Russian forces move within 9 miles of Kyiv’s city center: Pentagon Ukraine update
Matt Seyler, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — Here are highlights of what a senior U.S. defense official told reporters on Thursday:
Russians approaching Kyiv
The Russian forces closest to the heart of Kyiv are coming from the northwest, in the area of the Hostomel Airport. Since Wednesday, these troops fought their way three miles closer, bringing them within roughly nine miles of the city center, according to the official. The airport is only about five miles as the bird flies from the outer city limits.
Two parallel lines of advance from the northeast are also making progress on their push to the capital, the closest of these troops now about 25 miles from the center of Kyiv.
Some Russian troops from one of those lines, emanating from above the town of Sumy, seem to have turned around, heading back northeast. The official said the reason for the about-face is unclear.
Russian bombardment continues
Russian forces have now fired more than 775 missiles against Ukraine, the official said. This is up from an estimate of 710 on Wednesday.
No Patriots to Ukraine
The official said there is no talk at the Pentagon of sending Patriot systems to Ukraine, as they would require U.S. troops on the ground to operate them.
“It’s not a system that the Ukrainians are familiar with. And as we have made very clear, there will be no U.S. troops fighting in Ukraine,” the official said.
Other air-defense options for Ukraine
Security assistance continues to flow into Ukraine, even in the last 24 hours, according to the official.
While the U.S. is sending its own anti-armor and anti-aircraft weapons, it is also working with other countries to send items the U.S. doesn’t have in its arsenal but could be used effectively by Ukrainian troops.
When asked, the official said this includes air-defense systems that are “more sophisticated” than the shoulder-fired Stinger missiles being sent by the U.S. So, while the Pentagon has rejected the idea of sending Patriot missile batteries, it could be helping facilitate the transfer or replenishment of similar systems that Ukrainians are trained on.
Ukraine making little use of its fighter jets
The official repeated the Pentagon’s rejection of a Polish proposal to pass its fleet of MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine by using the U.S. as an intermediary.
“We do not support a proposal whereby jets would be transferred to our custody, then to be brought into Ukraine,” the official said.
The Defense Department views sending aircraft to be an inferior form of support for Ukraine, despite Ukrainian officials’ requests.
“They are not flying their fixed-wing aircraft very much on a daily basis. We’re not making a judgment here, it’s just a fact. What they are using very effectively to slow the Russian advance, particularly in the north, are their own surface-to-air missile systems and MANPADS, as well as … anti-armor munitions,” the official said.
(WASHINGTON) — Republican Sen. Ted Cruz rolled up to the Capitol rotunda on Thursday in a honking semi-truck, the lead vehicle of a convoy that for the past five days has encircled the D.C. Beltway in protest of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Texas senator, fully vaccinated, rode in “People’s Convoy” co-organizer Mike Landis’s truck from Hagerstown, Maryland, before stepping out for a press conference in support of the truckers — many of whom traveled from California in late February.
Cruz thanked the truckers while standing alongside Landis and another co-organizer, Brian Brase.
The “People’s Convoy” met with Cruz and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on Tuesday for a roundtable discussion at the Capitol and later with Republican members of the House Transportation Committee.
The truckers said they would continue their protest until they had sat down with more members of Congress and had their demands met. Those demands include rolling back the national state of emergency designation as well as any existing vaccine mandates. The truckers are also calling for congressional hearings on the origins of the pandemic along with an investigation into state and federal COVID responses.
Across the country, however, most COVID restrictions have already been lifted. Some states, like Florida, have maintained lax COVID mandates throughout the pandemic.
If Republicans gain control of Congress next year, Cruz, who has flirted with the idea of a 2024 run as the GOP presidential nominee, said he’d work for legislation to support the truckers’ demands.
The senator took a swipe at Democrats and some Republican colleagues in the Senate over failed votes to end COVID restrictions like mandates for active-duty military, federal civilian employees, federal contractors and private-sector mandates through OSHA.
“I’m fighting to vote on it again… This shouldn’t be a partisan issue,” Cruz said. “This should be ‘leave me the hell alone.'”
Cruz used the press conference to touch on a number of hot-button conservative issues, including mandating voter ID.
“It is insane that you have the left and corporate media that tell you it’s wrong to ask for an ID to vote. That voter ID is a horrible, racist idea, which is nonsense. But at the same time, they demand, ‘show me your papers to lunch.’ That’s idiotic. That’s none of their damn business.”
A crowd member yelled at Cruz during the event, “You should run for president,” to which the senator responded: “Thank you.”
(WASHINGTON) — CIA Director William Burns told lawmakers Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to agree to settlement talks with Ukraine for tactical reasons because he “does not have a sustainable end game” for his invasion.
“Given Putin’s track record, given the fact that he’s someone who hates to act out of what he believes to be weakness, that he needs to concede or admit mistakes, that’s probably a long shot,” Burns said of any chance talks might succeed after a session Thursday in Turkey between the countries’ top two diplomats failed to produce a cease-fire.
Burns also told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Putin, at the same time, is turning Russia into a “propaganda bubble.”
“He’s intensified his domination of the state run media and in his strangulation of independent media, especially in recent years, and particularly since the invasion of Ukraine began.”
“I don’t believe he can wall off [Russians] indefinitely from the truth, especially as realities began to puncture that bubble. The realities of killed and wounded coming home in an increasing number. The realities of the economic consequences for ordinary Russians as I was discussing before, the realities of you know, the horrific scenes of hospitals and schools being bombed next door and Ukraine, enough civilian casualties there as well. I don’t think he can bottle up the truth indefinitely,” he said.
