(ITHACA, NY) — Cornell University announced Monday that it’s suspending frat parties after students reported they were drugged and one student alleged being sexually assaulted at a residence off-campus, school officials said.
The school’s president, Martha E. Pollack and Ryan Lombardi, the vice president of student and campus life, addressed the suspension in a letter to students on Monday.
Student leaders at the school’s Interfraternity Council (IFC), which governs IFC-recognized fraternities at the university, decided to suspend the fraternities on Sunday during an emergency meeting.
On Friday, Cornell University Police issued a crime alert saying that between Sept. 24 and Nov. 3 there were four incidents where students claimed that they drank very little or no alcohol but became debilitated while at the frat parties and said they were “roofied.”
“Fraternity leaders will take this time to implement stronger health and safety plans,” Pollack and Lombardi wrote. “No IFC-affiliated social events will resume until student leaders and Cornell staff are confident activities can take place responsibly and safely.”
According to Cornell police, in a second crime alert, someone reported that they were sexually assaulted on Sunday at a location off-campus.
The Ithaca Police Department is investigating the incident, according to Cornell police.
Ithaca police did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Luke Sharrett for The Washington Post via Getty Images
(LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY) — A female student who was caught on camera using racial slurs towards a Black student at the University of Kentucky will voluntarily withdraw from the university, according to her attorney.
Sophia Rosing, 22, the senior at the University of Kentucky, plans to withdraw Tuesday or Wednesday, her lawyer, Fred Peters, told ABC News.
The video, which was recorded early Sunday morning, shows Rising apparently drunk and saying derogatory, racial slurs to Kylah Spring, a first-year student who was working an overnight shift at the university’s front desk.
“It is our story,” Spring said at a demonstration held on campus grounds Monday night.
“There’s a whole video of “This is a recurring issue in and across American school systems no matter what age,” she added.
Rosing refused to give her name when authorities were called. She was taken into custody at the Fayette County Detention Center and registered as Jane Doe and has since been released from custody after her parents paid a cash bond of $10,000, according to Peters. Rising pleaded not guilty according to the Fayette County Sheriff’s office.
She faces two assault charges, one against Spring and the other towards a police officer. She was also given a disorderly misconduct charge and a public intoxication charge, according to her lawyer.
“She regrets everything and is humiliated and embarrassed,” Peters said about his client.
University President Eli Capilouto released a statement following the incident condemning the behavior and said the school “will not tolerate it under any circumstance. The safety and well-being of our community has been — and will continue to be — our top priority.”
ABC News sent a request for comment to the University of Kentucky.
Spring assembled a diverse crowd Monday night to address the situation during a peaceful demonstration. Many supporters including her parents surrounded Spring while she delivered a short, emotional speech describing her experience — encouraging the crowd to follow Michelle Obama’s famous philosophy of “when they go low, we go high.”
“I was physically, verbally and racially assaulted by Jane Doe, aka Sophia Rosing,” Spring said at the protest.
Spring said she was “deeply saddened” about the incident but is “grateful for the justice to come.”
“To Ms. Rosing, you will not break my spirit,” Spring said. “I only pray that you open your heart to love,” Spring said.
Rosing’s first court hearing is set for next Monday at 8:30 a.m., according to Peters.
(NEW YORK) — Filmmaker Cynthia Lowen began the process of making the new documentary film “Battleground” with a genuine curiosity about the anti-abortion movement.
Lowen wanted to understand how, despite being in the minority, anti-abortion movement organizers “were being so successful in advancing their agenda,” she told ABC News Correspondent Phil Lipof.
The new documentary “Battleground,” which was released this year in theaters and is now available on streaming platforms, began in the summer of 2019, a full three years before Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Lowen said she started filming in Alabama, where the team was focused at first on documenting the abortion-rights movement.
She quickly realized, she told ABC News, how crucial it would be to frame the film from a minority perspective by including multiple important voices from the anti-abortion movement.
A recent survey by Pew Research Center found that 62% of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. A 2017 study by the Guttmacher Institute found that nearly 1 in 4 women will have an abortion in their lifetime.
“Battleground” features three women in influential positions within the anti-abortion movement: the president of an influential anti-abortion lobbying organization, the founder of the largest anti-abortion youth organization in the country, and the founder of Pro-Life San Francisco.
Part of the goal of the film is to challenge assumptions and notions about the anti-abortion movement by showing organizers that are neither religious nor conservative about other beliefs.
“What I discovered that really surprised me is that there are a lot of women who are leading the anti-abortion movement,” said Lowen.
One example is Terrisa Bukovinac, the founder of Pro-Life San Francisco, who identifies as an atheist, a feminist and a Democrat with progressive values. “[She] is a very different face of the anti-abortion movement than many people expect,” Lowen said.
“She represents,” Lowen added, “what the movement is trying to do in terms of appealing to young people as single-issue voters.”
“If they don’t grow their base and appeal to non-religious people, to young people and cultivate those single-issue voters,” she added, “they may not continue to have the kind of success and inroads that they’ve had legislatively.”
Despite representing a minority opinion, the anti-abortion movement has been very successful. Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, opening up the opportunity for dozens of states across the country to restrict access to legal abortions.
One of the scenes in the documentary includes audiotape of Lowen’s team obtained from a conversation between evangelical leaders and former President Donald Trump, who was a presidential candidate at the time.
“You really hear this deal being made,” Lowen said, “which is that if Donald Trump will advance the agenda and the priorities of Christian right, the Christian white right will rally their base to get out and vote for him.”
Trump’s success in appointing three conservative Supreme Court justices was instrumental in the anti-abortion movement’s success in overturning Roe v. Wade.
