(WASHINGTON) — All Yellowstone National Park entrances have been closed in the wake of “unprecedented” rainfall causing “substantial flooding, rockslides and mudslides on roadways,” the National Park Service announced Monday.
Some roads have been washed out and others are covered in mud or rocks, according to the park service. Power has also been knocked out in multiple parts of the park, officials said.
Park Superintendent Cam Sholly described it as “record flooding.”
The flooding was sparked by near record-high temperatures melting high-elevation snow over the weekend. Rivers are at peak levels now and are forecast to recede in the next few days.
The park service didn’t say when Yellowstone would reopen but noted that officials need time to assess the damage and wait for conditions to stabilize.
The closure will last through Wednesday at a minimum. The park service warned that many roads could be shuttered “for an extended period of time.”
The massive national park spans 2,219,789 acres, mostly in Wyoming but also in neighboring Montana and Idaho. Summer is the park’s busiest tourist season.
ABC News’ Max Golembo and Dan Peck contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A yearslong legal attempt to get Happy, an elephant residing at the Bronx Zoo, transferred to an elephant sanctuary failed Tuesday when New York’s highest court rejected a petition from the Nonhuman Rights Project.
The group filed a writ of habeas corpus on Happy’s behalf, suggesting a legal instrument that has safeguarded the liberty of humans, by providing a means to secure release from illegal custody, should also apply to an elephant.
The New York Court of Appeals disagreed, though it said Happy was entitled to proper care.
“Because the writ of habeas corpus is intended to protect the liberty right of human beings to be free of unlawful confinement, it has no applicability to Happy, a nonhuman animal who is not a ‘person’ subjected to illegal detention,” the decision said. “Thus, while no one disputes that elephants are intelligent beings deserving of proper care and compassion, the courts below properly granted the motion to dismiss the petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and we therefore affirm.”
Happy has lived at the zoo for 50 years.
The elephant was part of a 2006 study published in the journal Science that described her ability to recognize herself in a mirror as evidence of human-like self-awareness. As such, Nonhuman Rights Project asserted, the elephant was not a thing lacking rights but akin to a person with a fundamental right to liberty based on the principle of habeas corpus, which guards against unlawful detention.
The Nonhuman Rights Project first filed a writ of habeas corpus arguing for Happy’s legal personhood and seeking her release from the zoo in 2018. A New York City judge denied the habeas corpus relief in 2020. The state Court of Appeals granted an appeal last year.
In a statement Tuesday, the Nonhuman Rights Project said that the court’s decision to reject its petition “is not just a loss for Happy, whose freedom was at stake in this case and who remains imprisoned in a Bronx Zoo exhibit. It’s also a loss for everyone who cares about upholding and strengthening our most cherished values and principles of justice — autonomy, liberty, equality, and fairness — and ensuring our legal system is free of arbitrary reasoning and that no one is denied basic rights simply because of who they are.”
The group said it plans to continue its campaign for her release and “consider our legal options and next steps in New York.”
ABC News has reached out to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the Bronx Zoo, for comment.
(HOUSTON) — A 7-year-old boy was inside his home when authorities said he was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Harris County, Texas, which encompasses the Houston area.
Around 10:45 p.m. Sunday, the unknown gunman drove in front of a trailer home and opened fire at it, Harris County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Brown said.
Paul Vasquez, who was inside the trailer, was shot in the chest, the sheriff’s office said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said.
Paul’s mother and two brothers were home at the time but none of them were hurt, Brown said.
No motive is known and no suspects have been identified, authorities said.
The gunman’s car is believed to be a white or gray four-door sedan, authorities said.
Just 24 hours later, at about 10:45 p.m. Monday, a 9-year-old girl was shot and killed in an apartment only 15 miles away, according to Houston police.
The girl’s mom was shot in the upper body, police said. She is in stable condition and is expected to survive, police said.
This shooting was believed to be the result of family violence, police said.
The suspect is not in custody, police said.
These deadly shootings come one week after an 11-year-old girl was shot dead in a Detroit home by outside gunfire.
After the slaying of 7-year-old Paul Vasquez, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted that he’s “outraged.”
“This is the daily toll of gun violence … Let’s not accept daily gun violence as our norm,” he tweeted. “We can and we must do more.”