Intelligence agency leaders from around the government testified in the second of two hearings detailing their annual report on “worldwide threats,” after speaking to the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.
Burns told Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, that the U.S. needs to “focus” on Russia’s potential use of chemical weapons both in terms of a “false flag” operation and in reality.
“This is something as all of you know very well is very much a part of Russia’s playbook,” Burns said. “They’ve used those weapons against their own citizens. They’ve at least encouraged the use in Syria and elsewhere. So, it’s something we take very seriously.”
He said believes the U.S. is adequately pushing back on the Russian narrative.
“In all the years I spent as a career diplomat, I saw too many instances in which we lost information wars with the Russians. In this case, I think we have had a great deal of effect in disrupting their tactics and their calculations and demonstrating to the entire world that this is a premeditated and unprovoked aggression, built on a body of lies and false narratives,” he said.
The head of U.S. Cyber Command, Gen. Paul Nakasone, defended U.S. information-sharing with Ukraine amid Republican suggestions the U.S. was holding back.
“The intelligence that we’re sharing is accurate. It’s relevant, and it’s actionable. I think when we look back at this, that’s the key piece of, of what we’ve been able to do as an intelligence community,” he said.
Defense Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Scott Berrier admitted he could have done a better job assessing problems Putin’s military would have overcoming the Ukrainians’ will to fight.
“So, we assessed prior to the invasion that he was overestimate or underestimating, rather, the Ukrainians … resistance,” he said. “We did not do as well in terms of predicting the military challenges that he has encountered with his own military.”
“We made some assumptions about his assumptions, which proved to be very, very flawed,” Berrier said.
“Among the many profoundly flawed assumptions that President Putin made in launching this invasion, was his assumption that he had built a sanctions-proof economy,” Burns said.
Putin, Burns said, thought he built a “very large war chest to foreign currency reserves and gold reserves, and by not anticipating that the sanctions against the Russian Central Bank, by not anticipating that the German leadership would show such resolve in particular, I think he deeply underestimated the economic consequences, and I think they’re just now being felt in Russia, and that’s going to intensify.”
(WASHINGTON) — When National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Rick Scott announced his “11 Point Plan to Rescue America” in late February, it was met with resistance from established Washington lawmakers. Weeks later, it appears to be gaining traction among a handful of deeply conservative GOP Senate candidates,while continuing to fall flat among most Republicans in the running across midterm battlegrounds.
Scott’s 11-point outline mapped out conservative approaches to a range of topics including the economy, the nation’s education system, racial equality, crime, immigration and several other social issues. The public proposal specifically highlighted priorities like finishing the border wall and naming it after former President Donald Trump, promoting two-parent households, opposing abortions and requiring all Americans to pay “some income tax to have skin in the game.”
Upon its publication, the plan was met with criticism from both sides of the aisle. While advocates in various fields blasted points in the plan that targeted social issues — such as prohibiting “critical race theory” in public schools, insisting there are only “two genders” and banning tax dollars from being spent on diversity training — lawmakers and political heavyweights critiqued Scott’s income tax proposal.
ABC News contacted more than a dozen candidates in eight battleground states to weigh in on Scott’s plan. Of those contacted, six responded and three expressed support for the plan as a whole. Three candidates expressed support for the NRSC chair’s decision to present ideas to the public while expressing reluctance to support certain elements of the overall agenda, specifically raising taxes. Alternatively, five candidates did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment, and none voiced full-throated opposition to the plan in its entirety.
Scott released the plan in his capacity as a senator, rather than his position as a committee leader for the upper chamber’s campaign arm, according to the NRSC.
Among the most high-profile responses offering support for Scott’s proposal came from incumbent Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a strong Trump supporter.
“Senator Rick Scott put forward his proposal that opposes reckless federal spending and intrusive government overreach and supports conservative goals like local control of education, election integrity, religious liberty, and an improved health care system. I think it’s important for elected officials to tell their constituents what they are for, and I support Senator Scott for doing so,” Johnson said in a statement.
In Pennsylvania, Scott received praise from two Republican Senate primary candidates — veteran and conservative political commentator Kathy Barnette and former Trump administration ambassador to Denmark, Carla Sands.
“I’m reading through [the plan], and so far, I agree, and I am grateful that someone with that platform is now saying the quiet parts out loud,” said Barnette, the only Black candidate in her state’s GOP primary, in a phone interview as she reviewed it. She added that the plan “crosses political affiliation — most Americans believe these things.”
She voiced support for classroom policies laid out in the plan, including requiring students to salute the American flag and “learn that America is a great country.”
While she didn’t directly comment on the component of Scott’s plan that says “no government policy will be based on race,” she did say that “racism is real.”
“I have never said that it wasn’t […] what I have tried to instill in my own children is that in today’s America if you don’t like me because of the color of my skin, that’s more your problem than it is mine.”
In an email statement to ABC News, Sands voiced strong support for Scott’s proposal, while placing blame on the Biden administration for inflation and harkening back to policies implemented under Trump.
“I stand with Senator Rick Scott and his 11 point plan to rescue America,” the former ambassador said, adding a parallel to Newt Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America.”
Philadelphia-area attorney George Bochetto said he agrees with many of Scott’s “bold positions” but stopped short of backing the plan as a whole over economic concerns.
“I will not be voting for tax increases, and I will protect Medicare and Social Security,” Bochetto said in a statement.
Other high-profile Republican candidates including Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dave McCormick and Jeff Bartos did not return ABC News’ requests for comment.
