(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday again took aim at Chicago as he suggested federal intervention is needed to combat crime.
Trump pointed to gun violence in the city over Labor Day weekend, as eight people were killed and more than 50 injured.
“Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “Pritzker needs help badly, he just doesn’t know it yet. I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC. Chicago will be safe again, and soon.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, is set to hold a news conference at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon to address residents amid reports of federal deployments to Chicago.
Pritzker and local Chicago officials have rejected Trump’s desire to send National Guard troops to the city. Pritzker, during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, said such a move would be “un-American.”
“National Guard troops, any kind of troops on the streets of an American city don’t belong, unless there is an insurrection, unless there is truly an emergency. There is not,” Pritzker said. He said if troops are sent to the city, it would amount to an “invasion.”
On Monday, Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson led a chant of “no troops in Chicago” at a Labor Day march.
“No federal troops in the city of Chicago, no militarized force in the city of Chicago,” he said in fiery remarks. “We’re going to defend our democracy in the city of Chicago. We’re going to protect the humanity of every single person in the city of Chicago.”
Violent crime in Chicago dropped significantly in the first half of the year, according to official data released by the city. Shootings were down 37% and homicides have dropped by 32% compared to the first half of 2024, while total violence crime dropped by over 22%, according to the crime statistics.
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News last month that planning was underway at the Pentagon for the potential use of National Guard troops in Chicago — an area Trump has repeatedly singled out as he mulled sending the Guard to other major American cities following his federal takeover of Washington.
Trump then appeared to back off somewhat, saying he preferred cities ask for his administration’s assistance.
But over the weekend, referencing recent crime, Trump warned Pritzker to “straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming!”
Meanwhile, the administration is preparing for a surge in increased immigration enforcement operations in Chicago as soon as this week, sources told ABC News.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the intention was for more resources to be sent to Chicago but did not divulge details.
“I won’t disclose the details because they are law enforcement and investigative folks that are on the ground there, and I want to make sure we keep their security our number one priority,” Noem said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “But we will continue to go after the worst of the worst across the country, like President Trump has told us to do, focusing on those that are perpetuating murder and rape and trafficking of drugs and humans across our country, knowing that every single citizen deserves to be safe.”
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Michael Pappano and Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
(CHICAGO) — At least 58 people have been shot, eight fatally, across Chicago over Labor Day weekend, including a drive-by attack that left seven victims wounded, according to police.
The violent holiday weekend came as President Donald Trump renewed threats to send federal agents and National Guard troops to Chicago over the objections of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Trump on Saturday sent a warning to Pritzker in a post on his social media platform, referencing recent crime in Chicago and saying Pritzker “better straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming!”
Pritzker, a Democrat, responded in a news conference a week ago to an earlier Trump threat to “straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C.,” by saying that the president’s plan was “unprecedented and unwarranted. It is illegal, it is unconstitutional, it is un-American.”
Johnson responded last week by saying in part that he had “grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the city of Chicago,” and calling Trump’s approach “uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound.” Johnson also said that deploying the National Guard in Chicago could “inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement.”
On Saturday, Johnson signed an executive order dubbed the “Protecting Chicago Initiative,” which he described in a news conference as “the most sweeping campaign of any city in the country to protect ourselves from the threats and actions of this out-of-control administration” and which “directs our department of law to pursue any and every legal mechanism to hold this administration accountable for violating the rights of Chicagoans.”
“We have received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our city sees some type of militarized activity by the federal government,” Johnson said, in part. “We take these threats seriously and we find ourselves in a position where we must take immediate, drastic action to protect our people from federal overreach.”
At least 37 separate shootings occurred in Chicago between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday, according to a review by ABC News of police incident reports published online.
The victims included a 17-year-old girl who was inside her home when a bullet came through a front window and hit her in the arm, a 31-year-old man who was shot in the leg after getting caught in the crossfire of gunmen shooting at each other from two vehicles, and two people who shot and injured while driving down a street, all according to the incident reports.
Fewer than five hours after Trump posted a message on social media on Saturday criticizing Pritzker’s handling of crime in Chicago, a mass shooting occurred in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side that left seven people wounded.
“He better straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming!” Trump said in his post about Pritzker.