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Tuesday called for a special state legislative session to address youth gun violence.
“Yes, we need more mental health resources … yes, we need to look at broader issues. But we cannot address gun violence and the gun violence epidemic without addressing the need for gun safety policies,” Hidalgo said at a news conference. “My hope is that as we do our work in Harris County we can work together as a state, we can work together as a nation, to finally tackle this.”
Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis added, “We owe it to these kids to keep them safe from gun violence.”
(WASHINGTON) — If the Supreme Court upends nearly 50 years of abortion rights as expected, all eyes will be on the White House and a liberal president who has vowed to fight to keep abortion access.
But what can he do, really?
In recent weeks, dozens of abortion advocacy groups, lawyers, providers and lawmakers have huddled to pitch ideas that range from from what advocates call creative to the seemingly far-fetched. The White House has met with many of these officials in recent weeks to hear them out, although it remains tight-lipped on where its legal strategy might be headed.
Could the government lease federal buildings and public lands to abortion clinics? Declare a public health emergency, and offer disaster relief money or health care grants to states anticipating an influx of patients?
What about federal travel vouchers for patients seeking health care in abortion-friendly states, or relaxed import rules for abortion pills made overseas? President Joe Biden, some argue, also could say that banning abortion pills by mail — as some states are trying to do — violates rules on interstate commerce.
“We are all thinking creatively about what administrative solutions might exist,” including increasing the availability of abortion pills, said Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity who met with the White House in one of its “listening sessions.”
“But in this specific moment, what I’m looking for from this administration is leadership,” she said.
Complicating much of the issue for the Biden administration are decades-long restrictions on federal spending legislation that prohibits the executive branch from spending money on most abortion services. That prohibition is unlikely to change so long as the Senate remains narrowly divided between Democrats and Republicans.
Still, abortion rights advocates say every idea is on the table. Under Biden’s control, they argue, are powerful institutions, including the Food and Drug Administration, which has approved access to the abortion pill by mail, and Medicaid, the government’s insurance program for low-income families.
That means post-Roe, the United States will likely spend years embroiled in legal battles over abortion, as conservative states bump up against the power of the presidency.
Biden “can’t reverse the Supreme Court with an executive order,” said David Cohen, a professor of law at the Drexel Kline School of Law, who has written in favor of fighting abortion restrictions.
“But there are things that he can do, and ways that he can harness the federal government to increase access, even if some states are trying to limit it,” Cohen said.
Biden hinted as much in an interview last week with ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“I think what we’re going to have to do is that there are some executive orders I could employ, we believe. We’re looking at that right now,” Biden said.
Legal experts predict that much of Biden’s strategy will likely focus on the idea of “federal preemption” — the idea rooted in the Constitution that federal law always wins out over state laws.
For example, it’s possible that Biden might argue that states can’t lawfully restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone because the FDA has already approved its use for all Americans, Cohen said.
Under Biden, the FDA also has determined that the drug is safe enough to prescribe through a telehealth appointment and mail to the patient, even as 19 states restrict the drug to being dispensed in-person.
That decision to allow access to the abortion pill, Cohen argues, “is rooted in federal law because the agency only exists and only has the authorization to authorize a person because of federal law.”
The idea of FDA policy outweighing state restrictions is currently being tested in court. GenBioPro, the manufacturer of generic mifepristone, is challenging Mississippi’s restrictions on the drug as being at odds with federal rules, with a decision expected this summer.
Advocacy lawyers also expect that Biden is working on the idea of expanding access to mifepristone, possibly by easing import restrictions on overseas providers. The drug is widely available in states that don’t restrict abortion, although international organizations like Aid Access have been mailing the drug to any U.S. resident even if a state prohibits it and despite objections by the FDA.
Another focus by Biden could be on Medicaid, the largest insurance payer of pregnancy-related services.
While federal money can’t be used for most abortion services, Medicaid — which the federal government jointly operates with states — is required to pay for abortion care in cases of rape, incest and if a physician certifies the pregnancy would put the patient’s life at risk.
Compliance among states with these rules has been uneven historically, and several conservative legislatures are pursuing laws with stricter exceptions. In Oklahoma, for example, the law only allows abortion in cases of rape and incest if it’s reported to the police, and to save the life of a mother “in a medical emergency.”
