(WASHINGTON) — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, was expected to pass a major milestone Monday on her way to expected Senate confirmation later this week.
As anticipated, the Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked along party lines in an 11-11 vote Monday on whether to send Jackson’s nomination to the full Senate, ahead of a possible final confirmation vote possibly on Friday.
The tie vote forced Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to file a discharge motion to bring the nomination before the full Senate in order to get it out of committee. While Democrats are expected to prevail on the procedural move Monday evening — maybe with some Republican support — the move comes with four hours of floor debate, and some other Republicans could try to slow down the process.
While confirmation is nearly certain for Jackson, it’s unclear how many Republicans will cross the aisle to vote for her.
So far, only one, Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins, has said she would vote for Jackson.
Ranking Member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced after the committee kicked off its business Monday morning that he will vote no on Jackson’s nomination, paving the way for the 22-member, evenly-split committee to end in a tie vote.
But there was also an unintended delay forced by a Democratic senator.
“We have a problem,” said Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill, explaining that Sen. Padilla, D-Calif., whose presence is needed for the vote, was delayed when an overnight flight from Los Angeles had to return to the airport for a medical emergency, so the committee is in recess until he returns.
As the committee ticked through opening statements Monday, Republicans continued to raise issues with Jackson’s record, and Democrats defended Jackson from what they recalled as “hurtful” questioning from GOP senators.
“We are going to have our political substantive disagreements, but it was the treatment in some of these questions that triggered a hurt in so many people I know and have encountered,” said Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., reflecting on the hearings. “How qualified do you have to be?” he asked, going on to repeat her qualifications and fact that’s she been confirmed three times on a bipartisan vote before the Senate.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., meanwhile, said in his time that if Republicans had controlled the Senate, Jackson would have never been given hearings. Notably, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell recently refused to say if Biden Supreme Court nominees would be considered if Republicans retake the Senate.
“If we get back the Senate and we are in charge of this body and there is judicial openings, we will talk to our colleagues on the other side,” he said. “But if we are in charge, she would not have been before this committee. You would have had somebody more moderate than this.”
If Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska or Mitt Romney of Utah were to vote to advance Jackson’s nomination out of committee on the full floor vote, it may signal how they will vote later in the week when the Senate formally considers Jackson’s nomination to the high court.
But even without Republican support, Democrats have the power to push her nomination forward. The final vote, while bipartisan, will likely be narrower than what the White House had hoped for.
“What I know is she will get enough votes to get confirmed,” White House chief of staff Ron Klain told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “In the end, I suppose, that’s the only thing that matters. But I wish more Republicans would look at the case here, look at the record and vote to confirm Judge Jackson.”
With a two-week Easter in sight for senators, Democrats are hoping for a final vote before the weekend.
If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.
ABC News’ Trish Turner contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Key Senate negotiators have announced that they have struck a deal to move forward on legislation that will provide an additional $10 billion in COVID relief.
Half of the funds will go to development and the purchase of therapeutics. The other half of the funds will be given to HHS for use with slightly broader COVID-related discretion.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — After two weeks of deadly storms ripping through states in the South, another severe storm is headed toward Texas, Louisiana and Florida.
On Monday, a new storm will begin to move into the South with severe thunderstorms expected from Dallas to Shreveport, Louisiana, and into Jackson, Mississippi. There is a strong possibility for damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes as well.
Already in the last 24 hours, there has been pingpong ball-sized hail falling across Florida and western Texas.
On Tuesday, severe weather is expected in the Gulf Coast and the Southeast, from New Orleans to Charleston, South Carolina. Several tornadoes will be possible in Montgomery, Alabama, central Georgia and into South Carolina.
Another storm system from the West will begin to move into the same areas Wednesday, potentially bringing more damaging winds, a few tornadoes and large hail from Birmingham, Alabama, to Atlanta and into Asheville, North Carolina.
In the West, an atmospheric river is pounding Washington and Oregon with up to several feet of snow in the mountains, and there is the threat of flooding in lower elevations around the states as well as the coast. Gusty winds from this storm will stretch from Washington to Wyoming, where gusts could reach as high as 100 mph.
Snow totals in the Cascades in Washington and Oregon could reach several feet in the next 48 hours. In the Rockies, up to a foot of snow is possible from Idaho to northern Colorado.