The shooting in Bronzeville occurred about 11:10 p.m. on Saturday on South State Street, according to police. A group of people were gathered outside in the area when a vehicle drove by and at least one occupant opened fire on the crowd. All seven people shot, five men and two women ranging in age from 28 to 32, were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries to their lower extremities, police said. No suspects have been arrested.
The first of eight homicides that police say occurred over the long holiday weekend happened at 11:56 p.m. on Friday at the South Shore apartment complex on East Essex Street, where two women were discovered shot, according to police.
A 25-year-old woman was found in the apartment suffering from two gunshot wounds to her stomach and one to her leg, according to a police incident report. She was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, according to authorities. The victim’s name was not immediately released.
The second victim, a 23-year-old woman, suffered gunshot wounds to both legs and was in fair condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Investigators were interviewing a person of interest in the East Essex Street homicide but no arrests have been announced, according to police.
Elsewhere, two men were shot, one fatally, in the East Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago around 11 a.m. on Saturday, according to police. The victims were standing outside on North Sawyer Avenue when a dark SUV approached them and a gunman exited the vehicle and opened fire, according to a police incident report.
A 29-year-old man, whose name was not immediately released, was shot multiple times and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to police. The second victim, a 32-year-old man, suffered a gunshot wound to his right side and was in stable condition at Mount Sinai, police said. No arrests have been announced in the incident.
Also on Saturday, gunfire erupted in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood. Around 7:46 p.m., a 43-year-old woman was standing outside on E. 131st Street when five armed men approached her and opened fire, striking her multiple times, according to police. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to Christ Hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.
No arrests have been announced in the Altgeld Gardens homicide.
Around 1:39 a.m. on Sunday, a 46-year-old man, whose name was not immediately released, was killed in a triple shooting that occurred in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago’s Lower West Side, according to police. The victims were standing on West 17th Street when a gunman walked up to them and opened fire, police said.
The two other victims, a 41-year-old man and a 43-year-old man, suffered gunshot wounds to their legs and were in good condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.
Around 2:52 a.m. on Sunday, a 33-year-old man was killed in the West Inglewood neighborhood on the Southwest Side of Chicago, police said. The victim got into a argument inside a residence with a man who shot him in the head, according to police. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. No arrests were announced.
The violence continued Sunday night as police launched two more homicide investigations.
A 26-year-old woman was fatally shot around 7:28 p.m. on Sunday in the Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side after getting into a verbal altercation with another woman, police said. The victim, whose name was not released, was shot in the chest and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, according to police. No arrests have been announced.
Also on Sunday night, police discovered a man lying on the ground suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the Little Village neighborhood of southwest Chicago, police said. The victim, who was found on S. Drake Avenue, died at the scene, police said. No suspects have been identified.
At least three additional shootings unfolded early Monday in the city, including one that left five people wounded, including a 17-year-old boy who was in critical condition after suffering multiple gunshot wounds, police said.
Just after 1 a.m. on Monday, police were called to the Oakland neighborhood on the city’s South Side for a report of a large disturbance on South Cottage Grove Avenue, according to a police incident report. Upon arrival, officers followed the sound of gunfire to an area where they found the five shooting victims and four discarded firearms, according to police. Besides the critically wounded teenager, police said the four other victims, ranging in age from 26 to 36, were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
One person of interest was being questioned in the Oakland neighborhood shooting, but no charges have been announced.
Around 11:20 a.m. on Monday, a 48-year-old man was fatally shot in the West Elsdon neighborhood of southeast Chicago, according to police. The victim, who was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police. He was standing outside of a residence when a gunman approached him and opened fire, striking him multiple times in the abdomen, according to police. No arrests have been announced.
The series of shootings came after President Donald Trump said last week that he is prepared to order National Guard troops to American cities in addition to those in the nation’s capital, but that he wanted local officials to request his help.
Trump threatened to make Chicago the next city he would target after he declared what he said was a public safety emergency in Washington, D.C., and he put the city’s police force under federal control on Aug. 11.
Violent crime in Chicago has dropped significantly in the first half of the year, according to official data released by the city. Shootings are down 37% and homicides have dropped by 32% compared to the first half of 2024, while total violence crime dropped by over 22%, according to the crime statistics.