Scott’s proposal was met with a more lukewarm reception from his Florida colleague, Sen. Marco Rubio, who told reporters last week he had not seen the whole plan and is unsure whether he agrees with all points but that “it’s good that people offer ideas.”
His main point of contention is that Scott’s plan would cause Americans to pay more in taxes — a dealbreaker for many Republicans.
During the North Carolina GOP primary debate, former House Rep. Mark Walker said even though he supports Scott, he does not believe everyone should pay taxes and that people should pay taxes if they have an income.
Former North Carolina governor and GOP Senate candidate Pat McCrory shared the same sentiment — that he supports Scott but not tax hikes.
“The problem is not needing more money, the problem is spending,” McCrory said on the debate stage.
In Nevada, GOP Senate candidate Adam Laxalt said in a statement to ABC News he does not support Scott’s plan.
“I don’t support tax increases on anyone,” he said. “That’s why I signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge.”
Chuck Morse, one of several Republicans looking to flip Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan’s seat in New Hampshire, also expressed hesitancy over taxes while avoiding a clear condemnation of the proposal.
“I have not seen the full report. I am a proud tax cutter and have signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge to NH voters to oppose any new taxes or tax increases. I am building my own campaign based on the #603 way, not any Washington D.C. way,” Morse said in an emailed statement to ABC News.
Fellow New Hampshire Republicans Don Buldoc declined to comment and Kevin Smith did not comment for this article.
The candidate responses come on the heels of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offering a strong rebuke of Scott’s proposal. Although McConnell has not released a public Republican agenda, one senator with knowledge of the matter told ABC News that McConnell warned his Republican colleagues in a recent leadership meeting that Scott’s plan could damage the party ahead of the midterms.
“If we are fortunate enough to have the majority next year, I’ll be the majority leader, I’ll decide in consultation with my members what to put on the floor,” McConnell said during a recent press conference.
“Let me tell you what will not be a part of our agenda — we will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people, sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years. That will not be a part of the Republican Senate Majority agenda,” he added.
ABC News’ Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, don’t appear to have advanced closer to the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 10, 12:54 pm
Russia claims mercenaries from US and UK attacking Russian medics
Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov held another press briefing in which he accused NATO countries of committing war crimes.
Konashenkov claimed Thursday that mercenaries from the U.K. and U.S. are increasingly attacking Russian military medics who are accomplishing humanitarian missions in Ukrainian territory.
“Attacks on Russian medics and special medical vehicles by the Ukrainian nationalists and mercenaries that came earlier from the U.S., Britain and Europe to Ukraine have become more frequent over the past few days,” Konashenkov said.
Konashenkov also denied reports that the Russian military had carried out a strike on a children’s hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday, dismissing reports on the matter as an “an information provocation staged by the Kyiv regime.”
“The alleged airstrike that took place is a completely staged provocation in order to maintain the anti-Russian public outcry in the Western audience,” he alleged.
Russian forces have destroyed nearly 3,000 military installations in Ukraine since the invasion began, Konashenkov claimed. In the last 24 hours, 68 installations, including two sites of the Ukrainian troop control system, 12 material and technical support centers and three Osa air defense missile systems, were obliterated, he said.
Mar 10, 12:48 pm
Harris meets with Ukrainian refugees, US embassy staff in Poland
As part of her trip to Poland, Vice President Kamala Harris met with 7 people who fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine and some members of the U.S. embassy staff Thursday to discuss their experiences.
“I have invited in these very important people to join me for a conversation about their experiences, and also their thoughts about what we can do the United States and our allies in this region and around the world to support the many people that have been displaced through the necessity to flee Ukraine and the harm that it represents at this moment,” Harris said to the group.
Harris thanked the group for meeting with her to share their experiences.
“The conversation we will have this afternoon will help inform me, the President of the United States, and the American people about what you have experienced, so that we can best support you and your family,” Harris said to the group.
Before the press was ushered out, Harris sought to reassure the participants.
“We are here to support you and you are not alone. And I know there’s so much about the experience that you’ve had that has made you feel alone. You are not alone,” she pledged.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 10, 12:39 pm
Lukashenko to meet with Putin in Moscow on Friday
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will travel to Russia on Friday for a meeting with his close ally and Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
The two leaders will meet in Moscow where they “will discuss key issues concerning bilateral relations, the development of union cooperation and economic cooperation in conditions of sanctions pressure,” according to the Pool of the First Man channel on Telegram, which is reportedly linked to Belarusian state media.
“The situation in the region and in Ukraine is on the agenda as well,” the channel said.
Mar 10, 12:18 pm
Western Union suspends operations in Russia, Belarus
Western Union announced Thursday that it is suspending its operations in Russia and close ally Belarus amid the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The Denver-based money-transfer and payments company said in a statement that it “stands with the world in condemning the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”
“All of us share the shock, disbelief, and sadness around this tragedy and humanitarian disaster,” the company added. “Our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine and to our colleagues, customers, agents, and partners who have been impacted.”
Company leadership have engaged in extensive dialogue with a wide variety of stakeholders “in an earnest effort to arrive at the right decision regarding our services in Russia and Belarus,” according to Western Union.
“We have thoroughly evaluated internal and external considerations, including the consequences for our valued teammates, partners, and customers,” the company said. “Ultimately, in light of the ongoing tragic impact of Russia’s prolonged assault on Ukraine, we have arrived at the decision to suspend our operations in Russia and Belarus.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Mar 10, 12:13 pm
Harris announces $50 million in aid to UN World Food Program after meeting with Polish president
Vice President Kamala Harris announced Thursday that the U.S. will be giving $50 million in humanitarian assistance to the United Nations World Food Program.