Meanwhile, in the Southwest, particularly in parts of California, record-breaking heat is expected by the end of the week, with temperatures rising into the mid- to upper 90s. Triple digits are possible Thursday in areas such as Burbank, Sacramento and San Jose.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Sacramento police have arrested a suspected gunman in the shooting that killed six people in a popular nightlife area over the weekend.
Dandre Martin, 26, was identified as a “related suspect” in the shooting, which broke out on K Street in downtown Sacramento early Sunday morning just after a fight took place, the Sacramento Police Department said. Martin was arrested on assault and illegal firearm possession charges, police said.
More than 100 shell casings were recovered from the scene, according to police. Investigators believe multiple gunmen are responsible for the shooting and are sifting through hundreds of pieces of evidence, Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said during a press conference Sunday afternoon.
Video posted on Twitter on Sunday showed people running through the street as the apparent sound of rapid gunfire could be heard in the background.
The victims were identified by the Sacramento County Coroner’s office on Monday as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21; and Devazia Turner, 29.
At least a dozen people were injured in the shooting, Lester said. The conditions of the injured victims were not immediately known, police said.
It is not known whether the alleged gunmen knew each other, Lester said. A large crowd was present at the time of the shooting, she added.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg condemned the shooting during a news conference Sunday afternoon, describing it as “a senseless and unacceptable tragedy.”
“And I emphasize the word unacceptable,” Steinberg said. “Thoughts and prayers are not nearly enough. We must do more as a city as a state and as a nation.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson, Zohreen Shah and Jennifer Watts contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A new COVID-19 variant has been identified in the United Kingdom, but experts say there is no cause for alarm yet.
The variant, known as XE, is a combination of the original BA.1 omicron variant and its subvariant BA.2. This type of combination is known as a “recombinant” variant.
Public health experts say that recombinant variants are very common and often crop up and disappear on their own.
“Right now, there’s really no public health concern,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “Recombinant variants happen over and over. In fact, the reason that this is the XE variant recombinant is that we’ve had XA, XB, XC, XD already, and none of those have turned out to be any real concern.”
According to an update last week from the U.K. Health Security Agency, 637 cases of XE have been identified as of March 22, with the earliest detected Jan. 19.
An early indication from the U.K. suggests XE could be slightly more transmissible than BA.2, but the World Health Organization said more research is needed.
Meanwhile, XE makes up less than 1% of total COVID-19 cases that have undergone genomic sequencing in the U.K., and there is no evidence to suggest that the variant can escape vaccines, cause more severe disease or is more deadly.
“This particular recombinant, XE, has shown a variable growth rate, and we cannot yet confirm whether it has a true growth advantage,” Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for UKHSA, said in a statement.
So far, no cases of the recombinant variant have been reported in any other country, including the United States.
Brownstein said there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding XE, but that — in the U.S. — there is a high level of protection both from vaccines and from natural immunity during the omicron wave.
“It’s possible it may be more transmissible, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s more severe,” he said. “And given the sheer number of infections we’ve already seen with omicron, it’s really unclear whether even being slightly more transmissible means we’ll see any impact of this variant whatsoever.”
Brownstein said one of the reasons the U.K. was able to pick up on the variant as quickly as it did is because of its robust surveillance system.
According to the global database GISAID, the U.K. has submitted more than 1 million omicron samples for genomic surveillance. The U.S. has submitted more than 781,000.
“The U.K. has done a phenomenal job of sequencing a large number of cases, doing analyses and producing the output of that work,” he said. “So you could see the identification of XE actually as a positive because it shows that our public health systems are working, identifying new variants even when the case numbers are super small.”
Brownstein added, “This shows that some of these variants can be needles in a haystack, and here we have an example of one being identified very early on.”
The World Health Organization released its own report saying it is monitoring XE, but there is no evidence yet that it is a variant of concern like alpha, delta and omicron.
“WHO will continue to closely monitor and assess the public health risk associated with recombinant variants” and will “provide updates as further evidence becomes available,” the organization said in a report published March 29.
Brownstein said variants will continue to emerge, but it is important for people to follow COVID-19 mitigation measures so they don’t get a chance to spread.