The documentary also includes interviews with leaders from the abortion-rights movement, including President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Alexis McGill Johnson.
Lowen told ABC News she personally disagrees with the anti-abortion movement, saying it “deprives other people of their rights and other people of the opportunity to make health care decisions for themselves that are in their own best interests.”
(NEW YORK) — A COVID-19 outbreak has hit a U.S. station in Antarctica, despite being in one of the most remote areas of the world.
According to the National Science Foundation, which manages McMurdo Station — the largest base on the continent — at least 98 people have tested positive since the beginning of October out of 993 workers.
Of the cases, 64 are active. The NSF said most of the employees have mild symptoms and are isolating in their rooms. It’s unclear how the outbreak began.
To contain the outbreak, the NSF is pausing all inward travel to Antarctica for the next two weeks except for essential travel required for health and safety reasons.
In a statement, the foundation said this is “to lower the density of the population to reduce the possibility of transmission” during which time it will “reassess the situation.”
It’s unclear if the travel pause will affect any research projects. It comes as many scientists head down to the continent for their summer field season, where they work for two to three months.
It is also unknown if the pause will be extended past two weeks.
Those who test positive are required to isolate for five days and then wear a mask for an additional five days.
They are allowed to return to work after receiving two negative tests.
What’s more, the foundation said that its “expert epidemiologist” highly recommends all workers on the base wear KN-95 masks at all times and NSF “will ensure these are available to all residents at McMurdo.”
This is not the first instance of a COVID-19 outbreak occurring in Antarctica.
In December 2020, at least 11 of 33 workers at Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth Polar Station tested positive for the virus.
Additionally, during the same month, 36 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed among staff members at Chile’s Bernardo O’Higgins research station on the Antarctic Peninsula.
McMurdo Station was established in 1955 and is one of three year-round science facilities in Antarctica run by the United States.
According to the NSF, the station is made up of 85 buildings including laboratories, dormitories, repair facilities, a power plant, a firehouse and a water distillation. It also contains a harbor, two landing areas and a helicopter paid.
Scientists focus on research at McMurdo in many fields including biology, geospace sciences, glaciology and climate systems.
(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Nicole is forecast to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday as it approaches Florida’s east coast.
The storm is expected to make landfall overnight Wednesday into Thursday between Fort Pierce and Melbourne.
Parts of Palm Beach County and Volusia County are under evacuation orders and Orlando International Airport announced it will stop operations at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
At least five Florida school districts, including Palm Beach County, are closing schools on Wednesday and Thursday due to the storm.
Nicole could also impact election week in the Sunshine State, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is running against Democratic rival Charlie Crist and Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., is trying to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 34 of Florida’s 67 counties.
Meanwhile, Florida Power & Light has urged customers to prepare for power outages and activated its emergency response plan ahead of Nicole’s potential impact on the state this week.
“[Hurricane] Ian saturated soil and weakened trees in many parts of the state, so Nicole could cause trees to topple over and other vegetation and debris to blow into overhead power lines and equipment, which may cause outages,” Florida Power & Light chairman and CEO Eric Silagy said in a statement Monday.
Nicole formed in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean on Monday, becoming the 14th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends this month. The storm’s center is expected to move near or over the Bahamas before heading to Florida, according to the National Weather Service.
When Nicole touches down in eastern Florida, cities may see flash flooding, with more than 6 inches of rainfall possible from West Palm Beach to Cape Canaveral.
NASA said it does not plan to move the Artemis 1 rocket off the launch pad in Cape Canaveral as a precaution. The unmanned rocket, which will travel to orbit the moon, is scheduled for launch Nov. 14. The launch has already been delayed several times, including by Hurricane Ian.
The highest storm surge is expected from West Palm Beach to southern Georgia, where water could rise up to 6 feet.
A storm surge is also possible on Florida’s west coast, where Tampa could see water rise up to 3 feet.
Nicole will weaken as it moves north through Florida on Thursday, but heavy rain will continue to be a threat.
Nicole will then drop heavy rain in the Carolinas, mid-Atlantic and New England regions. Rainfall of 3 to 4 inches is possible from Raleigh, North Carolina, to New York to Boston on Friday into Saturday morning.
ABC News’ Max Golembo, Kenton Gewecke, Melissa Griffin, Samantha Wnek and Ginger Zee contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 08, 11:56 AM EST
Moscow says it’s ‘following’ the US midterm elections
Moscow is closely “following” the midterm elections in the United States and knows that some Republican candidates have proposed to cut the country’s military aid to Ukraine, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko.
“Naturally, we are following the developments in the United States,” Grushko said in an interview with Russian state-owned television network Zvezda on Tuesday. “We are aware that a number of prominent Republicans favor reducing the military assistance to Ukraine, because they proceed from the position that what Democrats are currently doing is irrational.”
If Republicans are triumphant, Grushko said, the U.S. Congress could ramp up pressure on European nations regarding their defense budgets.
“We remember that one of [former U.S. President Donald] Trump’s key slogans when he came to power was that the Europeans should pay for their defense themselves,” he added. “Largely thanks to his efforts, European countries took enhanced commitments to increase their defense budgets to 2%. And there have been talks that defense spending should now reach at least 3%. The United States will continue to pursue the policy it has been running since 1949.”
Nov 08, 11:46 AM EST
Zelenskyy broaches ‘genuine peace talks’ in speech
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy raised the notion of holding “genuine peace talks” in his daily address to his nation on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy set out conditions for peace talks with the Russians, requiring the restoration of territorial integrity, compensation for all damages caused to his country, punishment of every war criminal and guarantees that another Russian invasion will not happen again.