“Do not come to Chicago, you are neither wanted here nor needed here,” Pritzker further said in response to Trump during a news conference last week. “Donald Trump wants to use the military to occupy a U.S. city to punish its dissidents and score political points. If this were happening in any other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is – a dangerous power-grab.”
ABC News Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
DHS police and Marines guard the Federal Detention Center on Thursday, July 17, 2025 as people protest against immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, CA. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration’s use of federal troops in Los Angeles to conduct law enforcement operations is unlawful, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued an order prohibiting troops from engaging in security patrols, riot control, arrests, searches and crowd control. The order does not take effect until Sept. 12 to allow the Trump administration to appeal.
Breyer said the use of federal troops effectively created a “national police force with the president as its chief” and violated the Posse Comitatus Act.
“The evidence at trial established that Defendants systematically used armed soldiers (whose identity was often obscured by protective armor) and military vehicles to set up protective perimeters and traffic blockades, engage in crowd control, and otherwise demonstrate a military presence in and around Los Angeles. In short, Defendants violated the Posse Comitatus Act,” Breyer wrote.
The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act limits the military from being involved in civilian law enforcement unless Congress approves it or under circumstances “expressly authorized by the Constitution.”
One exception is the Insurrection Act, a 218-year-old law signed by President Thomas Jefferson.The Insurrection Act states, in part: “Whenever there is an insurrection in any State against its government, the President may, upon the request of its legislature or of its governor if the legislature cannot be convened, call into Federal service such of the militia of the other States, in the number requested by that State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to suppress the insurrection.”
Another provision states it can be used “whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings.”
Breyer issued his decision after holding a three-day trial last month featuring testimony from military leadership about the ongoing operations in the Los Angeles area.
In June, Breyer also ruled President Donald Trump lacked the authority under the Insurrection Act to federalize the National Guard, concluding that the immigration protests in the city failed to meet the criteria of a “rebellion.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(HOUSTON) — A 42-year-old Texas man is facing a murder charge in the shooting of an 11-year-old boy after the victim and his friends banged on the suspect’s door late Saturday night in what police described as a “ding-dong-ditch” prank that has been trending on TikTok and other social media platforms, authorities said.
The suspect, Leon Gonzalo Jr., was arrested and booked at the Harris County Jail on Tuesday morning, charged with one count of murder, according to Harris County court records.
The shooting unfolded around 10:55 p.m. on Saturday at a home in southeast Houston, according to the Houston Police Department.
The child, who police initially said was 10 years old, was pronounced dead at a hospital on Sunday afternoon, according to a statement released by police. The boy’s name was being withheld by police pending an autopsy.
“Officers were told the male was ringing doorbells of homes in the area and running away. A witness stated the male was running from a house, after ringing the doorbell, just prior to suffering a gunshot wound,” Houston homicide detectives said.
It remained unclear if Gonzalo is the owner of the home where the door-kicking prank occurred, or whether he just lived there.
The prank allegedly committed in Houston is similar to what’s being dubbed the “door-kicking challenge,” a national trend based on an old prank called “ding dong ditch,” in which groups of kids record videos of themselves kicking and banging on doors of homes and apartments before running away and then posting the videos on social media platforms such as TikTok.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(HARRISBURG, Pa.) — Three people have been hospitalized, including one child and a woman in a wheelchair, after a minivan drove through the Kipona Festival in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
It is unclear if the act was intentional at this time, according to police. The driver is in custody and officials are investigating.
The Kipona Festival is an annual, three-day event held over Labor Day weekend that celebrates the region’s Native American heritage.
During a press conference Monday evening, Harrisburg Bureau of Police Captain Atah Akakpo-Martin said the vehicle came through one of the barricaded areas just after 6 p.m. when festival ended.
The three people who were hit include a 6-year-old boy, who is in critical condition, Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams said. The other two adults, a man in the city’s traffic engineering department and a woman who was in a wheelchair during the incident, are in stable condition, the mayor said.
It is uncertain if the driver was alone in the car or if the driver was injured at the time, officials said. Photos from the scene show the red minivan sustained damage to the front of the vehicle in the incident.
The minivan came to a stop after hitting multiple objects and driving for multiple blocks through the festival, police said.
(LONDON) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed the China-North Korea border by train on Tuesday, the country’s state news agency reported, heading to Beijing where he will attend a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.