“Being vaccinated and boosted, as well as practicing good hygiene and following public health recommendations all help to drive transmission down in the community,” he said. “When we have uncontrolled spread, that’s when the virus is given chances to mutate.”
The UKHSA said it is also monitoring two other recombinant variants known as XD and XF, both of which are a combination of the delta variant and BA.1.
To date, only 38 cases of XF have been identified in the U.K. and none since mid-February while the XD variant has only been identified in global databases in 49 cases, mostly in France.
(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon has been providing daily updates on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s efforts to resist.
Here are highlights of what a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday on Day 40:
Nearly 70% of Russian troops near Kyiv have withdrawn
About two-thirds of the Russian forces that were arrayed against Kyiv have withdrawn toward Belarus, according to the official. This up from an estimated 20% late last week.
Before repositioning, there were close to 20 Russian battalion tactical groups (BTGs) bearing down on Kyiv from the north and northwest, with each group comprised of 700-900 troops. Roughly 13 of those BTGs are now either in Belarus or on their way there, the official said.
The Pentagon believes these forces will be resupplied and possibly reenforced in the north before heading back into Ukraine to fight elsewhere.
“Our best assessment — and it is only an assessment — is that they will be applied in the eastern part of the country in the Donbas region,” the official said.
The U.S. has also seen some Russian troops leave the Ukrainian city of Sumy to head north to the Russian border, according to the official.
Despite these movements, the official said the “vast majority” of the more than 125 BTGs that Russia committed to the invasion are still inside Ukraine.
‘Sickening’ Russian atrocities in Bucha
The official said that while the U.S. cannot independently verify Ukrainian claims of Russian atrocities committed against civilians in Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv recently retaken by Ukrainian troops, there is no reason to doubt them.
“It’s sickening, it’s disgusting,” the official said, adding that the claims should be included in the growing list of alleged Russian war crimes to be investigated.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the town, where he accused Russia of genocide. Ukrainian officials have said more than 400 civilians were found dead there, many with hands tied behind their backs, shot at close range.
“We have long said that the Russians would be brutal in their execution of this war. They have been,” the senior U.S. defense official said. “We said more than a week ago that we clearly believe the evidence pointed to war crimes by Russian forces. And what we’re seeing out of Bucha certainly reinforces those concerns.”
President Joe Biden put blame on Russian president Vladimir Putin while speaking to reporters Monday.
“You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal,” Biden said. “Well, the truth of the matter, you saw what happened in Bucha … he is a war criminal.”
Russia shifting airstrikes
In addition to moving some of its troops away from the capital, Russia has also refocused its long-range strikes elsewhere, largely in the eastern and southern parts of the country, the official said.
“Clearly they’re still hitting Mariupol, but we have not seen the same level of airstrike activity on Kyiv,” the official said. “So there’s been a declination there over the last few days.”
Russia has fired more than 1,400 missiles against Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion.
Military aid being rushed into Ukraine
The U.S. has continued to rush small arms, anti-tank and aircraft missiles and medical supplies into Ukraine, and has coordinating shipments from a half dozen other donor nations in the last 24 hours, according to the senior defense official.
“Everything we’re doing with respect to Ukraine is being expedited — everything,” the official said.
(NEW YORK) — The Walt Disney World Resort is adding two 75-megawatt solar arrays to its renewable energy portfolio that, combined with existing infrastructure, will provide 40% of the park’s electricity.
The announcement comes at a time when energy prices across the country, coupled with record-high inflation, are soaring and climate change is pressuring consumers to reduce emissions.
“This latest step will help us further accomplish our goal of net zero emissions by 2030,” Jeff Vahle, president of the Walt Disney World Resort, told ABC News. “Our commitment to the environment goes beyond imagining a brighter, more sustainable future by putting possibility into practice to ensure a happier, healthier planet for all.”
The Walt Disney World Resort currently has two solar arrays, including one shaped like a giant Mickey, that generate a total of 55-megawatts of solar power and provide 10% of the park’s energy.
The two new solar installations won’t be located on park property; they will be built in Gilchrist and Polk Counties, covering more than 1,000 acres. Both are expected to come online by early 2023. By placing the solar facilities elsewhere in Florida, the Walt Disney World Resort will not need to rely on sunny skies in one area for reliable solar energy. The addition will also make Disney World the largest commercial consumer of solar power in the state of Florida.