Harris made the announcement during a joint press conference after she met with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda.
USAID will deliver the funds to the WFP, which go toward providing emergency food aid, such as high-energy biscuits, to refugees and supporting the WFP’s operations to get aid into Ukraine, according to a release from USAID.
Including the aid money announced Thursday, the U.S. has provided $107 million in humanitarian aid since Russia’s war against Ukraine started, according to USAID.
In the press conference, Harris and Duda spoke about the unified partnership between the U.S. and Poland on the war in Ukraine.
“We will do everything together in partnership, in solidarity, to support what is necessary this very moment in terms of the humanitarian and security needs of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” Harris said.
Harris and Duda also condemned the Russian attack on a maternity hospital which killed 3 people and wounded 17, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We have been witnessing for weeks, and certainly just in the last 24 hours, atrocities of unimaginable proportions,” Harris said.
Duda went as far as saying if hospitals and residential buildings are bombed where there are no military installations, “this is an act of barbarity baring the features of a genocide.”
“We cannot accept such military activities that bare the characteristics of genocide,” Duda said.
Harris also announced that the U.S. has delivered Patriot missile systems to Poland, which it had promised earlier this week, and noted the recent deployment of 4,700 U.S. troops to Poland.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Conor Finnegan
Mar 10, 11:40 am
At least 549 civilians, including 41 children, killed in Ukraine: OHCHR
At least 549 civilians, including 41 children, have been killed in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Meanwhile, at least 957 civilians, including 52 children, have been injured, OHCHR figures show.
The tallies are civilian casualties that occurred in Ukraine from Feb. 24 to March 9 and have been verified by OHCHR, which cautioned that “actual figures are much higher.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Mar 10, 11:31 am
Goldman Sachs shutting down its operations in Russia
Goldman Sachs announced Thursday that it will be shutting down its operations in Russia.
“Goldman Sachs is winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements,” Goldman Sachs said in a statement.
The company added, “We are focused on supporting our clients across the globe in managing or closing out pre-existing obligations in the market and ensuring the wellbeing of our people.”
-ABC News’ Victor Ordoñez
Mar 10, 11:19 am
Samaritan’s Purse opens outpatient clinic in Lviv
Samaritan’s Purse opened an outpatient clinic just outside the train station in Lviv on Thursday and has already treated its first patients.
Some people have evacuated so quickly they left their homes without their medicine — and by the time they made it to Lviv they were in desperate need, Mark Agness, an emergency room doctor from California, told ABC News. Pregnant women and newborns are also common.
“That’s why we do this … it’s really the parable of the Good Samaritan. Help thy neighbor — well they’re my neighbor,” said Agness.
Chelsea Musick, a nurse from Iowa, has been with the organization for years and said working in Ukraine is different. Unlike other humanitarian disasters, this was entirely man made, she said. She described the patients she’s seeing as having a “haunted” look in their eyes.
Samaritan’s Purse is also building a large field hospital, which they expect to be operational by the weekend, in the parking garage of a local mall, a few minutes away from the train station. The hospital will have enough room for 15 surgeries a day and will be able to increase beds as needed.
The operation is primarily funded by individual donors from the U.S., the organization said. Two airlifts of supplies have already been coordinated from the U.S.
-ABC News’ Irene Hnatiuk, Maggie Rulli and John Templeton
Mar 10, 11:07 am
For one Ukrainian poet, the sword is mightier than the pen
In a college gym-turned-shelter, Kyrill Nodikov, a Ukrainian poet who has been published in Ukraine and Russia, told ABC News he and his 20-year-old son are ready to enlist in the war.
Nodikov was seeking refuge in a shelter with his wife, their three kids, a dog and a tabby cat.
There are thousands of families struggling with the same dilemma: whether to take their animals, which makes their exodus far more complicated, or leave them behind. Most have stayed loyal to their animals.
When asked what it would be like to take care of her twins and pets by herself, Oksana, Nodikov’s wife, started crying.
Sitting on mats on the floor of the gymnasium, the family gathered in a huddle, hugging, holding and comforting Oksana. And then they did the Ukrainian version of a pinky promise: hooking their pinkies and saying, “Peace, friendship, bubble gum.”
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Brandon Baur and Scott Munro
Mar 10, 10:27 am
Small number of UK soldiers allegedly join fight in Ukraine against orders
A “small number” of soldiers from the United Kingdom may have “disobeyed orders” by joining Ukraine’s fight against invading Russian forces, according to a spokesperson for the British Army.
“We are aware of a small number of individual soldiers who have disobeyed orders and gone absent without leave, and may have travelled to Ukraine in a personal capacity,” the British Army spokesperson told ABC News in a statement Wednesday night. “We are actively and strongly encouraging them to return to the U.K.”
Personal information on the individuals is not being released for privacy reasons, according to the spokesperson.
The U.K. is advising against all travel to Ukraine and warned that going to fight or assist others engaged in the conflict may be against the law or could lead to prosecution. The U.K., along with its allies, is providing a range of support to Ukraine, including enhancing the country’s defense capability. But that support is fundamentally defensive in nature and neither NATO nor Ukraine pose any aggressive threat to Russia, according to a spokesperson for the U.K. Ministry of Defense.
“All Service Personnel are prohibited from travelling to Ukraine until further notice,” the U.K. defense ministry spokesperson told ABC News in a statement. “This applies whether the Service Person is on leave or not. Personnel travelling to Ukraine will face disciplinary and administrative consequences.”