It’s possible Biden could take steps to enforce Medicaid’s exceptions as federal law, making it easier for patients to get reimbursed, several advocacy groups predict.
John Yoo, a former top legal adviser to the Bush administration, said he thinks the most consequential step Biden could probably take is leveraging his power over Medicaid and Medicare, as well as the federal health care exchanges governed by the Affordable Care Act. For example, Biden could require that insurers cover abortion services, at least in states where it’s legal.
“I don’t think those (steps) could pre-empt state laws that make it criminal to carry out abortion, but would provide federal support once (a person) could get to a state where abortion was legal,” said Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkley.
Still, Yoo said he thinks Congress would have to lift its restrictions on federal spending on abortion — a provision known as the Hyde amendment — to make that happen.
Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups say what matters most is that Biden is as aggressive as possible.
In a letter to the president, more than two dozen Democrats, including Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, called on Biden to invoke his “unique power to marshal the resources of the entire federal government to respond.”
URGE’s Inez McGuire said even symbolic statements by the president can make a difference.
Declaring that abortion access is a human right is an opportunity for the administration “to let young people know (and) communities of color know … that our struggle to fight for abortion access is seen and understood by this administration,” she said.
Toby Scott/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — For months, sky-high prices have pummeled the budgets of everyday Americans.
But many have offset the damage, at least in part, with wage increases driven by high demand for workers and resilient consumer spending. In short, strong pockets of the economy have blunted the worst effects of severe inflation.
But the economy will likely cool off in the coming months as the Federal Reserve raises borrowing costs through a series of interest rate hikes — an effort to tame inflation by slowing down the economy and eating away at demand. If the policy works, it will dial back inflation while preserving a stable level of economic growth and low unemployment, experts told ABC News.
But an unsuccessful series of rate hikes could fail to reduce prices while dramatically slowing the economy, experts said. Such an outcome would bring about stagflation — a mix of the words stagnation and inflation — which describes an economy with low growth and high prices. In other words, the high prices remain, but the lifeline of elevated income disappears.
“Stagflation is basically the worst of all worlds,” Veronika Dolar, a professor of economics at Long Island-based State University of New York Old Westbury, told ABC News. “It’s the place you definitely don’t want to be.”
What is stagflation?
Usually, in good economic times, low unemployment forces employers to raise wages so they can retain or attract workers, which heightens consumer demand and steepens price increases. Conversely, a slow economy typically results in stagnant wages, reduced demand, and slashed prices, the latter of which helps to relieve the financial strain for those who lose their jobs or receive diminished pay, Dolar said.
On rare occasions, however, high inflation persists even as the economy slows and unemployment rises, resulting in stagflation, she said.
No single economic authority formally decides whether stagflation has occurred, unlike a period of recession, which the National Bureau of Economic Research determines, Campbell Harvey, a professor of finance at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, told ABC News.
The last major bout of stagflation took place in the 1970s, when an oil shortage sent gas and other related prices soaring as it simultaneously dragged down economic output. But the crisis of the 1970s offers few lessons for the current moment, since the U.S. economy is far less reliant on gas expenditures and foreign oil, Harvey said.
Instead, present-day inflation is owed to generous central bank and Congressional policies in response to the pandemic, which flooded the economy with money, spiked demand and exacerbated a supply chain bottleneck, Harvey said. Moreover, the price crunch has intensified amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he added.
Some economists, like Dolar, believe we’re already in a period of stagflation. She noted that the U.S. gross domestic product shrank at an annual rate of 1.4% over the first three months of this year, even as inflation remained historically high. But Harvey disagrees, saying stagflation hasn’t arrived but poses a real threat.
Why stagflation matters
Stagflation hurts people in two different ways, Harvey told ABC News.
“One, the stuff you’re buying is more expensive,” he said. “And two, you have less income.”
Echoing the sentiment, Dolar said: “You’re already on your knees, struggling, and you get kicked in your gut.”
The lack of purchasing power ripples through the economy, denting business revenue and draining savings, Harvey said.