“These are completely understandable conditions,” Zelenskyy said.
He said that earlier Tuesday he gave a virtual speech to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt, telling dozens of world leaders of the ongoing Russian aggression.
“Anyone who is serious about the climate agenda should also be serious about the need to immediately stop Russian aggression, restore our territorial integrity and force Russia into genuine peace negotiations,” Zelenskyy said.
He added that previous proposals from Ukraine for peace talks have prompted “insane Russian responses with new terrorist attacks, shelling or blackmail.”
Nov 08, 11:37 AM EST
US ambassador to UN meets with Zelenskyy
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and members of his leadership team in Kyiv on Tuesday “to discuss the unwavering U.S. commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” according to a statement from U.S. Mission to the U.N. spokesperson Nate Evans.
“She reiterated that the United States is steadfast in its support for Ukraine and is prepared to stand with Ukraine as long as it takes,” Evans said.
“Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield and President Zelenskyy discussed international efforts to minimize the impact of Russia’s aggression on global food security, including through sustaining and expanding the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative, and to ensure accountability for war crimes and atrocities perpetrated on the Ukrainian people,” he added. “She committed to continuing to work at the United Nations to strengthen international support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and to urge Member States to defend international law and the Charter of the United Nations.”
Nov 08, 8:09 AM EST
Ukraine asks US for new capabilities in fighting Iranian drones
ABC News has obtained a letter sent by a top Ukrainian official to senior members of Congress, asking them to assist Ukraine’s calls for additional air defense systems to counter the attack drones built and supplied by Iran to bolster Russia’s war effort.
Russia has launched waves of deadly attacks in recent weeks, using Iranian-made drones that explode on impact to strike power plants, killing civilians and causing rolling blackouts, plunging millions of Ukrainian homes into darkness.
In the letter, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, calls on the U.S. to provide Ukraine with highly mobile air defense systems known as C-RAMs, saying they would help protect “important objects, especially crucial power plants.”
Nov 08, 6:37 AM EST
US ambassador to UN travels to Ukraine
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield is traveling to Ukraine on Tuesday “to reiterate the United States’ unwavering support as Ukraine defends its freedom and territorial integrity amidst Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion,” according to a statement from the U.S. Mission to the U.N.
While in the country’s capital, Kyiv, Thomas-Greenfield “will meet with Ukrainian government leaders to discuss the ironclad American commitment to the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” and she “will observe efforts to document and preserve evidence of atrocities committed by Russian forces and will hear first-hand accounts of survivors,” according to the U.S. mission.
“Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will also discuss the global food insecurity crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion and will underscore the critical need for an extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative into the coming year,” the U.S. mission said. “She will also meet with humanitarian organizations working to meet winterization needs for vulnerable people impacted by Russia’s attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure.”
Nov 06, 1:57 PM EST
Biden, German chancellor call Russian nuclear threats ‘irresponsible’
President Joe Biden spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday and both agreed Russia’s nuclear threats stemming the war in Ukraine are “irresponsible,” according to the White House.
Both leaders said they would continue to “provide Ukraine with the economic, humanitarian, and security support it needs to defend against Russia,” the White House said in a statement.
Biden and Scholz also spoke of the chancellor’s recent trip to the People’s Republic of China and, according to White House officials “affirmed their shared commitment to upholding the rules-based international order, human rights, and fair trade practices.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Nov 03, 12:02 PM EDT
Western officials believe Russia is planning ‘orderly, well-planned and deliberate’ military withdrawal from Kherson
Western officials are “confident” Russia’s military is “setting the conditions” for withdrawal from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the only regional capital that has been occupied by Russian forces since the February.
The Russian military is preparing to make a “strategic” withdrawal and move its forces east across the Dnipro river, officials said.
“It looks like an orderly, well-planned and deliberate military process is taking place,” a Western official told ABC News.
The officials would not put a timeframe on when the withdrawal would happen and added that it is not guaranteed to take place. They downplayed, however, any speculation that the Russians are using the withdrawal to mask a more “nefarious” action in that area.
The officials said their assessment was that the Russians believe Kherson “is not worth fighting for.”
The advance of Ukrainian forces in Kherson has slowed over the past three weeks.
In mid-October, the newly appointed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, General Surovikin, said “difficult decisions” may be necessary in Kherson.
Senior Ukrainian officials have suggested more recently that Russian forces are preparing to fight for Kherson and a source on the ground told ABC News that the Russian military is still moving in and out of the city.
-ABC News’ Tom Burridge
Nov 02, 12:14 PM EDT
North Korea covertly shipping ammunition to Russia for war in Ukraine, US says
North Korea was secreting sending ammunition to Russia to use in its invasion of Ukraine and is disguising the shipments as appearing to be destined to the Middle East or North Africa, the White House said Wednesday.
“Our information indicates that [North Korea] is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells, while obfuscating the real destination of the arms shipments by trying to make it appear as though they’re being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby said North Korea was sending “a significant number of artillery shells.” He did not specify an exact number but said it was more than “dozens.”
“But we don’t believe that they are in such a quantity that they would tangibly change the direction of this war or tangibly change the momentum either in the east or in the south” of Ukraine, he said.
Kirby added, “We’re gonna continue to monitor whether these shipments are received.”
In September, the U.S. had said Russia is looking to purchase millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, saying at the time that this indicated the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Nov 02, 12:01 PM EDT
Russia waives veiled threat on use of nuclear weapons
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning to nations with nuclear capabilities, calling on them to abandon attempts to infringe on each other’s vital interests, warning that direct armed conflict and provocations with weapons of mass destruction can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Russia claimed it believes there can be no winners of nuclear war and said it refarrims its commitment to the prevention of nuclear warm.