Kim will join Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, the other two leaders having come from a Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Tianjin, where Xi hosted world leaders including Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kim is accompanied by a delegation including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Kim, Xi and Putin will gather for the military parade amid Ukrainian and Western concerns over the collaboration of the three nations in bolstering Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ongoing since February 2022.
Ukrainian and Western governments have accused North Korea of supplying significant amounts of ammunition and troops to support Russia’s war, while Kyiv and its NATO backers have identified China as Moscow’s prime source of materiel and a vital economic lifeline.
Speaking at the SCO meeting on Monday, Putin said the war in Ukraine began with a Western-sponsored “coup” and “attempts by the West” to “”pull Ukraine into NATO.” The address echoed long-established false Russian narratives about the pro-Western 2014 Maidan Revolution and the subsequent Russian invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Moscow built on that round of aggression by launching its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Putin said he spoke with Xi on Sunday about the ongoing U.S.-sponsored peace process in Ukraine, which has so far failed to produce a ceasefire or a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Putin and Xi met again on Tuesday morning, according to a readout from the state-run Xinhua news agency. The two leaders signed “more than 20 bilateral cooperation documents,” Xinhua reported.
Bilateral relations, Putin said, “have reflected a high degree of strategy and reached the highest level in history,” Xinhua reported. Xi, meanwhile, said ties between Beijing and Moscow “have withstood the test of international changes,” according to Xinhua.
The Russian president also met with Modi on Monday. India — along with China — is a top customer for Russian energy exports, an income stream that Ukraine and its allies say has helped Moscow soften the impact of international sanctions and fund its war.
In a post to X, Modi said he had an “excellent meeting” with Putin.
“Discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in all sectors, including trade, fertilizers, space, security and culture,” he added. “We exchanged views on regional and global developments, including the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.”
The meeting comes shortly after U.S President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on all Indian goods — bringing the total tariff rate to 50% — related to India’s continued purchases of Russian energy exports and military equipment.
(BLACK ROCK CITY, Nev.) — Officials in Nevada are investigating a homicide after a Burning Man participant was found dead, according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office.
On Saturday at approximately 9:14 p.m., a sheriff’s deputy was alerted by an event participant at Burning Man — an annual festival that takes place in Black Rock City, Nevada — that there was a man “lying in a pool of blood,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on Sunday.
Officials “immediately responded” to the campsite and found a “single white adult male lying on the ground, obviously deceased,” according to authorities.
Law enforcement then created a perimeter around the area, with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office’s Forensic Science Division assisting in “processing the scene and collection of evidence,” officials said. The sheriff’s office also noted that they interviewed “several participants in the immediate area.”
But as of Sunday, the investigation was “still ongoing,” with portion of the festival’s “City” having “heavy law enforcement presence until the scene can be released,” according to officials.
“Although this act appears to be a singular one, all participants should always be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances,” the sheriff’s office said.
On Monday, the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News that detectives are actively receiving tips and tracking down information related to the death.
There have been no arrests, officials said.
The identity of the body, which will be transferred to the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office, has not been identified by officials, the sheriff’s office noted.
Burning Man said in a statement they are “cooperating with law enforcement” as the investigation continues, and three public WiFi spots will be available for attendees who “need to communicate with loved ones,” the festival said.
As of Monday, no further information regarding the incident was available, officials said.
Officials said anyone with any additional information regarding the incident should contact the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Josh Nicholson through dispatch at 774-273-2641.
Burning Man is a “temporary metropolis in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert,” according to its website.
“Tens of thousands of people converge on a dry lakebed in Nevada, build a fully functional city where they live and work for week, then make it disappear without a trace. In this crucible of creativity, all are welcome!” the festival’s website said.
The sheriff’s office told ABC News investigation is made more difficult by the fact that Black Rock City is a temporary city that is disappearing Monday, now that attendees have left, so officials have to work before evidence disappears. Because that death happened in such a remote location in the desert, cell phone service is non-existent in most areas, so video and surveillance evidence is not as available as it would be elsewhere, officials said.
(ISLAMABAD, Pakistan) — The death toll from the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan that all but destroyed several villages rose on Tuesday to at least 1,411 people, a government spokesperson said.
Another 3,124 were injured in the 6.0 magnitude quake, which struck just before midnight on Sunday, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson, said on social media.
