posted listings for over 650 COVID-19 vaccination cards that he advertised as “authentic” and “straight from the CDC.” In total, he sold 630 cards to approximately 200 unique buyers, who paid Zhao more than $5,600,” according to a Justice Department press release.
A federal jury convicted Zhao on a dozen counts of theft of government property, according to the DOJ. At trial, the government showed eBay messages that were sent by Zhao to buyers of the fake vaccination card, court records show
Zhao’s lawyer Gal Pissetzky told ABC News in a statement that his client is “disappointed in the verdict” and plans to appeal.
“The COVID-19 blank vaccination cards were not government property, where the government did not maintain supervision and control over the cards once they were delivered to providers like Walgreens,” Pissetzky said. “The government had absolutely no supervision over the cards and did not control how the cards were handled.”
Zhao is slated to be sentenced on Nov. 28 and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, according to the DOJ.
The Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) told ABC News in August 2021 that it began receiving “increasing reports of individuals creating, purchasing and using fake COVID-19 vaccination cards,” cautioning the spread of bogus cards can leave victims’ personal identity vulnerable.
Employees and the owner of an upstate New York midwife practice were indicted on federal charges in April for allegedly running a fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination clinic, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York.
Between June 2021 and March 2022, Sage Femme Midwifery, located in Albany, created more than 2,600 false entries in the state’s vaccination database, and distributed fake COVID-19 vaccination cards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to people who were not vaccinated, including individuals living in Brooklyn and Staten Island, according to court documents.
The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case involving Zhao.
ABC News’ Mary Kekatos, Alexander Mallin, Kaitlyn Folmer and Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) –Donald Trump this weekend insisted that he viewed his two indictments as a “badge of honor,” telling supporters in Washington that “I’m being indicted for you.”
The remarks, made during a Saturday speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference, echo how the former president has described his reelection campaign, urging voters to see him as their avatar.
“In 2016, I declared: I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice,” he said in March. “And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”
His Saturday comments drew pushback from one Republican primary rival.
“He had the audacity to say that he got indicted for us,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on ABC’s “This Week,” later adding, “It’s absurd.”
Trump is charged in two cases and has pleaded not guilty in each. In New York state court, he is accused of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to an adult film actress before the 2016 election. He is separately accused by federal prosecutors in Florida of holding onto government secrets after leaving the White House and refusing to give them back.
On Saturday, Trump, as he often does, cast the criminal cases against him as an escalating campaign of political persecution — a claim that prosecutors have disputed.
“I consider it a great badge of courage. I’m being indicted for you,” Trump said, “and I believe the ‘you’ is more than 200 million people that love our country that are out there, and they love our country. This is a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”
Earlier this month, after Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury, prosecutor Jack Smith said, in part, “This indictment was voted by a grand jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida, and I invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged.”
In his Saturday speech, Trump also again falsely invoked the Presidential Records Act as giving him the authority to take the government documents with him after leaving office in 2021.
“What the hell are we talking about with this phony case?” he said.
Prosecutors have said they recovered several hundred classified records that were in Trump’s possession — some of which he returned after the government demanded them back and others which the FBI found in a court-authorized search of his home last year.
He faces 37 federal charges, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information.
Christie, one of Trump’s primary opponents — whom Trump has dismissed as a “failed” governor and candidate — on Sunday slammed Trump’s latest reaction to his indictments.
“I don’t know how it benefited the American people for him to take highly sensitive intelligence and secret documents out of the White House, to stonewall the government on returning them for over a year and a half, to subject himself to a raid by the FBI, even though they asked him voluntarily to return this stuff, and to then be subject to an indictment which is obviously going to be one of great trouble for the country because no one wants to see this happen,” Christie said on “This Week.”
Elsewhere in his speech on Saturday, Trump criticized President Joe Biden and Biden’s son Hunter and touted his record on Supreme Court nominations, leading to the overruling of Roe v. Wade last year, as he called himself “the most pro-life president in American history.”
However, while stressing a “vital role of the federal government,” Trump stopped short of pointing to any specific anti-abortion legislation unlike some of his 2024 rivals, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump also made a number of promises about what he will do if elected to another term, including seeking to end so-called “birthright” citizenship as described in the Constitution, which includes children born in the U.S. if their parents enter the country illegally.