“A reaction with the use of nuclear weapons is hypothetically allowed by Russia only in response to aggression using weapons of mass destruction or aggression using conventional weapons, when the existence of the state is threatened,” the ministry said in a statement.
The White House has said it will not confirm or deny New York Times reporting that senior Russian military officials had recently discussed when and how Russia might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. The intelligence about the conversations was reportedly circulated inside the U.S. government in mid-October.
But, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not a part of these alleged conversations, according to the New York Times.
The White House on Wednesday said it still sees “no indications that Russia is making preparations” to use nuclear weapons.
-ABC News’ Natalia Shumskaia and Ben Gittleson
Nov 02, 12:14 PM EDT
North Korea covertly shipping ammunition to Russia for war in Ukraine, US says
North Korea was secretly sending ammunition to Russia to use in its invasion of Ukraine and is disguising the shipments as appearing to be destined to the Middle East or North Africa, the White House said Wednesday.
“Our information indicates that [North Korea] is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells, while obfuscating the real destination of the arms shipments by trying to make it appear as though they’re being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby said North Korea was sending “a significant number of artillery shells.” He did not specify an exact number but said it was more than “dozens.”
“But we don’t believe that they are in such a quantity that they would tangibly change the direction of this war or tangibly change the momentum either in the east or in the south” of Ukraine, he said.
Kirby added, “We’re gonna continue to monitor whether these shipments are received.”
In September, the U.S. had said Russia is looking to purchase millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, saying at the time that this indicated the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine.
Nov 02, 12:01 PM EDT
Russia waives veiled threat on use of nuclear weapons
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning to nations with nuclear capabilities, calling on them to abandon attempts to infringe on each other’s vital interests, warning that direct armed conflict and provocations with weapons of mass destruction can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Russia claimed it believes there can be no winners of nuclear war and said it reaffirms its commitment to the prevention of nuclear warm.
“A reaction with the use of nuclear weapons is hypothetically allowed by Russia only in response to aggression using weapons of mass destruction or aggression using conventional weapons, when the existence of the state is threatened,” the ministry said in a statement.
The White House has said it will not confirm or deny New York Times reporting that senior Russian military officials had recently discussed when and how Russia might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. The intelligence about the conversations was reportedly circulated inside the U.S. government in mid-October.
But, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not a part of these alleged conversations, according to the New York Times.
The White House on Wednesday said it still sees “no indications that Russia is making preparations” to use nuclear weapons.
Nov 02, 8:40 AM EDT
Russia rejoins wartime deal on Ukrainian grain exports
Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday that Russia has agreed to resume its participation in a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations to keep grain and other commodities shipping out of Ukraine’s ports amid the ongoing war.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, that the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative would “continue in the same way as before” as of noon Wednesday, according to Erdogan.
The renewed agreement, first reached over the summer, will prioritize shipments to African countries, including drought-ravaged Somalia, after Russia expressed concerns that most of the grain was ending up in richer nations.
Moscow agreed to return to the deal after receiving written guarantees from Kyiv that Ukraine would not use the safe shipping corridors through the Black Sea for military actions against Russian forces, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Russia had suspended its role in the deal over the weekend, after accusing Ukrainian forces of carrying out a “massive” drone attack on its Black Sea fleet on Saturday.
Turkey and the U.N. brokered separate deals with Russia and Ukraine in July to allow Ukraine to resume its shipment of grain from the Black Sea to world markets and for Russia to export grain and fertilizers.
Since Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, the cost of grain, fertilizer and fuel has skyrocketed worldwide. Russia and Ukraine — often referred to collectively as Europe’s breadbasket — produce a third of the global supply of wheat and barley, but a Russian blockade in the Black Sea combined with Ukrainian naval mines have made exporting siloed grain and other foodstuffs virtually impossible. As a result, millions of people around the world — particularly in Africa and the Middle East — are now on the brink of famine.
Nov 01, 3:01 PM EDT
Ukraine does not have effective defenses against Iranian ballistic missiles, air force official claims
Iranian ballistic missiles, which Russia plans to purchase from Iran, will probably be placed on the northern border of Ukraine, the spokesman of the Ukrainian Airborne Forces Yuri Ignat said Tuesday.
Ignat claimed the ballistic missiles’ range was 300 km for one and 700 km for another.
“We have no effective defense against these missiles. It is theoretically possible to shoot them down, but in fact it is very difficult to do it with the means we have at our disposal. We have air defense, not missile defense,” he said.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd
Nov 01, 3:01 PM EDT
Russia announces wider evacuation of occupied southern Ukraine
As Ukrainian forces advance to capture the city of Kherson, Russian forces are ordering civilians out of parts of the now-occupied city. Some 70,000 people along a 15 kilometer (10 mile) stretch of the left bank of the Dnipro River will be evacuated deeper into the Kherson region or to Russia, according to the Russian-installed leader of the occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo.
Russia had previously ordered civilians out of an area it controls on the west bank of the river.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 31, 7:07 PM EDT
Russia’s withdrawal from grain deal ‘collective punishment’ for world: State Department
State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Monday lambasted Russia’s recent decision to withdraw from the U.N.-brokered deal that allowed for grain to be exported through the Black Sea — likely to be a chief focus of this week’s G-7 ministerial meeting and potentially the G-20 Leaders’ Summit next month.
“We deeply regret Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is having immediate, harmful impacts on global food security,” Price said during a press briefing. “Russia should return to full participation in the initiative, and we urge all parties to swiftly agree to sustain this crucial program through the months to come.”