The spokesperson noted that the U.K. has incredibly limited consular support in Ukraine and is unlikely to be able to offer assistance to any citizens there. There are many ways people can support Ukraine, including through charitable donations, according to the spokesperson, who acknowledged the strong desire to want to help defend freedom and democracy in Europe.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
Mar 10, 9:22 am
Harris meets with Polish leaders in Warsaw
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and President President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on Thursday morning, reaffirming the United States’ commitment to Poland and other NATO allies.
During a joint press conference with Morawiecki following their bilateral meeting, Harris thanked the Polish people for inviting “with such courage and generosity the refugees who have fled Ukraine.”
“As we have said from the beginning, if Russia were to take aggressive action, there would be consequences,” Harris added. “And those consequences I believe have been evident but a result of our work together that we have been doing together as a unified force.”
Later Thursday, during another joint press conference, reporters asked Harris and Duda about the U.S. rejecting Poland’s offer to hand over all its MiG-29 fighter jets to an American air base in Germany to boost Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Harris largely dodged the questions on whether the U.S. has an alternative plan for delivering the better air power that Ukraine has requested. She pointed to the $13 billion in funding Congress is in the process of passing to give to Ukraine for humanitarian and security needs, in addition to the ongoing support the U.S. has been delivering.
“I can tell you that the issue facing the Ukrainian people and our allies in Eastern flank is something that occupies one of our highest priorities in terms of paying attention to the needs, understanding it is a dynamic situation, and requires us to be nimble and to be swift,” she said.
While Duda acknowledged that the situation was an “extremely complicated” one, he argued his country was trying to be a “responsible” and “reliable member of NATO” by addressing the requests made to Poland while working with their partner nations.
“We decided to put those jets at the disposal of NATO, not expecting anything in return,” Duda said, “because we stressed very clearly that as a gap filler for the donated equipment, we were able to buy something that we would need as a replacement and we ourselves were ready to provide our equipment free of charge.”
Mar 10, 8:24 am
Over 2.31 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than 2.31 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency.
The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amounts to just over 5% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in 15 days.
More than half of the refugees are in neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
Mar 10, 8:19 am
UK sanctions Chelsea FC owner, other Russian oligarchs
The United Kingdom has added Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, owner of the Chelsea Football Club, to its list of sanctioned individuals as part of its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich was one of seven prominent Russians to be hit with fresh sanctions on Thursday, including travel bans and asset freezes. Igor Sechin, head of Russian state-owned oil firm Rosneft, Alexei Miller, head of Russian state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom, and Oleg Deripaska, who owns part of Russian mining company En+ Group, were also targeted. The measures are worth an estimated 15 billion pounds ($20 billion), according to a press release from the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “there can be no safe havens” for those who support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in neighboring Ukraine.
“Today’s sanctions are the latest step in the U.K.’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people,” Johnson said in a statement Thursday. “We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.”
The move effectively derails Abramovich’s plan to sell his London-based professional soccer team, which he had announced earlier this month. Under the sanctions, Chelsea won’t be able to sell new tickets for matches, including games in the upcoming UEFA Champions League, and the club’s merchandise stores will be closed. Player transfers and new contracts are also banned.
According to the updated list of sanctions targets published by the U.K. Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Abramovich is allegedly “associated with a person who is or has been involved in destabilizing Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” namely Putin, with whom Abramovich allegedly “has had a close relationship for decades.” Abramovich has denied having strong ties to the Russian leader.
“This association has included obtaining a financial benefit or other material benefit from Putin and the Government of Russia,” the document alleges. “This includes tax breaks received by companies linked to Abramovich, buying and selling shares from and to the state at favourable rates, and the contracts received in the run up to the FIFA 2018 World Cup.”
Mar 10, 7:47 am
Russia, Ukraine fail to reach cease-fire during talks in Turkey
The top diplomats from Russia and Ukraine failed to reach a deal for a cease-fire during talks in Turkey on Thursday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held separate press conferences after their meeting in the southern Turkish city of Antalya. Kuleba told reporters they were unable to agree on a cease-fire and that Russia was still demanding Ukraine change its constitution to formally give up its ambitions to join the European Union or NATO. He described the meeting with his Russian counterpart as “difficult.”
“We can’t end the war if the country that carried out the aggression is not willing to do so,” Kuleba said. “Today, I heard that the issue of a cease-fire is linked to Putin’s demands. Ukraine has not surrendered and will not surrender.”
“We are ready for diplomacy,” he added. “But while there isn’t one, we will firmly defend ourselves, protecting our people from Russia aggression. I hope that today’s format will continue if Russia is ready for a constructive dialogue.”
Lavrov, however, told reporters that “nobody actually planned to negotiate a cease-fire” during the meeting.
“If the goal of the meeting was to ask these questions, let’s stop firing and let’s arrange humanitarian corridors — not the way Russia has proposed, but the way the Ukrainian side wants this,” Lavrov said. “And if all of this is being done just to tell journalists later that all their good intentions failed, then perhaps this fits the logic of Ukrainian policy and diplomacy of which I’ve spoken: outward effects are designed for the public’s momentary perception and substitute real work.”
Meanwhile, Lavrov continued to blame Ukraine and the West for the crisis. He claimed that Russian forces “did not attack Ukraine” and “do not plan to attack other countries.”
“But we just explained to Ukraine repeatedly that a situation had arisen that posed direct security threats to Russia,” he told reporters. “Despite our years-long reminding, persuasion, calls, no one listened to us.”