Stagflation offers no easy solutions, since generous fiscal policy or low borrowing costs may juice the economy but also risk raising inflation, while increased borrowing costs could bring down inflation but risk slowing growth even further, Dolar said.
The treacherous economic moment calls for financial prudence, Harvey said.
“Now is not the time to max out your credit card to go for a vacation,” he said. “Now is not the time for a small business to go to the bank and bet the business to do an expansion.”
(LONDON) — Members of Britain’s royal family stepped out Monday for Garter Day, marking the first time the annual tradition has returned since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Prince Charles and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, and Prince William and Kate, duchess of Cambridge, were among the royals who publicly attended Garter Day celebrations, a day of pomp and pageantry that includes a procession around Windsor Castle.
Garter Day, celebrated annually on June 13, is the day new appointments are invested in the Order of the Garter, which was created by King Edward III in 1348 and is the “oldest and most senior Order of Chivalry in Britain,” according to the royal family’s website.
Absent from the public celebration of the day was Queen Elizabeth II, who has been suffering from mobility issues that caused her to miss several events during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this month.
The 96-year-old queen attended the Garter Day investiture and lunch privately, but did not attend the public procession to St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle nor the service.
Buckingham Palace later released a photo showing Elizabeth standing in between Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, and Camilla, both of whom were dressed in their Order of the Garter ceremonial dress.
Camilla was made a Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter Monday, part of her journey to becoming queen consort when the queen dies and Charles becomes king.
Joining the queen in not attending Monday’s public events was her second-oldest son, Prince Andrew, who is a member of the Order of the Garter.
A royal source told ABC News the last-minute change of plans for Andrew to not attend public events was a “family decision.”
In February, Andrew agreed to settle a sexual assault lawsuit in which a woman, Virginia Giuffre, alleged that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her to the prince, who she claimed took advantage and sexually abused her when she was under 18.
Prince Andrew repeatedly denied the allegations and attacked Giuffre’s credibility and motives.
One month earlier, in January, Andrew lost his military titles and royal patronages amid the lawsuit.
Buckingham Palace announced at the time that Andrew’s titles and patronages were returned to his mother, the queen.
“With The Queen’s approval and agreement, The Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen,” the palace said in a statement. “The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.”
Andrew did not attend any of the queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this month because he tested positive for COVID-19, according to a spokesperson.
The last public royal event Andrew attended was in March, when he attended a service of Thanksgiving for his late father, Prince Philip, at Westminster Abbey.
(LOS ANGELES) — Facing a growing mental health crisis among America’s teens and young adults, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says the problem is not something adults can fix alone.
Adults need “to make sure that we’re hearing from kids so that their stories are our guiding light,” Murthy said. “Ultimately, we will know when we’ve reached the finish line when they’re doing well and they tell us they’re doing well and when data tells us that as well.”
After declaring a national advisory on the youth mental health crisis late last year, Murthy is now participating in a two-day conference called the Youth Mental Wellness Now! Summit, hosted by The California Endowment.
“I’m also particularly excited that we’re going to have a chance to hear from young people here in L.A. today,” Dr. Murthy told ABC News.
According to Murthy, adults need to hear directly from the youth what the problems are, and what they can do to help. The summit will feature actors and activists including Kendrick Sampson, best known for his roles in Insecure, The Vampire Diaries and How to Get Away with Murder, and Jordyn Woods, a model, actress and mental health advocate.
They will join California-based youth leaders Ja’Nell Gore from South Kern Sol whose parent company is YR Media, and Xochitil Larios from Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice in a fireside chat with the surgeon general.
The purpose of the youth-led summit is to create a national movement around youth mental health led by young people through the sharing of stories and to galvanize organizations to commit to support. They have concrete commitments in excess of $255 million.
Other organizations partnering with The California Endowment to host the event include The Steve Fund, California Children’s Trust, Youth Organize! California, YR Media and Revolve Impact.
Sometimes, the voice of young people is missing from initiatives to help them, but a strength of this summit is the central role young voices have.
“We wanted young people center stage,” said Dr. Bob Ross, CEO of The California Endowment. “We wanted to make sure that any go-forward strategy for investing in access to mental health services and optimizing the mental health and well-being of young people would be informed with young people as the experts, and additionally, having important and key adult allies more as listeners than talkers. You know, a lot of times you have these conferences, and it’s the expert adults that are doing all the talking.”