“Any disruption to the initiative risks spiking food prices, lowering the confidence of insurers and commercial shippers who have returned to Black Sea routes, and further imposing hardships on low-income countries already reeling from dire humanitarian crises and global food insecurity,” he added.
Price said Russia’s reneging had already caused future contracts for foodstuff to rise, even though some ships appear to have been allowed to pass through the water routes with their cargo following Moscow’s announcement.
“We’ve seen Russia engage in what appears to be collective punishment for the people of Ukraine,” he said. “But Moscow’s suspension of the initiative would be tantamount to collective punishment for the rest of the world — but especially lower- and middle-income countries that so desperately needed this grain.”
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 31, 3:32 PM EDT
Ukraine energy company warns about attacks on energy infrastructure
Following a series of coordinated strikes across Ukraine this Monday morning, Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK says it’s running out of equipment and spare parts needed for repairs of the damaged infrastructure facilities.
“Unfortunately, we have already used up the stock of equipment that we had in our warehouses after the first two waves of attacks that have been taking place since Oct. 10,” said DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk. “We were able to purchase some equipment. But unfortunately, the cost of the equipment is now measured in hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Most parts have been already used for repairs following previous Russian strikes, he added.
Oct 31, 4:54 AM EDT
Russia launches waves of missiles at energy targets
Russia on Monday morning again launched a series of coordinated strikes across Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure, including in the Kyiv region.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down 44 cruise missiles as the Russians launched “several waves of missile attacks on critical infrastructure facilities” across the country.
About five distant booms could be heard in central Kyiv at about 8 a.m. local time.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, confirmed that a power plant has been hit, meaning mid-morning around 350,000 homes in the capital were left without power. Kyiv’s water supply has also been compromised, according to a water company.
A local official said “critical infrastructure” had also been hit in the Chernivtsi region in southwestern Ukraine.
Critical infrastructure has also been hit and damaged in Zaporizhzhia in the south, according to another local official.
Other regions of Ukraine appear to have been targeted, including Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Poltava and Lviv.
There are currently no reports of significant casualties.
ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Oct 30, 10:02 AM EDT
Blinken accuses Russia of ‘weaponizing food’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed Russia’s decision to pull out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative as a statement from the Kremlin that “people and families around the world should pay more for food or go hungry.”
Russia announced it is withdrawing from the U.N.-brokered grain deal in response to a drone attack Saturday in the waters of the Sevastopol Bay, in the Black Sea near Crimea.
Russia’s decision, Blinken said, is jeopardizing grain shipments he described as “life-saving.”
“In suspending this arrangement, Russia is again weaponizing food in the war it started, directly impacting low- and middle-income countries and global food prices, and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity,” Blinken said in a statement released Saturday night.
He said 9 million metric tons of food has been shipped under the agreement, which was signed and launched in July. He said the shipments have reduced food prices around the world.
“We urge the Government of Russia to resume its participation in the Initiative, fully comply with the arrangement, and work to ensure that people around the world continue to be able to receive the benefits facilitated by the Initiative,” Blinken said.
Blinken’s statement echoed what President Joe Biden said earlier Saturday, calling Russia’s withdrawal from the initiative, “purely outrageous.”
“It’s going to increase starvation. There’s no reason for them to do that, but they’re always looking for some rationale to be able to say the reason they’re doing something outrageous is because the West made them do it. And it’s just not,” Biden said. “There’s no merit to what they’re doing. The UN negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”
(NEW YORK) — An estimated $2.04 billion is up for grabs in Powerball’s latest jackpot as a delayed drawing occurred Tuesday morning.
The winning numbers are 10, 33, 41, 47, 56 and Powerball of 10.
The drawing was delayed about 10 hours as Powerball announced Monday night that the scheduled drawing “has been delayed due to a participating lottery needing extra time to complete the required security protocols.”
“Powerball has strict security requirements that must be met by all 48 lotteries before a drawing can occur,” Powerball said in a statement. “When the required security protocols are complete, the drawing will be performed under the supervision of lottery security officials and independent auditors.”
The winning numbers were drawn at about 9 a.m. Eastern Time Tuesday on the Powerball YouTube channel and posted to its website.
The drawing commenced after Powerball managed to resolve issued with one of its 48 lotteries.
Lottery officials had asked players for patience and to hold onto their tickets “as the required security procedures are completed by the one outstanding lottery.”
Monday’s $1.9 billion jackpot jumped to $2.04 billion Tuesday morning and is the world’s largest lottery prize ever offered, according to a press release from Powerball. The cash value is $929.1 million.
The jackpot grows based on game sales and interest. But the odds of winning the big prize stays the same — 1 in 292.2 million, Powerball said.
Monday’s Powerball drawing marked the 41st since the jackpot was last won on Aug. 3, tying the game record for the number of consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner, according to Powerball.
Despite there being no jackpot winner, more than 10.9 million tickets won cash prizes totaling $102.2 million in the latest drawing on Saturday night. The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9, Powerball said.
Jackpot winners can either take the money as an immediate cash lump sum or in 30 annual payments over 29 years. Both advertised prize options do not include federal and jurisdictional taxes, according to Powerball.
Tickets cost $2 and are sold in 45 U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was purchased, Powerball said.
Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. The drawings are also livestreamed online at Powerball.com.
(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 08, 8:09 AM EST
Ukraine asks US for new capabilities in fighting Iranian drones
ABC News has obtained a letter sent by a top Ukrainian official to senior members of Congress, asking them to assist Ukraine’s calls for additional air defense systems to counter the attack drones built and supplied by Iran to bolster Russia’s war effort.