He said the agreement on the daily opening of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine “still stands,” but that the evacuation routes and timings are determined by the Russian commanders on the ground. He also made clear that Russia considers the peace talks with Ukraine taking place in neighboring Belarus are the main format for any negotiations. While Moscow hasn’t ruled out direct talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Lavrov said there must first be substantial progress at the meetings between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Belarus. A fourth round of those talks in Belarus is planned, but an exact date and time was unclear.
“We stand for any contacts in regard to the problems, which constitute the core of the current Ukrainian crisis, and the search for a way out of it,” Lavrov told reporters. “These contacts must have an added value, we believe they will never be used … to replace or depreciate the real, principal negotiating track, which is developing in the Belarusian territory at the level of two delegations.”
“Today’s conversation confirms there is no alternative to this track,” he added.
Mar 10, 7:12 am
Ukraine again attempts to evacuate civilians through humanitarian corridors
Ukrainian officials said Thursday they are — once again — trying to evacuate thousands of civilians through humanitarian corridors under temporary cease-fires, if they will hold.
So far, evacuations in some cities are managing to go ahead while others are already failing, as Ukrainian officials accuse Russian forces of blocking or deliberately firing on the routes.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said seven humanitarian corridors — from several besieged cities as well as areas north of Ukraine’s capital — have been agreed upon with Russia for Thursday. The question is whether Russian forces will uphold their end of the deal.
An attempt to evacuate the areas north of Kyiv was underway, with buses trying to reach the towns of Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel and Borodyanka. The Kyiv region’s administration told ABC News that they were able to evacuate 15,000 people — primarily from Irpin and the town of Vorzel — but Russian troops refused to allow access to Bucha, Hostomel or Borodyanka.
Ukrainian officials were also hoping an evacuation would take place Thursday from Mariupol, the hard-hit southeastern port city where the humanitarian situation is arguably the worst, after Russian airstrikes destroyed a children’s hospital and maternity ward there on Wednesday. But Petro Andrushenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor, told ABC News that no evacuation can happen Thursday because Russian warplanes have launched multiple airstrikes in the city center since the early morning. At least four aircraft had been spotted and around a dozen bombs had fallen, according to Andrushenko.
He said it was “physically impossible” right now to evacuate people “under bombs and bullets.” Nevertheless, there were reports that buses have set off in an attempt to reach Mariupol.
Russia has made clear that, despite the alleged humanitarian corridors, it is continuing its operation to “liberate” Mariupol.
Meanwhile, thousands of people are independently leaving Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, without a humanitarian corridor because the trains are still running and there are ways out of the besieged city.
Mar 10, 5:49 am
At least four killed by airstrikes in Kharkiv overnight, authorities say
Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, was hit with several powerful airstrikes overnight that killed at least four people, local authorities said Thursday.
Russian bombardment have destroyed 280 civilian buildings in Kharkiv, including schools and kindergartens, since Russia began invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the regional interior ministry department in Kharkiv.
Kharkiv has come under heavy attacks as Russian forces try to seize the city.
Mar 10, 4:56 am
Russia says operation to ‘liberate’ Mariupol ongoing
The Russian military alleged Thursday that its forces have managed to capture more of the outer neighborhoods of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, saying the operation to “liberate” the strategic port city is ongoing.
The claim came a day after a Russian airstrike destroyed a children’s hospital and maternity ward in Mariupol, where heavy fighting has been taking place in recent days.
Local authorities in the besieged city have accused Russian forces of waging a “medieval siege” against them.
Mar 10, 4:14 am
Foreign ministers from Russia and Ukraine meet in Turkey
The top diplomats from Russia and Ukraine are meeting now in Antalya, Turkey.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba arrived in the southern Turkish resort on Thursday morning ahead of the meeting — the highest level talks between their two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Both officials first met separately with their Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, upon arrival. Cavusoglu is expected to attend their talks.
Lavrov and Kuleba are expected to talk for about 90 minutes. They will hold separate press conferences afterwards.
(CHICAGO) — Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett will get one last chance to publicly admit to fabricating a 2019 hate-crime attack on himself before learning whether a judge sentences him to prison.
Smollett, 39, is scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago to hear his fate after a jury convicted him in December on five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct stemming from him filing a false police report and lying to police, who spent more than $130,000 investigating his allegations.
During his trial, the actor testified in his own defense, maintaining his story that two masked men wearing hats bearing former President Donald Trump’s “MAGA” motto assaulted him on a street and put a noose around his neck.
“There was no hoax,” Smollett testified.
Judge James Linn is allowing news cameras into Thursday’s hearing, in which Smollett is expected to be granted an opportunity to speak.
Several supporters of Smollett, including civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson and actor Samuel L. Jackson, have written Linn letters vouching for Smollett’s character and asking him for leniency, according to ABC Chicago station WLS-TV.
“Jussie has a long track record of being a deeply engaged and contributing citizen,” the Rev. Jackson wrote in his letter to Linn. “Jussie has already suffered.”
Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, actress LaTanya Jackson, sent a letter to Linn asking him to “please find an alternative to incarceration.”
The maximum sentence Smollett faces is three years in prison. But Linn could consider Smollett’s lack of criminal history and sentence him to probation.
The judge could also order Smollett to pay a fine, restitution, or both.
Smollett’s lawyers have said they plan to appeal the conviction and that Smollett is “100% confident” he will win.
The openly gay actor told police that on Jan. 29, 2019, he was walking on a street near his Chicago apartment around 2 a.m. when he was set upon by two men. The attackers allegedly shouted racist and homophobic slurs before hitting him, pouring “an unknown chemical substance” and wrapping a rope around his neck.
Chicago police said Smollett’s story of being the victim of an attack began to unravel when investigators tracked down two men, brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who they said were seen in a security video near where Smollett claimed he was assaulted and around the same time it supposedly occurred.
