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(NEW YORK) — More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian troops have liberated nearly 30,000 square miles of their territory from Russian forces since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, but Putin appeared to be preparing for a long and bloody war.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Apr 27, 12:59 PM EDT
Missile strike in Mykolaiv kills 1, wounds 23

One person was killed and 23 people, including a child, were wounded in a Russian missile strike in Mykolaiv early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The missile struck a block that had apartments, houses and a historic building, according to Zelenskyy.

“The terrorists will not get away with this yet another crime against humanity,” the president said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Apr 26, 12:50 PM EDT
Zelenskyy has 1st call with China’s Xi Jinping since war began

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping in what was the two leaders’ first official contact since January 2022, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Xi announced that he will send a special envoy to visit Ukraine and “other countries” to work on a political solution.

“I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on Twitter.

The Chinese government’s official position still refuses to call the war an “invasion.”

The call between the two leaders is said to have lasted an hour, according to Zelenskyy’s office.

“Before the full-scale Russian invasion, China was Ukraine’s number one trading partner. I believe that our conversation today will give a powerful impetus to the return, preservation and development of this dynamic at all levels,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Karson Yiu, Cindy Smith and Will Gretsky

Apr 25, 1:03 PM EDT
At least 2 dead, 10 injured in strike that hit Ukrainian museum

At least two people were killed and 10 injured after a Russian missile hit a Ukrainian museum Tuesday, officials said.

The local history museum is located in the city center of Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region.

“The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely. Our history, our culture, our people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media while sharing a video that showed the damaged building. “Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.”

Apr 24, 5:48 AM EDT
Russian passports pushed on occupied Ukraine

Russian officials have warned Ukrainians in occupied Kherson that they may be “deported” if they don’t accept Russian passports, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said Monday.

“Russia is using passports as a tool in the ‘Russification’ of the occupied areas, as it did in Donetsk and Luhansk before the February 2022 invasion,” the ministry on Twitter.

Residents of Kherson have been warned of penalties for those who don’t accept Russian passports by June 1. Some may be removed from the territory or may have their property seized, according to the U.K.

Apr 23, 11:42 PM EDT
Russia says US has denied journalist visas, vows it ‘will not forgive’

Russia said Sunday that the U.S. has denied visas to Russian journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s trip to New York.

Lavrov promised that the decision will not be forgotten by their side.

“The country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, most free, fairest has chickened out, has done a silly thing and shown what its sworn assurances on protecting freedom of speech, access to information and so on are worth,” he told reporters at the airport before his flight to New York.

“Most importantly, you can be sure: we will not forget, we will not forgive this,” the minister told the pool of journalists who have not been granted U.S. visas.

The journalists had planned to cover Lavrov’s appearance at the United Nations to mark Russia’s chairmanship of the Security Council.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the U.S.’s decision “outrageous” on Sunday, Interfax, a Russian news agency, reported.

-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva, Edward Szekeres, Natalia Shumskaia

Apr 21, 3:35 PM EDT
Over 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in the EU so far

Over 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers trained in the European Union, Josep Borrell, an EU representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said Friday.

The EU has delivered over $600 million of ammunition and missiles to Ukraine, according to Borrell.

-ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy

Apr 20, 7:08 PM EDT
Russian warplane accidentally fires weapon into Russian city of Belgorod: Defense ministry

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that ammunition from a Russian Su-34 military aircraft fell in Belgorod, a city in the southern region of Russia.

“On the evening of April 20, during the flight of the Su-34 aircraft over the city of Belgorod, an abnormal descent of an aviation munition occurred,” the agency said.

The ministry claimed buildings were damaged but there were no immediate reports of victims. An investigation is underway, according to the agency.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Apr 20, 5:18 PM EDT
Ukraine’s ‘rightful place’ is in NATO: Secretary-General

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg held a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, to highlight the more than €150 billion of support to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion.

“Allies are now delivering more jets, tanks, and armored vehicles, and NATO’s Ukraine fund is providing urgent support,” he said in a statement. “All of this is making a real difference on the battlefield today.”

While in Ukraine, the secretary-general visited Bucha and paid his respects to the victims of Russian atrocities.