The two new solar arrays will be capable of producing more than 375,000 megawatt hours of energy in its first year, which is the equivalent of removing 29,500 vehicles from the road annually.
The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC News.
(WASHINGTON) — The killings of Ukrainian civilians committed by Russian forces in Ukraine is a war crime, President Joe Biden said Monday — repeating his accusation that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “war criminal” who needs to be held “accountable.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “genocide” on Sunday after hundreds of Ukrainian civilians were found killed in Bucha, a suburb of the capital Kyiv that was retaken by Ukrainian forces. Some of the civilians were buried in mass graves, while others were found dead in the street with their hands tied behind their backs.
The U.S. has stopped short of using the term “genocide” because of its strict legal definition and the heavy implications it carries.
“This guy is brutal and what’s happening with Bucha is outrageous. And everyone’s seeing it,” Biden said.
“We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight, and we have to gather all the detail so this can be an actual — have a war crimes trial,” Biden told reporters Monday, but when asked if it were genocide, he said, “No, I think it is a war crime.”
Still, Biden’s call for for a possible war crimes trial raises the pressure on the international community’s response to Russia’s war, which has killed thousands and displaced more than 10 million people.
Biden said he would seek more sanctions against Putin and his government over the atrocities in Bucha, although it’s unclear if more economic pressure will do anything to bring an end to Putin’s campaign, which has shifted away from the Kyiv area to the south and east.
(WASHINGTON) — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, is expected to pass a major milestone Monday on her way to expected Senate confirmation later this week.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Monday on whether to send Jackson’s nomination to the full Senate, setting up a final confirmation vote possibly on Friday.
While confirmation is nearly certain for Jackson, it’s unclear how many Republicans will cross the aisle to vote for her.
So far, only one, Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins, has said she would vote for Jackson — and Collins does not sit on the Judiciary Committee.
Ranking Member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced after the committee kicked off its business Monday morning that he will vote no on Jackson’s nomination, paving the way for the 22-member, evenly-split committee to end in a tie vote.
An 11-11 tie will force Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to file a discharge motion to bring the nomination before the full Senate in order to get it out of committee. That motion comes with four hours of floor debate, where some Republicans are expected to try to slow down the process.
If Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska or Mitt Romney of Utah were to vote to advance Jackson’s nomination out of committee on the full floor vote, it may signal how they will vote later in the week when the Senate formally considers Jackson’s nomination to the high court.
But even without Republican support, Democrats have the power to push her nomination forward. The final vote, while bipartisan, will likely be narrower than what the White House had hoped for.
“What I know is she will get enough votes to get confirmed,” White House chief of staff Ron Klain told ABC News’ This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “In the end, I suppose, that’s the only thing that matters. But I wish more Republicans would look at the case here, look at the record and vote to confirm Judge Jackson.”
With a two-week Easter in sight for senators, Democrats are hoping for a final vote before the weekend.
If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.” Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as well as other major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 04, 10:22 am
Russia may launch major offensive in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Monday it is monitoring large movements of Russian troops and reinforcements in eastern Ukraine.
The General Staff said it expects Russian forces to launch a possibly major offensive in the Donbas region within the next 24 hours, particularly against the city of Severodonetsk, which is the administrative center of the government-controlled areas of the Luhansk Oblast.
Meanwhile, Donetsk Oblast Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko has urged civilians to evacuate now, even from areas not close to the front lines.
Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his recognition of two breakaway areas of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that share a border with Russia — the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics. Russia-backed separatist forces have controlled these parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhanks oblasts since 2014.
Apr 04, 10:04 am
Zelenskyy visits bombed city of Bucha
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited on Monday the decimated city of Bucha, where Ukrainian officials have accused Russian troops of committing war crimes against civilians.
Zelenskyy toured the Kyiv suburb that was retaken by Ukrainian forces in recent days. Zelenskyy went to a road in the city littered with destroyed Russian equipment and he spoke to local residents.
Zelenskyy repeated accusations that Russia committed war crimes and genocide after Ukrainian officials said 410 people believed to have been civilians were found dead, many with their hands bound behind their backs and shot at close range.
Russian officials have denied the accusation and have requested the U.N. Security Council investigate.