Gore emphasized that one importance of this summit is that “youth need to be able to hear other young people tell them that it’s OK to struggle with things.”
“This [is] like one of the first conferences of its kind,” said Jasmine Dellafosse, a nationally recognized youth activist who will emcee the summit.
“Often young people across California have been showing up and trying to address these issues for decades,” she said. “It’s actually an opportunity to connect policy and change with actual voices on the ground, and young people who were championing, you know, the issues in their communities while also still being extremely under-resourced.”
Murthy blames the youth mental health crisis on loneliness, isolation, economic hardship, uncertainty, and online and offline bullying, which were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Other existential challenges like climate change, racism and violence in the community have also caused youth to lose hope.
In addition to these factors, Ross highlights “exposure to trauma in early childhood,” often rooted in race, social factors, the criminal justice system and violence, as being a primary cause of the crisis. He also acknowledged the “stigma behind mental health and seeking mental health supports” as perpetuating the crisis.
Murthy said the government’s three-pronged approach to addressing the crisis is to “expand access to treatment,” “invest in prevention,” “and eradicate the stigma around mental illness, which still prevents youth from coming forward and asking for help.”
In a show of solidarity, more than 30 organizations to date have announced 75 commitments in response to the surgeon general’s call-to-action.
To aid with expanding access to mental health services, the Vista Group has committed to investing $250 million over the next three years into U.S. providers of adolescent and youth mental health services. Pinterest has also designated more than a third of their $10 million commitment to advance emotional well-being to support NGOs (non-government organizations) and nonprofits focused on youth to expand access.
The UCLA Center for Scholars & Storytellers will partner with Disney Branded Kids, CAA, Joy Coalition, YouTubeKids and leading showrunners to research best practices on how to incorporate mental health messaging to positively impact youth through their programming and marketing. The CW is committed to developing storylines in its programming to inform and support audiences.
Other organizations are committed to supporting youth utilizing digital technologies. Meta plans to enhance parental supervision controls and introduce a new feature called “nudges,” which are notifications that encourage teens to switch to a different topic if they’re repeatedly looking at the same topic.
“Today, again, it’s just a step forward,” Murthy said. “We’re not done until every child in America has access to good mental health care.”
(UVALDE, Texas) — Three weeks after one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, some relatives of students gunned down at Robb Elementary School say they’re hopeful about the federal anti-gun violence proposal announced by a bipartisan group of senators Sunday.
But others say they’re dissatisfied with the extent of the proposed legislation and the lack of answers in their community.
The agreement, if passed into law, would provide funding for mental health, including behavioral health centers, and create incentives for the creation of so-called “red flag” laws to remove firearms from people who are a danger to themselves or others; increase money for school safety; and strengthen the federal background check system as it relates to convicted domestic violence abusers or those with restraining orders.
Amelia Sandoval, whose grandson Xavier Lopez was killed in the attack, told ABC News that she has not been watching news coverage while she processes her grandson’s death. But when briefed on the proposed legislation, she choked up, saying, “Praise God. This is just the beginning, but praise God.”
Briana Ruiz, whose child survived the shooting, told ABC News that the proposed measures just aren’t enough.
“I feel like it’s a pathway to hopefully, eventually get to what many are asking for … but the age limit should have been raised as well,” she said, referring to the requirements to purchase an AR-style weapon like the one used in the attack.
Ruiz, who at one point was a teacher’s aide in accused shooter Salvador Ramos’ class, said she laments how an 18-year-old in Texas cannot buy beer or cigarettes, but can purchase an AR-15.
Twenty-two people, including 19 young children, were killed in the attack in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.
Some in Uvalde said the proposed legislation is important, but it’s not their primary focus right now.
Monica Garza-Herrera, a relative of fourth-grade victim Amerie Jo Garza, said she was glad to hear about the federal framework — but she said she’s looking for local answers as well.
“What I want to know is what they’re going to do as far as here in our hometown to change things for our students that are still in school,” Garza-Herrera told ABC News.
She said there’s pain in the community, and she worries about whether her grandchildren and her sister, who is a teacher in the school district, are safe. She also wants to know if faster action on the part of law enforcement could have saved more children’s lives.