He also laid a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine, paying tribute to all those who have lost lives or suffered wounds in defense of their homeland.

“Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO. And over time, our support will help to make this possible,” Stoltenberg said.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Apr 20, 4:13 PM EDT
Russian athletes will not be accepted in 2024 Olympics if war goes on: Paris mayor

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, which is hosting the 2024 summer Olympics, told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russian athletes “cannot be accepted in Paris,” if the war with Ukraine is still ongoing when the games begin.

“Paris is the capital of human rights,” Hidalgo said in a statement. “We are trying to convince athletes, international federations and countries. We stand with you.”

Hidalgo and Vasco Cordeiro, the president of the European Committee of the Regions, met with Zelenskyy as part of the International Summit of Cities and Regions Thursday.

Zelenskyy thanked Hidalgo for her support and presented her with Ukraine’s “Rescuer City” honorary award.

-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KYIV, Ukraine) — Ukrainian juvenile prosecutors have opened more than 100 criminal proceedings for what they describe as illegal transfers of Ukrainian kids to Russian-occupied territories, their further deportation to Russia and Belarus, and illegal adoption by Russian citizens, officials in the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office told ABC News.

All the evidence collected by the Ukrainian investigators is expected to contribute to the International Criminal Court’s case against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, a Russian official.

The ICC’s case includes public documents, including Lvova-Belova’s Telegram communication, as well as Putin’s decree dated May 30, 2022, which was cited in the report of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry for Ukraine. Johann Soufi, senior international prosecutor in Ukraine, told ABC News that Ukrainian authorities are expected to provide additional evidence in the form of victims’ testimonies, for example the children or their parents, to the prosecutor of the ICC.

“It’s possible that the arrest warrant for Putin would not have been issued without this type of direct evidence,” he said. “First, the ICC first needs to establish the crimes. The decree that Putin signed and the fact he and Lvova-Belova were public about the adoptions just helped to establish their liability for the crimes.”

Multiple testimonies were collected by the Ukrainian prosecutors from many of the 362 children, who were kidnapped by the Russians and so far returned to Ukraine. More than 19,000 children have been illegally deported since the war began, according to the Ukrainian prosecutors.

Artem Gutorov, 16, who lives in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, told ABC News he was actually forced to leave by Russian soldiers. In early September he went to his school in the nearby village to collect the documents because the village was occupied by the Russians and Artem didn’t want to study there anymore. He was unable to come home because the return bus was canceled, he said. So he spent the night at school.

“The next day Russian soldiers, armed and uniformed, came in and told us they were allegedly evacuating us because the Ukrainian army was advancing,” Artem later said.

He added, “I wanted to escape through the backyard but I was afraid they might just shoot me. So I had to get in the truck with them. It was so scary.”

Artem’s mom, Natalia, said she believes Russian troops used children “as a shield” while retreating during the counteroffensive. She heard from her son a month after he left, when he and 13 other kids were eventually brought to a school in the occupied Perevalsk, Lugansk oblast.

“I almost went crazy then. It was a bit relieving to get his message on the phone, at least I knew he was alive. But I had no idea how to bring him back and was ready to walk by foot wherever I had to,” she cried said. “When I finally came through Belarus and Russia to that village my son was already registered as an orphan.”

Artem said he and other kids were told they would be “evacuated” to Rostov-on-Don, a Russian port city near the border, and sent to foster families. That never happened but it eventually took his mom half a year to bring back her child.

Vitaliy Vertash, 16, was one of those who were taken from the then-occupied Beryslav in the Kherson region to Russian summer camps in Crimea under the guise of a vacation and safe education.

“The director of the camp, Ukrainian national who in fact is a big fan of Russia, gave us just one day to pack Vitaliy’s bag to go to the camp, but when after three weeks I started asking her where my son is and when he is coming back, she avoided me, lied and never helped to bring him back,” Vitaliy’s mom, Inna, said. “So he was actually kidnapped and I returned him only in half a year.”

Vitaliy told ABC an even more harrowing tale.

He said they spent most of the time in the Mriya camp near Evpatoria in Crimea where not only was it cold there and no normal food, but the kids were forced to work, were beaten and were “re-educated.”