Russia has launched waves of deadly attacks in recent weeks, using Iranian-made drones that explode on impact to strike power plants, killing civilians and causing rolling blackouts, plunging millions of Ukrainian homes into darkness.
In the letter, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, calls on the U.S. to provide Ukraine with highly mobile air defense systems known as C-RAMs, saying they would help protect “important objects, especially crucial power plants.”
Nov 08, 6:37 AM EST
US ambassador to UN travels to Ukraine
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield is traveling to Ukraine on Tuesday “to reiterate the United States’ unwavering support as Ukraine defends its freedom and territorial integrity amidst Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion,” according to a statement from the U.S. Mission to the U.N.
While in the country’s capital, Kyiv, Thomas-Greenfield “will meet with Ukrainian government leaders to discuss the ironclad American commitment to the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” and she “will observe efforts to document and preserve evidence of atrocities committed by Russian forces and will hear first-hand accounts of survivors,” according to the U.S. mission.
“Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will also discuss the global food insecurity crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion and will underscore the critical need for an extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative into the coming year,” the U.S. mission said. “She will also meet with humanitarian organizations working to meet winterization needs for vulnerable people impacted by Russia’s attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure.”
Nov 06, 1:57 PM EST
Biden, German chancellor call Russian nuclear threats ‘irresponsible’
President Joe Biden spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday and both agreed Russia’s nuclear threats stemming the war in Ukraine are “irresponsible,” according to the White House.
Both leaders said they would continue to “provide Ukraine with the economic, humanitarian, and security support it needs to defend against Russia,” the White House said in a statement.
Biden and Scholz also spoke of the chancellor’s recent trip to the People’s Republic of China and, according to White House officials “affirmed their shared commitment to upholding the rules-based international order, human rights, and fair trade practices.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Nov 03, 12:02 PM EDT
Western officials believe Russia is planning ‘orderly, well-planned and deliberate’ military withdrawal from Kherson
Western officials are “confident” Russia’s military is “setting the conditions” for withdrawal from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the only regional capital that has been occupied by Russian forces since the February.
The Russian military is preparing to make a “strategic” withdrawal and move its forces east across the Dnipro river, officials said.
“It looks like an orderly, well-planned and deliberate military process is taking place,” a Western official told ABC News.
The officials would not put a timeframe on when the withdrawal would happen and added that it is not guaranteed to take place. They downplayed, however, any speculation that the Russians are using the withdrawal to mask a more “nefarious” action in that area.
The officials said their assessment was that the Russians believe Kherson “is not worth fighting for.”
The advance of Ukrainian forces in Kherson has slowed over the past three weeks.
In mid-October, the newly appointed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, General Surovikin, said “difficult decisions” may be necessary in Kherson.
Senior Ukrainian officials have suggested more recently that Russian forces are preparing to fight for Kherson and a source on the ground told ABC News that the Russian military is still moving in and out of the city.
-ABC News’ Tom Burridge
Nov 02, 12:14 PM EDT
North Korea covertly shipping ammunition to Russia for war in Ukraine, US says
North Korea was secreting sending ammunition to Russia to use in its invasion of Ukraine and is disguising the shipments as appearing to be destined to the Middle East or North Africa, the White House said Wednesday.
“Our information indicates that [North Korea] is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells, while obfuscating the real destination of the arms shipments by trying to make it appear as though they’re being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby said North Korea was sending “a significant number of artillery shells.” He did not specify an exact number but said it was more than “dozens.”
“But we don’t believe that they are in such a quantity that they would tangibly change the direction of this war or tangibly change the momentum either in the east or in the south” of Ukraine, he said.
Kirby added, “We’re gonna continue to monitor whether these shipments are received.”
In September, the U.S. had said Russia is looking to purchase millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, saying at the time that this indicated the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Nov 02, 12:01 PM EDT
Russia waives veiled threat on use of nuclear weapons
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning to nations with nuclear capabilities, calling on them to abandon attempts to infringe on each other’s vital interests, warning that direct armed conflict and provocations with weapons of mass destruction can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Russia claimed it believes there can be no winners of nuclear war and said it refarrims its commitment to the prevention of nuclear warm.
“A reaction with the use of nuclear weapons is hypothetically allowed by Russia only in response to aggression using weapons of mass destruction or aggression using conventional weapons, when the existence of the state is threatened,” the ministry said in a statement.
The White House has said it will not confirm or deny New York Times reporting that senior Russian military officials had recently discussed when and how Russia might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. The intelligence about the conversations was reportedly circulated inside the U.S. government in mid-October.
But, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not a part of these alleged conversations, according to the New York Times.
The White House on Wednesday said it still sees “no indications that Russia is making preparations” to use nuclear weapons.
-ABC News’ Natalia Shumskaia and Ben Gittleson
Nov 02, 12:14 PM EDT
North Korea covertly shipping ammunition to Russia for war in Ukraine, US says
North Korea was secretly sending ammunition to Russia to use in its invasion of Ukraine and is disguising the shipments as appearing to be destined to the Middle East or North Africa, the White House said Wednesday.
“Our information indicates that [North Korea] is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells, while obfuscating the real destination of the arms shipments by trying to make it appear as though they’re being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby said North Korea was sending “a significant number of artillery shells.” He did not specify an exact number but said it was more than “dozens.”
“But we don’t believe that they are in such a quantity that they would tangibly change the direction of this war or tangibly change the momentum either in the east or in the south” of Ukraine, he said.
Kirby added, “We’re gonna continue to monitor whether these shipments are received.”