“Could they have been saved, even though they were shot?” she said. “Would they have gotten in there sooner? What do they plan to do about that? That’s what I’m waiting for them to tell us.”
While those answers may take time, President Joe Biden said he hopes to move quickly to get the legislative framework adopted into law. The framework has the backing of 10 Republicans, which suggests that, if adopted, the proposal would have enough votes to overcome its biggest hurdle in the Senate.
“Each day that passes, more children are killed in this country,” Biden said. “The sooner it comes to my desk, the sooner I can sign it, and the sooner we can use these measures to save lives.”
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 14, 6:37 am
Ukraine pleads for heavy weapons ahead of NATO meeting
The only way to end the war in Ukraine, either on the battlefield or behind the negotiation table, is a parity of weapons, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, said on Monday.
“Being straightforward — to end the war we need heavy weapons parity,” Podoliak said on Twitter.
According to the presidential adviser, Ukraine’s military wish list includes 1,000 howitzers, 300 multiple launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles and 1,000 drones.
“Negotiations are possible from a strong position, which requires parity of weapons,” Podoliak said. “There is simply no other way.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba echoed Podoliak’s plea for weapons on Monday in a tweet that recounted Ukraine’s recent military triumphs achieved with limited resources.
“Ukraine has proven it can punch well above its weight and win important battles against all odds,” Kuleba said, pointing at victories in the battles of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv. “Imagine what Ukraine can do with sufficient tools,” the Foreign Minister added. Kuleba urged Ukraine’s partners “to set a clear goal of Ukrainian victory and speed up deliveries of heavy weapons.”
Podoliak said a meeting of NATO defense ministers will be held in Brussels on June 15.
“We are waiting for a decision” on the weapons, Podoliak said.
The group, known as the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, will convene a meeting for the third time in a bid “to ensure that we’re providing Ukraine what Ukraine needs right now,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said at a press briefing in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday.
Austin, who will be in attendance in Brussels, said that Ukraine needs support “in order to defend against Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked assault.” The secretary of Defense noted that looking ahead, Ukraine will require help “to build and sustain robust defenses so that it will be able to defend itself in the coming months and years.”
In his Monday evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to tell people in the occupied territories “that the Ukrainian army will definitely come.”
“Tell them about Ukraine. Tell them the truth. Say that there will be liberation,” the president said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials played down threats of possible food shortages in the country due to the ongoing conflict. While Ukraine lost 25% of its sown area as a result of Russia’ full-scale invasion, the country’s food security was “in no way” threatened, Taras Vysotsky, the first deputy minister of Agrarian Policy, said at a press briefing for Ukrainian media on Monday.
“Despite the loss of 25% of sown areas, the structure of crops this year as a whole is more than sufficient to ensure consumption, which in turn also decreased due to mass displacement and external migration,” Vysotsky said.
The deputy minister added that Ukraine has “already imported about 70% of essential fertilizers, 60% of plant protection products and about a third of the required amount of fuel” before the war erupted in late February. According to Vysotsky, current sowing volumes are enough to ensure domestic consumption and even exports.
Jun 13, 9:26 am
Bodies of tortured men exhumed in Bucha
Another mass grave has been dug up in Bucha, uncovering the bodies of seven men who authorities believe were tortured and killed during the bloody occupation of the city in March.
Police told ABC News their hands were tied with ropes behind their backs and they were shot in the knees and head.
“They were killed in a cruel way,” police spokesperson Iryna Pryanyshnykova said. “These were civilian victims. The people here were killed by Russian soldiers and later they were just put into a grave to try to hide this war crime.”
It’s not clear why the men were killed, Pryanyshnykova said.
She said experts will analyze DNA to identify the victims.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
Jun 13, 6:24 am
Zelenskyy: Ukraine fighting for ‘every meter’ of Severodonetsk
Russian forces have pushed the Armed Forces of Ukraine out of the center of Severodonetsk, Ukrainian officials said.
“They are pressing in Severodonetsk, where very fierce fighting is going on — literally for every meter,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address on Sunday evening.
Russian forces now control about 70% of the city, as intense shelling makes mass evacuation and the transportation of goods impossible, Sergiy Haidai, another Ukrainian official, said.
