(NEW YORK) — As a pediatrician, Dr. Kristina Lehman knows the ins and outs of the evidence around breastfeeding better than most.
But as a mother, she also knows that breastfeeding is hard and that following evidence-based guidelines isn’t possible or the choice for everyone.
“I’m more proud of my breastfeeding relationship than even my [medical degree],” Lehman, who is also a breastfeeding medicine specialist, internal medicine physician and associate professor at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told ABC News.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that infants be exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of life and continue breastfeeding along with other food until two years of age.
Research shows breastfeeding has many benefits, including decreased infant infections and childhood cancers as well as a decreased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer in the mother.
But only about a quarter of women meet those recommendations, according to data shared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts said that’s partly because health care and social systems aren’t set up to support breastfeeding.
The gap may mean groups like the AAP should consider adjusting their recommendations to remove the emphasis on exclusivity regarding breastfeeding and amend the two-year time frame due to the unattainable standard for so many, argued Seattle physician Dr. Amy Kennedy in a recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“I encourage the AAP and other national health organizations to consider how their statements on exclusive breast-feeding are perceived by the public,” Kennedy wrote. “Everyone’s journey is different.”
But other experts said increasing support is the best way to close the gap — not changing the guidelines. Last week, Lehman and Dr. April Castillo, a preventive medicine physician and breastfeeding specialist, published an article in response on the physician-facing website KevinMD.
They argued that the health care system — including doctors themselves — needs to improve the support of women in their infant feeding choices.
The lack of social support, limited education for physicians around breastfeeding, and marketing from the formula industry adds to the stress, anxiety and isolation during an already fraught time, according to Dr. Anne Eglash, a family medicine physician and president of the North American Board of Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.
Postpartum depression and anxiety — which affect 1 in 8 people after delivery, according to the CDC — can make the process even more challenging.
The current system makes it difficult for parents to actually make a choice either way, according to Eglash, who told ABC News that “no one is supporting” parents.
Eglash described a situation in which medical providers tell the public people should breastfeed, but then send new parents, “out to run that marathon and there’s a desert and no one’s offering any water.”
Changes that could help might include improving doctors’ education around breastfeeding, putting resources towards systems that can help parents find infant feeding experts like lactation consultants, and increasing awareness around postpartum depression, according to Eglash and Castillo.
There also need to be more resources around mixed feeding, which combines breastfeeding and formula feeding, Castillo told ABC News.
But even with improvements in support, meeting guidelines still might still not be feasible for some parents, according to Kennedy.
She said she had many resources at her disposal and a supportive partner, but breastfeeding was difficult for her. She said she wasn’t able to exclusively breastfeed for six months, much less breastfeed for two years.
Still, all the experts agreed that people feeding infants need compassion, regardless of the way they navigate the journey.
“I think a lot of women think that it is all or nothing. And so when they try all and it’s too hard, they totally quit instead of backing off a little bit. But that’s where you need that individualized support to be able to say, what are your goals?” Lehman said. “It’s a conversation and it has to be individualized.”
Eglash noted that the goals aren’t the problem — the system needs to change to help people have the best possible experience.
“I think the big thing is that we all want babies fed, right? And we want parents to meet their intentions, to have the right to feed their babies the way they intend,” Eglash said.
Danielle Craigg, MD, is a senior general preventive medicine and public health resident at Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(KANSAS CITY) — A shooting that erupted Sunday morning in a Kansas City, Missouri, parking lot killed at least three people and left five others injured, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
The violence unfolded about 4:30 a.m. southeast of downtown Kansas City, Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forte tweeted Sunday morning.
Forte said officers were called to investigate a report of gunfire and found three victims, two men and a woman, dead in the parking lot and on a street just south of the intersection of 57th Street and Prospect Avenue.
No arrests were immediately announced, and a motive was under investigation.
Five other people were taken to hospitals by ambulance or private vehicles, all suffering from what are believed to be non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, Forte said.
Preliminary evidence, according to Forte, indicates there was a large gathering of people in a parking lot at the intersection when the shooting broke out.
Detectives and crime scene investigators were interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence at the crime scene.
A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the suspect or suspects involved in the shooting.