In September, the U.S. had said Russia is looking to purchase millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, saying at the time that this indicated the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine.
Nov 02, 12:01 PM EDT
Russia waives veiled threat on use of nuclear weapons
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning to nations with nuclear capabilities, calling on them to abandon attempts to infringe on each other’s vital interests, warning that direct armed conflict and provocations with weapons of mass destruction can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Russia claimed it believes there can be no winners of nuclear war and said it reaffirms its commitment to the prevention of nuclear warm.
“A reaction with the use of nuclear weapons is hypothetically allowed by Russia only in response to aggression using weapons of mass destruction or aggression using conventional weapons, when the existence of the state is threatened,” the ministry said in a statement.
The White House has said it will not confirm or deny New York Times reporting that senior Russian military officials had recently discussed when and how Russia might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. The intelligence about the conversations was reportedly circulated inside the U.S. government in mid-October.
But, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not a part of these alleged conversations, according to the New York Times.
The White House on Wednesday said it still sees “no indications that Russia is making preparations” to use nuclear weapons.
Nov 02, 8:40 AM EDT
Russia rejoins wartime deal on Ukrainian grain exports
Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday that Russia has agreed to resume its participation in a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations to keep grain and other commodities shipping out of Ukraine’s ports amid the ongoing war.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, that the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative would “continue in the same way as before” as of noon Wednesday, according to Erdogan.
The renewed agreement, first reached over the summer, will prioritize shipments to African countries, including drought-ravaged Somalia, after Russia expressed concerns that most of the grain was ending up in richer nations.
Moscow agreed to return to the deal after receiving written guarantees from Kyiv that Ukraine would not use the safe shipping corridors through the Black Sea for military actions against Russian forces, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Russia had suspended its role in the deal over the weekend, after accusing Ukrainian forces of carrying out a “massive” drone attack on its Black Sea fleet on Saturday.
Turkey and the U.N. brokered separate deals with Russia and Ukraine in July to allow Ukraine to resume its shipment of grain from the Black Sea to world markets and for Russia to export grain and fertilizers.
Since Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, the cost of grain, fertilizer and fuel has skyrocketed worldwide. Russia and Ukraine — often referred to collectively as Europe’s breadbasket — produce a third of the global supply of wheat and barley, but a Russian blockade in the Black Sea combined with Ukrainian naval mines have made exporting siloed grain and other foodstuffs virtually impossible. As a result, millions of people around the world — particularly in Africa and the Middle East — are now on the brink of famine.
Nov 01, 3:01 PM EDT
Ukraine does not have effective defenses against Iranian ballistic missiles, air force official claims
Iranian ballistic missiles, which Russia plans to purchase from Iran, will probably be placed on the northern border of Ukraine, the spokesman of the Ukrainian Airborne Forces Yuri Ignat said Tuesday.
Ignat claimed the ballistic missiles’ range was 300 km for one and 700 km for another.
“We have no effective defense against these missiles. It is theoretically possible to shoot them down, but in fact it is very difficult to do it with the means we have at our disposal. We have air defense, not missile defense,” he said.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd
Nov 01, 3:01 PM EDT
Russia announces wider evacuation of occupied southern Ukraine
As Ukrainian forces advance to capture the city of Kherson, Russian forces are ordering civilians out of parts of the now-occupied city. Some 70,000 people along a 15 kilometer (10 mile) stretch of the left bank of the Dnipro River will be evacuated deeper into the Kherson region or to Russia, according to the Russian-installed leader of the occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo.
Russia had previously ordered civilians out of an area it controls on the west bank of the river.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 31, 7:07 PM EDT
Russia’s withdrawal from grain deal ‘collective punishment’ for world: State Department
State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Monday lambasted Russia’s recent decision to withdraw from the U.N.-brokered deal that allowed for grain to be exported through the Black Sea — likely to be a chief focus of this week’s G-7 ministerial meeting and potentially the G-20 Leaders’ Summit next month.
“We deeply regret Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is having immediate, harmful impacts on global food security,” Price said during a press briefing. “Russia should return to full participation in the initiative, and we urge all parties to swiftly agree to sustain this crucial program through the months to come.”
“Any disruption to the initiative risks spiking food prices, lowering the confidence of insurers and commercial shippers who have returned to Black Sea routes, and further imposing hardships on low-income countries already reeling from dire humanitarian crises and global food insecurity,” he added.
Price said Russia’s reneging had already caused future contracts for foodstuff to rise, even though some ships appear to have been allowed to pass through the water routes with their cargo following Moscow’s announcement.
“We’ve seen Russia engage in what appears to be collective punishment for the people of Ukraine,” he said. “But Moscow’s suspension of the initiative would be tantamount to collective punishment for the rest of the world — but especially lower- and middle-income countries that so desperately needed this grain.”
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 31, 3:32 PM EDT
Ukraine energy company warns about attacks on energy infrastructure
Following a series of coordinated strikes across Ukraine this Monday morning, Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK says it’s running out of equipment and spare parts needed for repairs of the damaged infrastructure facilities.
“Unfortunately, we have already used up the stock of equipment that we had in our warehouses after the first two waves of attacks that have been taking place since Oct. 10,” said DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk. “We were able to purchase some equipment. But unfortunately, the cost of the equipment is now measured in hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Most parts have been already used for repairs following previous Russian strikes, he added.
Oct 31, 4:54 AM EDT
Russia launches waves of missiles at energy targets
Russia on Monday morning again launched a series of coordinated strikes across Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure, including in the Kyiv region.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down 44 cruise missiles as the Russians launched “several waves of missile attacks on critical infrastructure facilities” across the country.