Apr 04, 9:34 am
Ukraine accuses Russian brigade of war crimes, releases names of troops
Ukraine has accused a brigade of the Russian Ground Forces of committing war crimes in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv.
The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published online Monday what it said was a list with the names of hundreds of personnel of Russia’s 64th Motor Rifle Brigade whom they believe were directly responsible for atrocities in Bucha. Ukrainian officials have said there is evidence of other Russian units being involved.
Ukrainian authorities announced Sunday that 410 civilians were found dead in recently recaptured towns near the capital as part of an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian forces. Images emerged showing bodies, some of which showed signs of torture, in civilian clothes strewn in streets and in mass graves across Bucha, northwest of Kyiv. ABC News journalists on the ground saw some of the dead, including a family that locals said were executed with their hands bound.
Russia has denied the claims.
-ABC News’ Natalia Kushnir and Fidel Pavlenko
Apr 04, 9:23 am
Russian oligarch’s yacht seized in Spain
A yacht that belongs to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg was seized Monday in Marina Real in the Spanish port of Palma de Mallorca, two U.S. law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The yacht was seized by Spanish authorities and KleptoCapture, the U.S. Department of Justice task force charged with finding assets of oligarchs trying to evade sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Vekselberg was among the oligarchs sanctioned previously by the United States in 2018 after Russia invaded Crimea.
The task force is trying to find yachts, airplanes and other moveable properties before the oligarchs can move them to jurisdictions where it might be more difficult for U.S. authorities to investigate.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr and Aaron Katersky
Apr 04, 8:20 am
Russia accuses Ukraine of ‘fake attack’ in Bucha
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Ukrainian forces of staging an attack in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, where images have emerged showing bodies in civilian clothes lying in the streets and in mass graves.
“The other day, another fake attack was launched in the city of Bucha, Kyiv region, after Russian military personnel left from there in accordance with the plans and agreements reached,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow on Monday. “A few days later, a staging was arranged there, which was dispersed through all channels and social networks by Ukrainian representatives and their Western patrons.”
According to Lavrov, Russian forces vacated the area on March 30.
“On March 31, the mayor [of Bucha] solemnly said that everything was fine there,” he added. “And two days later, we saw how the same production was organized on the streets, which they are now trying to use for anti-Russian purposes.”
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venedyktova announced Sunday that 410 civilians were found dead in recently recaptured towns near the capital as part of an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian forces. Some photos taken Sunday in Bucha show unarmed individuals who appear to have been executed with their hands or legs bound. A number of world leaders have accused Russia of committing the atrocities.
Apr 04, 7:41 am
Kremlin reacts to images of dead bodies in Bucha
Russia responded on Monday to accusations that its troops have deliberately killed civilians in Ukraine, after images emerged showing bodies in civilian clothes scattered in areas on the outskirts of the capital that were recently recaptured from Russian forces.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venedyktova said Sunday that 410 civilians were found dead in towns near Kyiv.
During a daily press briefing on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia “categorically dismiss[es] any accusations” of its role in civilian killings and that Moscow does not trust the evidence in Bucha.
“This information should be seriously doubted,” Peskov told reporters. “From what we have seen, the video materials cannot be trusted to a large extent, as our specialists from the Defense Ministry have detected signs of video forgery and other kinds of fakes.”
The Kremlin demands that “international leaders do not jump to conclusions, do not make hasty unsupported accusations but at least seek information from various sources and at least listen to our arguments,” Peskov said.
“The facts, the chronology of events also do not speak in favor of the credibility of these claims,” he added.
Russia will reiterate its calls to discuss the matter at the United Nations Security Council on Monday, according to Peskov.
“We believe that the issue should be discussed at the highest level, so we have proposed that it be discussed at the Security Council. We are aware that the initiative has been blocked,” he said. “Our diplomats will continue active efforts towards putting this item on the Security Council’s agenda. This issue is too serious.”
“The initiative aimed to put the item on the Security Council agenda demonstrates that Russia wants and actually demands its discussion at the international level,” he added.