The triple homicide came amid a 28% increase in homicides in Kansas City this year, according to Kansas City Police Department crime statistics. Prior to this weekend, Kansas City police had investigated 91 homicides this year, up 20 from the same time last year, according to the statistics.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucus posted a message on Twitter Sunday, expressing his condolences to the families of those killed and questioning why a crowd was gathered in a parking lot at the time of the shooting.
My condolences to the families of three people killed in a shooting this morning at an apparent after-hours gathering near 57 and Prospect. If the business knew persons would be present, without security, selling alcohol, and thwarting our laws, that business should be closed.
“If the business knew persons would be present, without security, selling alcohol, and thwarting our laws, that business should be closed,” Lucus tweeted.
Lucus said a total of 13 people were shot in Kansas City overnight, including a person slain at a short-term vacation rental.
(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — The suspect accused of killing five people in a mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is set to be arraigned Monday on 323 charges, including multiple first-degree murder, attempted murder and bias-motivated crimes charges.
Investigators and witnesses say Aldrich, a 22-year-old who identifies as nonbinary, allegedly opened fire as soon as they walked into Club Q before midnight on Nov. 19, 2022. Patrons at the venue tackled Aldrich, subduing them until police arrived, according to witnesses.
Daniel Davis Aston, Kelly Loving, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh and Raymond Green Vance died in the attack. At least 19 people were also injured in the shooting.
In February, preliminary hearings were held on whether the case against Aldrich was strong enough to move forward. Their defense attorney’s focused on Aldrich’s mental health and highlighted Aldrich’s history of drug use and claimed they suffered abuse at home to counter the messaging that Aldrich was motivated by hate.
“Aldrich’s behavior after this incident says they’re sorry, upset and emotional about what they did,” defense attorney Joseph Archambault said in court. “It’s categorically different than someone who targets a group, and that’s not what Aldrich did.”
Lead investigators for the state said Aldrich administered and ran a website that hosted a “neo Nazi white supremacist” shooting training video, according to testimony from Lead Detective Rebecca Joines in the preliminary hearings. Joines also said that Aldrich used gay and racial slurs when playing video games online, in testimony aimed at Aldrich’s bias charges.
The defense has not openly commented on the case, as per Office of the State Public Defender policies.
(NEW YORK) — More than half a million customers were without power in the United States early Monday after a weekend of deadly tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.
The severe weather outbreak over the weekend spawned at least 20 reported tornadoes across three Midwestern states — Iowa, Michigan and Indiana. On Sunday alone, there were four reported tornadoes in Indiana, killing at least one person and damaging or destroyed dozens of homes, according to local authorities.
Another person was killed in Georgia’s Fulton County by a falling tree, local authorities said.
Meanwhile, thunderstorm winds brought down trees in multiple areas southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee, and baseball-sized hail was spotted 35 miles northwest of Indianapolis, Indiana.
Overall, a potent line of storms impacted a swath of the nation from the U.S.-Canadian border to the Gulf Coast, with tens of millions of Americans under tornado and severe thunderstorm watches on Sunday.
By Monday morning, nearly 430,000 customers were without power across the South, namely Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia. An additional 71,000 were without power in Michigan, according to data collected by PowerOutage.us.
The massive weather system is forecast to move toward the East Coast on Monday, with severe storms expected to hit from New York and Connecticut all the way down to South Carolina, potentially impacting more than 86 million Americans. The highest threat will be damaging winds, large hail and even a few tornadoes.
The cities in the bullseye of Monday’s storms will be Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. New York state’s Hudson Valley and New York City as well as parts of Connecticut are also under threat for severe storms on Monday, but less acute than in the South.
The weather system could bring flash flooding to parts of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania on Monday.
ABC News’ Matt Foster and Mariama Jalloh contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — A chaotic armed rebellion that threatened the longstanding leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin began Friday and appeared to have been quelled by Saturday evening.
The uprising, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the paramilitary Wagner Group, began in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. Forces loyal to Prigozhin marched toward Moscow, before turning back Saturday night.
Here’s how the news unfolded. All times are Moscow Standard Time:
Friday, June 23
Prigozhin threatens rebellion
Prigozhin appeared to threaten an armed rebellion against Russia’s military leadership. He accused Russian officials of deliberately shelling his forces on earlier in the day.