About five distant booms could be heard in central Kyiv at about 8 a.m. local time.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, confirmed that a power plant has been hit, meaning mid-morning around 350,000 homes in the capital were left without power. Kyiv’s water supply has also been compromised, according to a water company.
A local official said “critical infrastructure” had also been hit in the Chernivtsi region in southwestern Ukraine.
Critical infrastructure has also been hit and damaged in Zaporizhzhia in the south, according to another local official.
Other regions of Ukraine appear to have been targeted, including Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Poltava and Lviv.
There are currently no reports of significant casualties.
ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Oct 30, 10:02 AM EDT
Blinken accuses Russia of ‘weaponizing food’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed Russia’s decision to pull out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative as a statement from the Kremlin that “people and families around the world should pay more for food or go hungry.”
Russia announced it is withdrawing from the U.N.-brokered grain deal in response to a drone attack Saturday in the waters of the Sevastopol Bay, in the Black Sea near Crimea.
Russia’s decision, Blinken said, is jeopardizing grain shipments he described as “life-saving.”
“In suspending this arrangement, Russia is again weaponizing food in the war it started, directly impacting low- and middle-income countries and global food prices, and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity,” Blinken said in a statement released Saturday night.
He said 9 million metric tons of food has been shipped under the agreement, which was signed and launched in July. He said the shipments have reduced food prices around the world.
“We urge the Government of Russia to resume its participation in the Initiative, fully comply with the arrangement, and work to ensure that people around the world continue to be able to receive the benefits facilitated by the Initiative,” Blinken said.
Blinken’s statement echoed what President Joe Biden said earlier Saturday, calling Russia’s withdrawal from the initiative, “purely outrageous.”
“It’s going to increase starvation. There’s no reason for them to do that, but they’re always looking for some rationale to be able to say the reason they’re doing something outrageous is because the West made them do it. And it’s just not,” Biden said. “There’s no merit to what they’re doing. The UN negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”
(NEW YORK) — ABC News has obtained a letter sent by a top Ukrainian official to senior members of Congress, asking them to assist Ukraine’s calls for additional air defense systems to counter the attack drones built and supplied by Iran to bolster Russia’s war effort.
Russia has launched waves of deadly attacks in recent weeks, using Iranian-made drones that explode on impact to strike power plants, killing civilians and causing rolling blackouts, plunging millions of Ukrainian homes into darkness.
In the letter, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, calls on the U.S. to provide Ukraine with highly mobile air defense systems known as C-RAMs, saying they would help protect “important objects, especially crucial power plants.”
C-RAMs have a built-in radar to track incoming threats and a giant rapid-fire gun to shoot them down, with NATO saying the “most effective” systems are able to fire 4,500 rounds per minute.
A senior Ukrainian politician told ABC News that the Ukrainian government has also made an official request to the Biden administration for the C-RAMs systems.
ABC contacted the Ukranian Ministry of Defense for comment. The Pentagon does not comment on specific Ukrainian requests for weaponry.
However, Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Garron Garn told ABC News this week that U.S. support “focuses on equipment that is relevant for the current fight.”
“We are working around the clock to fulfill Ukraine’s priority security assistance requests, delivering weapons from U.S. stocks when they are available,” he added.
As things stand, Ukrainian officials say they are using an array of methods to shoot down the drones.
Ukrainian fighter jets are being used to track them and, in some instances, shoot them down, according to the Ukrainian politician who has been briefed on the matter.
“We are using all kinds of different stuff [to destroy the Iranian drones],” the source told ABC News, adding that the Ukrainian military even sometimes resorts to shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons to counter the threat.
The White House last month indicated that Russia is launching Iranian-supplied drones from Crimea, a peninsula to the south of mainland Ukraine that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
The White House National Security Council spokesperson, John Kirby, also said at the time that a “relatively small number” of Iranian personnel had been on the ground in Crimea to assist the Russians in how to operate the drones.
The drones fly slowly, giving the Ukrainian military a matter of hours from the moment they are launched from Crimea, through to when they reach their targets, Ukrainian officials said.
However, Ukrainian officials said the drones are able to change trajectory mid-flight, making it harder for the military to position assets that could shoot them down.
In his letter, Stefanchuk also asks senior U.S. lawmakers to assist him in asking the Biden administration to provide longer-range missiles so that the Ukrainian military could destroy targets such as “stocks of Iranian drones, deep behind the enemy lines on the occupied territory of Ukraine.”
On Monday, Ukraine’s defense minister announced that advanced air defense systems for countering Russian missiles and rockets, called NASAMS, had arrived in Ukraine. A senior U.S. official confirmed that two systems were delivered to Ukraine.
The U.S. announced in August that it promised another six NASAMS launchers to Ukraine, but it could be some time until they arrive in the country.
A Ukrainian government source said the Ukrainian government was talking to all of its partners, including the U.S., about creating a “comprehensive and wide” air defense system “all across Ukraine.”
“We’re not talking about a few systems near the front lines,” the official added. “If we have this [comprehensive air defense] system, this war can end sooner and that’s in all of our interests.”
Last month, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley called the project a priority.
At a NATO meeting, he stressed that air defense systems would have to be provided to Ukraine by a number of countries.
“The task is then to bring those together, get them deployed, get them [the Ukrainians] trained, because each of these systems is different,” Milley said.
Last weekend, after weeks of denials, Iran finally acknowledged that it has supplied Russia with drones.
However, Iran’s foreign minister claimed Tehran only sold a relatively small number of drones to Russia and did so before President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.
He also claimed that Iran had no knowledge that the drones were being used to attack Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Iran of “lying.”