“Rescue operations are still underway in all the affected areas today,” Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson, said on Tuesday. “Dozens of commandos have been airlifted to areas where planes could not land to pull out the injured from the rubble and transport them to a suitable location.”
Shah Mahmood, a Taliban official in Nangarhar Province, said destroyed some 8,000 houses. Emergency responders have yet to reach some villages, where they fear there may be more dead and injured under the rubble, he said.
The powerful earthquake’s epicenter was about 17 miles east of Jalalabad, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Almost all of the deaths were in Kunar Province, officials said in a statement shared Monday by Zabihullah Mujahid, a government spokesperson. Others were killed in Nangarhar Province, said Mufti Abdul Matin Qani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior.
Deadly earthquakes have struck Afghanistan several times in recent years, including a 5.9 magnitude quake in June 2022 and a 6.3 magnitude one in October 2023. The death toll for each of those quakes rose to over 1,000 people, local officials said in their aftermaths.
Earthquakes are common in both eastern and western Afghanistan, where the India plate and the Eurasia plate intersect underneath the Hindu Kush mountains range, according to USGS.
“Since 1950, 71 other magnitude 6 or larger earthquakes occurred within 250 km of the August 31 earthquake, including six magnitude 7 and larger earthquakes,” USGS said in a summary of the activity it recorded during Sunday’s quake and the aftershocks.
The first strong quake struck at about 11:47 p.m. local time on Sunday and was followed by four weaker-but-still-powerful aftershocks into Monday, the USGS said. Those aftershocks measured 5.2, 5.2, 4.7 and 4.6, the organization said.
An estimated 12,000 people have been directly affected by Sunday’s, according to the World Health Organization in Afghanistan.
The hardest hit districts and villages in Kunar were Chawkay, Nurgal, Chapa Dara, Dara-e-Pech and Watapur, the WHO said in a report dated Monday. Structures in other villages in Nangarhar and Laghman provinces were also damaged, the report said.
“As the scale of devastation from the Afghanistan earthquake becomes clearer, my deepest condolences go to the victims and their families,” Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur for the country, said on social media on Tuesday.
Many of the health facilities in the affected regions appeared to be “functional” after the quake, the WHO said, adding that its local staff were working on-site at several locations in the region, including Nangarhar Regional Hospital.
At that hospital in Nangarhar, several injured children were being treated without their parents or relatives, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health.
“These are painful and unbearable moments,” Dr. Sharafat zaman Amar, the spokesperson, said in a social media post that included pictures of several children with visible injuries and bandages.
(LONDON) — August saw an easing in the scale of Russia’s long-range strike campaign on Ukraine, according to data published by Ukraine’s air force and analyzed by ABC News, though Moscow continued to launch massed and deadly bombardments on Kyiv, other major cities and critical infrastructure targets.
Over the course of August, Russia launched 4,216 air attack vehicles — 4,060 attack or decoy drones and 156 missiles — at a daily average rate of nearly 131 drones and five missiles, Ukraine’s air force data showed. No night of August passed without a Russian attack, the Ukrainian government said.
The reason for the apparent drop off in the overall intensity of the attacks is unclear. Moscow has shown no sign of abandoning its maximalist demands in the ongoing peace talks. Meanwhile, Ukrainian long-range strikes have been targeting military industrial targets across Russia, including facilities involved in the production of drones and missiles.
Ukrainian forces said they shot down or suppressed just over 85% of the drones and nearly 68% of missiles launched by Russia during August.
The overall number of long-range Russian drones and missiles launched in August was around 34% less than in July, according to the Ukrainian air force’s figures.
But the month ended with a notable uptick in Russian activity. From Aug. 1 to 15 — the day of the summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska — Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 1,131 drones and 21 missiles, at a daily average of 75.4 drones and 1.4 missiles.
But from Aug. 16 to 31, the scale of attacks increased. In the second half of the month, Ukraine’s air force reported 3,001 Russian drones and 135 missiles at a daily average of 187.5 drones and 8.4 missiles.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine publish data on their own strike campaigns. Ukraine’s air force publishes a daily tally of Russian drone and missile strikes, while Russia’s Defense Ministry only publishes figures of Ukrainian drones it claims were shot down.