“There are 25,000 of us and we are coming to sort things out … Those who want to join us, it’s time to finish with this mess,” Prigozhin said.
Saturday, June 24
1 a.m.
Putin is briefed on ‘armed rebellion’
Putin was briefed on an “attempted armed rebellion” overnight, according to Russia’s state-run media.
A late-night statement from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov 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.” The statement did not mention Prigozhin by name.
7:30 a.m.
Wagner group claims control over Rostov military facilities, airport
Prigozhin said at about 7:30 a.m. on Saturday that his forces had taken control of the Southern Military District and all military facilities in Rostov-on-Don, a key Russian city near the southern border with Ukraine.
“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 threatened he would go to Moscow, the capital, saying, “We are moving forward and will go until the end.”
9:30 a.m.
Wagner Group marches toward Moscow
Wagner Group forces were roaming the streets of Rostov-on-Don, gathering outside the Southern Military District headquarters, when Prigozhin made his announcement.
Forces loyal to Prigozhin began traveling north “almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said on Twitter about two hours later.
Prigozhin’s rebellion amounted to the “most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” the ministry said.
“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.
10 a.m.
Putin addresses nation on TV, calling the acts ‘treason’
Putin in a televised address that aired at about 10 a.m. said actions taken by Prigozhin, who was a longtime ally, 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.
“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.”
The powerful head of Chechnya, the semi-independent Russian region, Ramzan Kadyrov, said in a statement that he would support Putin.
He said his forces were already moving to “zones of tension.”
11 a.m.
Ukraine says there’s ‘so much chaos’ in Russia
An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there was a “deafening” silence from Russia’s elites.
“The next 48 hours will define the new status of Russia,” Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter at about 11 a.m. Moscow time. “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.”
Zelenskyy said later that Russia appeared to be suffering “full-scale weakness.”
“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.
5 p.m.
Wagner forces continue march to Moscow
A column of Wagner forces drove through the Voronezh region, about 300 miles south of Moscow, in the early afternoon, a local governor said.
Russia’s armed forces were conducting “operational combat operations” there as part of “counter terrorism operation,” the official said.
The column later passed through the Lipetsk region, farther north, Russian state media reported.
8 p.m.
Prigozhin orders halt on march to Moscow
Prigozhin said he ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow and return to their field camps, saying he wanted to avoid shedding Russian blood.
The reasons the rebellion ended was a mystery, given that Prigozhin appeared to have been in a dominant position, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
As part of a deal struck with Putin, Prigozhin would relocate to Belarus and would not be prosecuted, the Kremlin said.
ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova, Patrick Reevell, Tomek Rolski, Nadine El-Bawab, KJ Edelman, Shannon K. Crawford, Luis Martinez, Rashid Haddou and Martha Raddatz contributed to this story.
(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.
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.”
(KANSAS CITY) — A shooting that erupted Sunday morning in a Kansas City, Missouri, parking lot killed at least three people and left five others injured, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
The violence unfolded about 4:30 a.m. southeast of downtown Kansas City, Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forte tweeted Sunday morning.
Forte said officers were called to investigate a report of gunfire and found three victims, two men and a woman, dead in the parking lot and on a street just south of the intersection of 57th Street and Prospect Avenue.
No arrests were immediately announced, and a motive was under investigation.
Five other people were taken to hospitals by ambulance or private vehicles, all suffering from what are believed to be non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, Forte said.
Preliminary evidence, according to Forte, indicates there was a large gathering of people in a parking lot at the intersection when the shooting broke out.
Detectives and crime scene investigators were interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence at the crime scene.
A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the suspect or suspects involved in the shooting.
The triple homicide came amid a 28% increase in homicides in Kansas City this year, according to Kansas City Police Department crime statistics. Prior to this weekend, Kansas City police had investigated 91 homicides this year, up 20 from the same time last year, according to the statistics.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucus posted a message on Twitter Sunday, expressing his condolences to the families of those killed and questioning why a crowd was gathered in a parking lot at the time of the shooting.