The Osundairo brothers testified during Smollett’s trial that the actor paid them $3,500 to help him orchestrate and stage the crime.
In a stunning move, Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx’s office initially dropped all charges against Smollett in March 2019 despite acknowledging Smollett fabricated the street attack on himself in a bizarre attempt to get a pay raise.
Prior to the decision to drop the charges, Foxx recused herself from the Smollett probe after it surfaced that she had been in touch with Smollett’s family. She left the decision on the disposition of the case to Joe Magats, the first assistant state attorney in Cook County.
As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Smollett forfeited 10% of a $100,000 bond and preemptively completed community service prior to the charges being dropped.
(WASHINGTON) — Inflation spiked again last month, increasing 0.8 percent in February after rising 0.6 percent in January, the latest figures released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor show.
Compared to February of last year, the Consumer Price Index, which measures the change in prices customers pay for goods and services, is up 7.9%, marking a four-decade high.
The Labor Department said the biggest price hikes were for gasoline, shelter and food.
(NEW YORK) — A group of kidney donors is going to great heights to educate others about being a live organ donor.
The Kidney Donor Athletes, a national organization working to educate and change the perception around live organ donation, is doing so through their “one kidney climb.” This year, on March 10, which marks World Kidney Day, the group of 22 kidney donors are climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
“The purpose of this climb is to show people around the world that it’s possible to thrive on one kidney,” Tracey Hulick, founder of Kidney Donor Athletes, told ABC News’ Good Morning America.
Hulick and the rest of the climbers are part of 22 separate donation chains. When someone donates to a stranger on behalf of someone they know, it sets off a chain reaction and an opportunity for many more lives to be saved. The donors who are taking part in the climb have different reasons for donating.
“Growing up, I had a classmate who passed away because he couldn’t find a bone marrow donor,” Samantha Carreiro of Dover, New Hampshire, said. “In that moment, I kind of just knew that given the chance to help somebody eventually in my life, I would do so.”
Carreiro eventually donated a kidney to a spin instructor at a gym she belonged to for years. She learned that he needed a kidney and knew this was something she was supposed to do.
For Steve Wilson of Katonah, New York, he was inspired to become a kidney donor after learning about his high school acquaintance’s daughter, who received a life-saving kidney transplant from a woman in their hometown.
He said he was “excited” for the recipient and her parents and was deeply moved by the “ultimate act of selflessness” from the donor. Wilson said he later donated his kidney to a 53-year-old woman in Seattle.
“It’s a way to leave an imprint on the world, to make somebody’s life better, to give somebody else a second chance at life,” Wilson added. “To see their children grow up and maybe their grandchildren.”
Patients need kidney transplants if theirs start to fail and are no longer able to rid the body of toxins, according to the University of Chicago Medicine. Patients can become tired, lose their appetite, become nauseous and wind up ill.
There are approximately 97,000 people on the National Kidney Transplant List, and more than 3,000 are added to the list each month. However, many patients spend years on the waiting list because there aren’t enough organs available, according to the University of Chicago Medicine.
The National Kidney Foundation notes that 13 people die each day while waiting for a life-saving kidney transplant.
Through their climb, the Kidney Donor Athletes are hoping to get the message out there that it’s possible to live on one kidney, and they hope to inspire others to donate, too.
“Something that’s important to all of us is to normalize kidney donations,” Patty Graham, a Kidney Donor Athlete from Boulder, Colorado, said. “We’re not heroes, we’re normal people. We lead normal lives. In fact, all the donors — I know our lives are even better and more enhanced after donation.”
“What is life if we’re not helping each other?” Carreiro added.
Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — A tentative $83 million settlement has been reached in a punitive class action lawsuit brought by victims affected by the Surfside building that partially collapsed in South Florida last June, court filings show.
The lawsuit was filed against several groups and individuals, including companies that developed and maintained the property, the company responsible for the construction of the building, and engineers and inspectors of the building.
Ninety-eight people were killed in the collapse when the South Tower suffered a “catastrophic failure,” according to court documents.
While 55 condominium units were immediately destroyed, the remainder of the building, which had 136 units, had to be demolished, documents show.
The agreement provides for an $83 million Common Fund to be paid to unit owners as compensations for condominiums and contents; in exchange, unit owners will be relieved from any liability for injury and wrongful death claims, according to court documents.
Each unit owner will be paid a proportionate share of the funds based on their ownership share of the condominium, court documents show.
Once the agreement is finalized and can no longer be appealed, the victims will receive $50 million out of the first $100 million that is recovered from groups responsible for the building. The remaining $33 million of the settlement will be paid out of the money that’s first recovered after that $100 million, according to the court filing.
“All other funds recovered will inure solely for the benefit of the wrongful death claimants,” according to a court filing.
Morabito Consultants, one of the defendants in the lawsuit, said in a statement that it “denies that it is, in any way, liable for the collapse or the resulting damages.”
“But we also firmly believe that the families who have suffered from this tragedy deserve compensation so that they may focus on healing,” it added.
In a statement Tuesday to NBC 6, Becker & Poliakoff, which represents the condo association, said it “continues to deny that it is in any way responsible for the collapse… (and) this settlement is not a finding of fault against Becker…. We are pleased this matter was quickly resolved and sincerely hope the insurance settlement will bring some relief to those impacted by this terrible tragedy.”
The court will hold a final approval hearing for the agreement on March 30. Any objections to the agreement must be submitted to the court by March 23.