Around 500 people, including 40 children, are sheltering in the city’s Azot chemical plant, Haidai said.
While the Ukrainians try to organize their evacuation, authorities of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic have given an ultimatum to Ukrainian troops in the city.
“They have two options: either follow the example of their colleagues and give up, or die. They have no other option,” said Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the People’s Militia Department of the DPR.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd and Tanya Stukalova
Jun 12, 5:33 pm
Zelenskyy sends virtual message to Sean Penn’s CORE benefit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the annual Hollywood fundraiser for actor Sean Penn’s nonprofit Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) Saturday night with a powerful video message urging people to continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“All of you have heard about the horrors that Ukraine is going through. Tens of thousands of explosions and shots, hundreds of thousands wounded and killed, millions who have lost their homes,” Zelenskyy said in his virtual speech. “All of this is not a logline for a horror film. All of this is our reality.”
Zelenskyy’s video message included footage showing missiles striking homes and apartment complexes in Ukraine, civilians dead in the streets of Ukrainian cities and children playing in parks amid the backdrop of bombed buildings.
Among those attending the CORE fundraiser, held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angles, were Penn and CORE co-founder Ann Lee, former President Bill Clinton, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, singer John Legend, and actors Patrick Stewart and Sharon Stone.
The group said the event raised more than $2.5 million for CORE’s disaster relief and preparedness work, including its urgent humanitarian response in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy noted that Penn traveled to Ukraine at the start of the Russian invasion and witnessed the atrocities firsthand. He thanked Penn and his group for the continued support for Ukraine.
“We have been resisting it for 107 days in a row,” Zelenskyy said of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. “We can stop it together. Support Ukraine, because Ukraine is fighting for the whole world, for democracy, for freedom, for life.”
Jun 12, 4:17 pm
Russia’s firepower superiority 10 times that of Ukraine’s in Luhansk: Military chief
Ukraine’s Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhny said Sunday that he told his American counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that Russian firepower superiority in the Luhansk region is far greater than that of Ukrainian forces.
Zaluzhny said that during a briefing he told Milley that Russian forces are concentrating their efforts in the north of the Luhansk region, where they are using artillery “en masse” and their firepower superiority is 10 times that of Ukraine’s.
“Despite everything, we keep holding our positions,” Zaluzhny said.
Zaluzhny also said Russia has deployed up to seven battalion tactical groups in Severdonetsk, a city in the Luhansk region. He said Russian shelling of residential areas in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine has resumed.
Russian forces destroyed a second bridge leading into Severodonetsk and are now targeting a third bridge in an effort to completely cut off the city, Luhansk region Gov. Sergiy Haidai said Sunday. Ukraine’s army still controls around one third of the city, he said.
Haidai said that Ukrainian forces are still holding onto the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk, where around 500 civilians are taking shelter.
If Severodonetsk falls, Lysychansk will be the only city in the Luhansk region that remains under Ukraine’s control.
Zaluzhny said that as of Sunday, the front line of the war stretched 1,522 miles and that active combat was taking place on at least 686 miles of the front line.
Zaluzhny said that during his briefing with Milley, he reiterated Ukraine’s urgent request for more 155 mm caliber artillery systems.
Jun 12, 12:48 pm
Russian cruise missile attack confirmed in western Ukraine
Russia claims a cruise missile strike destroyed a large warehouse in western Ukraine storing weapons supplied to the Ukrainians by the United States and European allies.
While police in the Ternopil region of Ukraine, where at least one cruise missile hit, told ABC News that no weapons were destroyed, the region’s governor said part of a military facility was damaged.
Ternopil’s governor Volodymyr Trush posted a video showing widespread damage from what he said were four Russian missiles launched Saturday from the Black Sea. Trush said 22 people were wounded, including a 12-year-old child, in the missile strikes.
In addition to the military facility, Trush said four five-story residential apartment buildings were damaged. One of the missiles hit a gas pipeline, he said.
Russia’s defense ministry said Kalibr high presicion sea-based, long-range missiles struck near Chortkiv in the Ternopil province and destroyed a large warehouse full of anti-tank missile systems, portable anti-aircraft missile systems and artillery shells supplied by the United States and European countries.