My condolences to the families of three people killed in a shooting this morning at an apparent after-hours gathering near 57 and Prospect. If the business knew persons would be present, without security, selling alcohol, and thwarting our laws, that business should be closed.
“If the business knew persons would be present, without security, selling alcohol, and thwarting our laws, that business should be closed,” Lucus tweeted.
Lucus said a total of 13 people were shot in Kansas City overnight, including a person slain at a short-term vacation rental.
(NEW YORK) — The pattern of severe weather is continuing over the next couple of days, threatening tens of millions of Americans on Sunday and even more on Monday.
A large swath of the U.S. — from the Canadian border to the north down to the Gulf Coast in the South — is at risk for damaging winds tornados, especially in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, forecasts show.
At least two tornadoes confirmed in Indiana by storm spotters on Sunday — one with apparent debris near Crane, Indiana, and another near Fairland, Indiana.
On Sunday afternoon, the tornado watch zone had expanded into Ohio and farther into Michigan, including Detroit, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio.
The number of people under severe weather threat will increase from 57 million on Sunday to 86 million on Monday as the line of potent thunderstorms marches toward the Atlantic coast.
Much of the Interstate 95 corridor from New York City to Washington, D.C., could be seeing strong to severe thunderstorms, with an enhanced risk in parts of Virginia and North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service.
By Monday evening, these storms will also move through Washington D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia, bringing heavy rain, lightning and the potential for damaging winds, large hail and an isolated tornado.
The forecast for inclement weather is a continuance of disturbances over the past several days.
More than 600 severe weather reports have been reported over the past five days, with residents in Nebraska reporting softball-sized hail on Friday night.
Relentless, life-threatening heat is also continuing to plague much of the southern U.S.
Heat advisories and warnings have also been issued for 50 million people from Arizona to Tennessee, with triple-digit temperatures forecast in a vast majority of the affected area.
There is no end in sight for the brutal heat for much of Texas, with the scorching temperatures expected to last for the next several days.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris assailed a spate of laws restricting abortion in states across the country one year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, as her predecessor openly embraces a federal ban.
“Over the past 365 days, the women of our nation have suffered under the consequences of these laws,” Harris said, addressing a crowd in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday. “Laws that in design and effect have created chaos, confusion, and fear. Laws that have denied women of our country care even when their life and health were at risk.”
One of those laws is set to take effect in the state on July 1 and will ban most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The law passed last month after the legislature overrode the Democratic governor’s veto after state Rep. Tricia Cotham switched her party affiliation and gave Republicans a supermajority. Cotham was referenced by two speakers before Harris took the stage, eliciting boos from the crowd each time.
“I feel like the 12-week ban is very unfortunate,” Katie Moydell, a South Carolina resident and manager of an insurance company, told ABC News. “There are many situations when women have either found out recently that they were pregnant or even that there are anomalies with the pregnancy, and I feel like we as women have the rights and the brains to make decisions for our bodies. We should be trusted to make those decisions with our health care providers.”
Kelle Pressley, a doula from Charlotte and a mother of nine, panned the 12-week ban as “ridiculous.”
“Not giving them control of their bodies is taking away their rights to be a human, their right to be an American, the right to be a mother or chose not to be a mother,” Pressley said.
Harris’ speech serves as a bookend to the Biden campaign’s week-long push to center abortion in the election. On Friday, President Joe Biden and Harris, along with the first lady and the second gentleman, attended a rally in Washington, D.C., where they accepted endorsements from pro-abortion groups EMILYs List, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Biden also signed a largely symbolic executive order aiming to promote access to contraception. First lady Jill Biden also held a roundtable on abortion at the White House on Tuesday.
“Reproductive freedom is an issue for all of us. Men, women, everyone. Women cannot be less-than,” second gentleman Doug Emhoff said.
The campaign sees abortion as a winning issue for the ticket.
“Women put Joe and Kamala in the White House,” Jill Biden said Friday. “And we will do it again.”
It’s a rallying cry Harris reiterated Saturday.
“When we fight, we win,” Harris said.
But many of the Republicans competing to take on Biden are leaning into their stances on abortion, with Harris’ predecessor advocating for nationwide restrictions.