(NEW YORK) — Despite being among the first eligible for COVID-19 booster shots, many nursing homes are struggling to boost residents and staff, experts say.
Nationally, about 72% of residents are boosted in each nursing home, according to data from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
But in about one-third of U.S. states, booster rates for residents are less than the national average among nursing homes, and three states have yet to crack an average of 60% of residents boosted in each facility.
Booster shots have been shown to be more protective against omicron and other COVID-19 variants. And nursing home residents continue to be among the most vulnerable people in terms of potential for severe illness and death — nearly 151,000 people in nursing homes have died since the beginning of the pandemic, CMS data shows.
While significantly higher than the 44% of Americans who have received a booster, experts say levels in nursing homes are lower than they’d like to see. Ideally, they should match the rate of vaccination — currently 87% of residents fully vaccinated per facility.
When it comes to booster uptake among nursing home staff members, the numbers are even lower than residents.
Only about 39% of staff members per facility have received booster shots, the CMS data shows, and more than half of states have rates below the national average of nursing homes.
“People may feel like, ‘Well, you got two shots and there’s no value’ or even ‘You had two shots and you had COVID already,'” Dr. Cindy Prins, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, told ABC News. “I think we need to remember that our immunity can wane, especially in our older folks, and they need to keep getting that renewed protection and the booster will give them that.”
In three states, less than 60% of nursing residents are boosted on average
It’s well known that nursing home residents are among the highest at risk for severe COVID-19 complications due to their ages, likelihood of underlying conditions and the fact that they live in congregate settings.
“The other caveat to understand is that, in those that are over the age 65, sometimes it’s a little more difficult for them to develop responses to vaccines,” so getting a booster helps them mount an immune response, Dr. Katherine Baumgarten, medical director for infection prevention at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, told ABC News.
Yet some nursing homes have been struggling to boost their residents. In three states — Florida, Arizona and Nevada — not even 60% of residents per facility on average have been boosted.
Florida has the lowest rate in the country at about 55%. By comparison, South Dakota has the highest rate at 87.56%.
The Florida Department of Health did not reply to ABC News’ request for comment on why rates are low.
“It’s absolutely something to be concerned about. That’s unacceptable,” Dr. David Grabowski, a professor of healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School, told ABC News. “With omicron and with potential new variants, having the most vulnerable individuals — these residents in nursing homes that have been the hardest hit by the pandemic — to have them not fully protected is really unfortunate.”
A February 2022 preprint study from France found nursing home residents who received a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had high levels of neutralizing antibodies against infection from the delta and omicron variants for at least three months.
Prins said she believes part of the reason booster uptake is low among the resident population in some states is because boosters were not promoted as much as the initial vaccines.
“In Florida, the initial vaccines were very much promoted for our older population,” she said. “It was very strongly put out there that seniors were first and they were going to get vaccinated.”
Prins continued, “But I didn’t see that same messaging with the booster. We haven’t placed the same emphasis on it at the state level that we did with that initial vaccine campaign for seniors.”
There are other theories for why the booster rate among nursing homes residents is lower than public health experts would like it to be.
Grabowski said the initial vaccine rollout was centralized, with the federal government partnering with CVS and Walgreens to distribute the shots to nursing homes.
“When it came time to do the booster rollout, this was really left up to the nursing homes to handle the booster clinics,” he said. “They do a flu vaccine every year for staff and residents and there was some thought that they could do this. Some did but there was also some really slow rollout that highlighted the haves and have nots across nursing homes.”
Grabowski continued, “Nursing homes were dealing with a lot during that period, and this was not something that was prioritized in those facilities and we’ve seen those low rates.”
Booster rollout has been slow among staff
Experts say it’s not just the elderly population in nursing homes who have been slow to get boosted — it’s also staff members.
According to CMS data, 12 states don’t even have an average of 30% of staff with boosters per facility. Florida is once again the state with the lowest rate at 24.52% while California has the highest rate at 68.58%.
Prins said it is possible the low booster rates for nursing home staff are partially due to many being ineligible for a third dose because they completed their vaccine series less than five months ago.
But she believes “that does not cover the extent of that lower booster rate” and said the low numbers are “concerning.”
“When you have this kind of facility, the virus gets brought in obviously, and it’s coming in with the people who are most mobile and most often there and that’s going to be your staff members,” Prins said. “[The low number] is absolutely a worry because that puts residents at high risk.”
Since the omicron wave, weekly cases and deaths in nursing homes have declined drastically. However, during the week ending Feb. 20, 2022, there were 620 resident deaths, the highest number since the week ending Jan. 2.
Mandates may be the only way to increase booster rates
The experts say there are a few ways to try and drive booster rates up in nursing homes.
Grabowski said for residents, it would help for the booster rollout to be more centralized with clinics set up by the federal government rather than left up to individual facilities.
However, he believes it will take mandates for booster rates among staff to rise dramatically. As of Tuesday, five states require COVID boosters for nursing home workers: California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Mexico and New York.
“The mandates are important here,” he said. ‘I think with boosters, with staff, it’s probably going to take mandates to make sure they go forward with the booster.”
The doctors add that, in addition, it could help to do sit-downs with small groups of nursing home staff to address their concerns and explain why boosters are beneficial. Baumgarten suggested this could include dispelling the ideas that boosters are ineffective or that they don’t reduce the risk of breakthrough infections.
“Nursing homes are a vulnerable population and we want to protect those who are vulnerable,” she said. “Everything that we can do to prevent them from being exposed or at risk for developing COVID important for us to do. If it’s simple enough to get a booster — which it is, they’re readily available, side effects are minimal — we should do that to help protect those around us.”