Apr 04, 7:11 am
Russia seeks UN Security Council meeting on Bucha for Monday
Russia said it will repeat its request for the United Nations Security Council to meet on Monday over what Moscow described as “criminal provocations by Ukrainian soldiers and radicals” in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
The United Kingdom’s mission to the U.N., which assumed the presidency of the 15-member Security Council for April, has said the group will hold a scheduled discussion on Ukraine on Tuesday, rather than meet on Monday as requested by Russia.
“Yesterday, in the worst English tradition, the British presidency of the U.N. Security Council did not give consent to holding a meeting of the Security Council on the situation in Bucha,” Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement via Telegram on Monday. “Russia today will again demand the convening of the U.N. Security Council in connection with the criminal provocations of the Ukrainian military and radicals in this city.”
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venedyktova announced Sunday that 410 civilians were found dead in recently recaptured towns near the capital as part of an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian forces. Images emerged showing bodies in civilian clothes strewn in the streets of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv.
Russia’s deputy representative to the U.N. Security Council, Dmitry Polyansky, said via Twitter on Sunday that Moscow had requested a meeting to be held on Monday “in connection with the monstrous provocation of Ukrainian radicals in Bucha.”
Apr 04, 6:01 am
Russian troops, Wagner mercenaries move into Ukraine’s Donbas region
Russian forces are continuing to consolidate and reorganize as they refocus their offensive into the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update Monday.
“Russian troops, including mercenaries from the Russian state-linked Wagner private military company, are being moved into the area,” the ministry added.
Wagner is the best-known of an array of Russian mercenary groups and has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian company has deployed fighters to countries in the Middle East and Africa. U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson John Kirby told reporters last month that Wagner “has an interest in increasing their footprint in Ukraine.”
Apr 03, 10:37 pm
Zelenskyy speaks at Grammys: ‘Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a brief speech at the on Sunday night.
Zelenskyy, in a video message, said war is the opposite of music, but hopes soon the silence of death will be filled with the sound of music.
“The war doesn’t let us choose who survives and who stays in eternal silence. Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos,” Zelenskyy told the audience. “They sing to the wounded. In hospitals. Even to those who can’t hear them. But the music will break through anyway.”
Apr 03, 8:14 pm
7 dead, 34 wounded in Kharkiv shelling, 70% of Chernihiv destroyed
At least seven civilians are dead and 34 are wounded following shelling in Kharkiv, the region’s prosecutor’s office announced Sunday.
The shelling occurred Sunday evening in the city’s Slobidskyi district, according to the Kharkiv regional military administration Oleg Sinehubov, who added that children are among the victims.
Meanwhile, in Chernihiv, around 70% of the city has been destroyed, according to Mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko, who was speaking on Ukrainian TV.
He added that businesses are not operating. Ukrainian soldiers have been able to liberate several villages in the Chernihiv region in the past couple of days.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Apr 03, 4:20 pm
‘Concentrated evil has come,’ Zelenskyy addresses civilian deaths in Bucha
Following graphic images of casualties coming out of Bucha, Ukraine, after Russian military withdrawal, Ukrainian President President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has strong words about he called, “concentrated evil, in his daily address Sunday. Here are excerpts from that address:
“Hundreds of people were killed. Tortured, executed civilians. Corpses on the streets. Mined area. Even the bodies of the dead were mined!”
“Concentrated evil has come to our land. Murderers. Torturers. Rapists. Looters. Who call themselves the army. And who deserve only death after what they did.”
“I want every mother of every Russian soldier to see the bodies of the killed people in Bucha, in Irpin, in Hostomel. What did they do? Why were they killed? What did the man who was riding his bicycle down the street do? Why were ordinary civilians in an ordinary peaceful city tortured to death? Why were women strangled after their earrings were ripped out of their ears? How could women be raped and killed in front of children? How could their corpses be desecrated even after death? Why did they crush the bodies of people with tanks? What did the Ukrainian city of Bucha do to your Russia? How did all this become possible?”
“All partners of Ukraine will be informed in detail about what happened in the temporarily occupied territory of our state. War crimes in Bucha and other cities during the Russian occupation will also be considered by the UN Security Council on Tuesday.”
Zelenslyy also invited former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Ukraine to witness the carnage.
“We do not blame the West. We do not blame anyone but the specific Russian military who did this against our people,” Zelenskyy, who has pleaded with the U.S. and NATO allies to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine, a measure so far, that President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have refused to do, said.