“I want to say from my heart, every Republican candidate for president should support a ban on abortion before 15 weeks as a minimum nationwide standard,” former Vice President Mike Pence told an audience at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s conference Friday in the nation’s capital.
Pence has suggested he’s willing to go further, previously saying he’d support banning abortion nationally after just six weeks of pregnancy — a window that would be among the most restrictive proposed by any candidate.
“Extremist Republicans in Congress have proposed to ban abortion nationwide. Nationwide,” Harris said. “But, I have news for them: We’re not having that. We’re not having that.”
Support for abortion being legal has increased since last year, according to recent polling.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said the aborted uprising against Russian President Vladimir Putin by a mercenary leader and close ally underscores how Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine has sown chaos in his own country, too.
“If you put this in context 16 months ago, Putin was on the doorstep of Kyiv in Ukraine, looking to take the city in a matter of days, erase the country from the map. Now, he’s had to defend Moscow, Russia’s capital, against a mercenary of his own making,” Blinken told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
“We’ve seen some very serious cracks emerge,” Blinken said, later adding, “Where they go, if anywhere, when they get there, very hard to say. I don’t want to speculate.”
But he added that he doesn’t “think we’ve seen the final act” after the Wagner private military group, which has been a key asset in Russia’s operations in Ukraine, began moving toward Moscow on Saturday in an armed revolt. Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin called it a “march for justice.”
On Friday, Prigozhin — who had been a major supporter of the war effort — reversed himself and openly challenged Russia’s explanation for invading Ukraine last year, saying there had been no imminent threat from Ukraine or the NATO alliance that includes the U.S.
In particular, Prigozhin singled out Russia’s defense officials, including Minister Sergei Shoigu, rather than Putin.
In less than 24 hours, Prigozhin ended Wagner’s campaign inside Russia as part of a deal involving the Kremlin and neighboring Belarus. The exact details of that agreement remain unclear, though Prigozhin is expected to go to Belarus and Wagner forces will essentially be overtaken by the military.
State authorities originally accused Prigozhin of fomenting unrest and rebellion, with Putin himself labeling it “treason,” but neither he nor his fighters will be prosecuted, the Kremlin maintains.
“So much that is beneath the surface has now surfaced again in terms of questioning the premise for the war, in terms of questioning the conduct of the war, in terms of questioning what good this has actually done for Russia,” Blinken said Sunday on “This Week.”
His comments come amid mounting speculation over how the mutiny may impact Putin’s standing and Russia’s political stability.
Blinken declined to guess how the unusual and confusing turn of events could play out, though he repeatedly emphasized how internal disagreements over Ukraine had burst into the open as a result.
The conflict with Prigozhin wasn’t a “surprise,” given that tensions had been rising for months, Blinken said, but the U.S. doesn’t yet know — and may not fully discover — what led to Prigozhin standing down as his group drew closer and closer to Moscow in the span of hours.
Blinken called it “fundamentally an internal matter for the Russians,” but said, “What we do know is that we’ve seen real cracks emerge … a direct challenge to Putin’s authority.”
Prigozhin “is, in many ways, a creation of Putin,” Blinken said, “and a creation of Putin that was useful to Putin in Ukraine because Wagner was throwing more and more people into a meat grinder, that Putin made himself, and that was useful because the regular Russian forces weren’t able to do the same thing.”
“What has actually caused this apparent split [between Prigozhin and Putin] and where it goes from here, we can’t speculate,” he said. “Our focus is and will remain on Ukraine itself.”
The secretary also said it’s unclear whether the revolt will be a positive development. Any distraction among the Russians could be used to Ukraine’s advantage in defending itself, with a major counteroffensive operation that is still in the early stages — but at the risk of further turmoil in one of the world’s largest countries.
President Joe Biden has not been in contact with Putin, Blinken said, and neither has he talked with his Russian counterpart. American officials had been in touch with the Russians about ensuring the safety of U.S. nationals in Russia, Blinken said.
“To the extent that the Russians are distracted and divided, it may make their prosecution of the aggression against Ukraine more difficult,” he said. “On the other hand, of course, when you have instability of any kind in a major country like Russia, a major power, that is cause for concern. So, it’s something that we’re watching very, very carefully.”