The overall number of Russian drones and missiles reported by Kyiv in August was the lowest monthly total since May. Still, three nights during August each saw more than 500 drones and missiles launched into the country, despite the comparatively smaller scale of month’s attacks.
The human toll continues to rise in Ukraine, despite Trump’s repeated appeals for Moscow to end long-range strikes — and despite his public frustration over Putin’s refusal to do so.
The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said that July marked the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since May 2022, with 286 people killed and 1,388 people injured. The mission said it verified casualties in 18 of the country’s 24 regions in July. The mission attributed nearly 40% of the casualties in July to “long-range weapons such as missiles and loitering munitions.”
The mission is yet to publish its data for August. But there were several high casualty events during the month, perhaps most notably the drone and missile barrage on Kyiv that killed at least 23 people on the night of Aug. 27-28.
The bombardment on the night of Aug. 20-21 also saw one person killed and more than a dozen more injured, while another large combined strike on the night of Aug.29-30 killed one person and injured at least 29 people.
In July, Russia set a new monthly record for the number of drones and missiles fired at Ukraine. The month saw Russia launch 6,443 aerial vehicles — 6,245 drones and 198 missiles — into the country, of which 89% of drones and around 61% of missiles were defeated, according to Ukrainian figures.
June saw 5,438 drones and 239 missiles fired into Ukraine, with a daily average of 181 drones and nearly eight missiles. The air force downed or suppressed 87.2% of all drones and 73% of missiles during June.
And in May, Russia launched a total of 3,835 drones and 117 missiles, for an average of around 124 drones and nearly four missiles each day. Across the month, 85.7% of drones and 57% of missiles were defeated.
Despite the nightly attacks, August saw two key diplomatic summits, intended as springboards to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor which began in February 2022.
First, Putin traveled to Alaska to meet with Trump — the first face-to-face meeting between Russian and American leaders since 2019.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accompanied by a host of European leaders, then traveled to the White House to discuss possible peace terms.
Trump framed both meetings as positive and encouraging. But subsequent developments have been lacking. Trump’s proposal for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy — an idea the Kremlin has repeatedly dodged since the two men last met in 2019 — has yet to come to fruition, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of continued evasion.
Data published by Russia’s Defense Ministry suggests that Ukraine maintained the level of its own drone strike campaign through August.
The ministry said its forces shot down 2,783 Ukrainian drones over the course of the month, at an average rate of nearly 90 per day.
Across July, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported downing 3,008 Ukrainian drones at an average of around 97 per day.
In June, the ministry reported downing a total of 2,368 Ukrainian drones, with an average of almost 79 drones per day across the month. Those figures were down from May, during which the ministry said it shot down 3,611 drones with an average of 116 per day.
Local governments in Russia often publicly state death tolls for specific attacks, although the Kremlin doesn’t release a regular country-wide tally, making it difficult to track over a period of time.
Last month, Rodion Miroshnik — a Foreign Ministry ambassador-at-large responsible for analyzing Ukrainian attacks in Russia — told the TASS state news agency that 15 people were killed and 140 injured during one week of attacks in August. The toll included casualties in frontline regions, as well as those deep inside Russia caused by long-range drone strikes.
Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Kyiv is planning “new strikes.”
Siavosh Hosseini/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was injured in a vehicle accident Saturday evening in New Hampshire, his security chief said in a statement on Sunday.
A source familiar with his condition told ABC News on Monday that Giuliani is now out of the hospital and in good spirits. He remains in New Hampshire, the source added.
Giuliani’s security chief, Michael Ragusa, said on Sunday that Giuliani was taken to a nearby trauma center after the accident, where he was diagnosed with “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg.”
Before the incident, Ragusa said Giuliani was flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident and that he rendered assistance and contacted 911. He remained on the scene until responding officers arrived to ensure her safety, Ragusa said in a statement.
After the incident while traveling on a highway, Giuliani’s vehicle was struck from behind at high speed, Ragusa said. His business partner and medical provider were contacted and arrived at the hospital to oversee his care.
Ragusa later said in a statement on X: “He sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously. Thank you for the prayers & support.”
He later followed up on his post, saying, “This was not a targeted attack. We ask everyone to respect Mayor Giuliani’s privacy and recovery, and refrain from spreading unfounded conspiracy theories.”