“We had special classes where we were told by the teachers that Russia is great and will win the war soon and Ukrainians are terrorists”, Vitaliy recalled. “When one of the seniors in the camp saw a small Ukrainian flag near my bed he tore it down and burnt it. And when I argued with him, he put me and my friend Tanya in a closed room for four days. It was like a prison.”

His friend was held there longer and later showed Vitaliy his bruises, saying he was beaten and even threatened to be taken to the Russian army for punishment.

“It was all so scary. We wanted to escape but were arrested by the police in the city,” he said.

After Vitaliy returned to Ukraine he told the Ukrainian investigators about everything that happened. The man in the camp who abused the kids was identified by Vitaliy and later by journalists as a former Ukrainian policeman who was suspected of killing protesters in Kyiv during the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 and had escaped to Russia.

Kids like Vitaliy and Artem have been reunited with their parents thanks to the Ukrainian authorities and Save Ukraine, a nongovernmental organization run by former Ukrainian children’s ombudsman Mykola Kuleba.

“We created a unique model of the organization that allows us to return deported kids, and we have done it 5 times already,” he told ABC. “But we are never 100% sure we will succeed because although we are already experienced, you can never know what might happen to the moms in Russia when they go to take their kids. They spent hours at the FSB office on the border and it’s always like a Russian roulette. But eventually we bring the witnesses of a war crime.”

The alleged beating or mistreating of the children can be part of the case of the ICC too, Johann Soufi told ABC.

“Deportation or forcible transfer is a specific crime: It consists in the expulsion or other forms of coercion from the area in which they are lawfully present. So, the abuse could constitute evidence of this coercion — this will contradict Russia’s claims that the children were sent to Russia with the consent of the kids, their caregivers or local authorities,” he said.

It’s the first time the ICC opened the case for the mass deportation of children, Soufi, the Ukrainian prosecutor, said.

“Until now, the prosecutor has been very careful in charging this as a war crime only, and not as a crime against humanity for example,” he said.

To facilitate the process of returning children, Ukraine intends to form an international coalition. According to Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, a pool of international leaders is being formed, already supported by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SUDAN) — A second American has been killed in the violence in Sudan, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed on Wednesday.

While Kirby did not name the victim, a family spokesperson identified him to ABC News as Bushra Ibnauf Sulieman, a doctor who was helping educate physicians in Sudan and whose children live in the U.S.

“We can confirm the death of a second American citizen yesterday. We extend our deepest condolences to the family,” Kirby said. “We continue to make clear, at the highest levels of our government, to the leadership of both the Sudanese armed forces and the rapid support forces, that they are responsible for ensuring the protection of civilians and non-combatants, including people from third countries and humanitarian staff that are working to save lives.”

Kirby did not elaborate on the circumstances of Sulieman’s death, but a press release from his family stated that the University of Khartoum professor of internal medicine was killed while escorting his father to a dialysis appointment.

Kirby also indicated the ceasefire is largely holding despite sporadic reports of gunfire.

“I know you’ve heard that there was a ceasefire that the U.S. brokered started at midnight on the 24th. Although there are some reports of violence and sporadic shelling and firing, we’re glad to see that the levels generally appeared, levels of violence generally appear to have gone significantly down. We urge both military factions that fully uphold this ceasefire, and to further extend it,” he said.

Sulieman, a father of four, had been in Sudan with his wife and two young children taking care of his parents, teaching and practicing medicine in a much-needed area of Sudan, his longtime friend, Dr. Khidir Dalouk, told ABC News.

Dalouk said the doctor was stabbed to death Tuesday.

“I think that the world, not just Sudan or his family, it has lost a human soul. A good person who did not think about himself. He always thought about his family first, his patients first, his students first,” an emotional Dalouk said. “We’re sorry that he’s gone”

Last week the State Department confirmed that one American died in the conflict in Sudan.

As of Tuesday evening, five United Nations staffers were also among the hundreds that have been killed amid the ongoing clashes between forces loyal to two rival generals, according to officials.

Kirby also said the U.S. is actively facilitating the departure of a “relatively small number of Americans” who have indicated their desire to leave the country.

“We continue to deploy U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets on manned assets to support land evacuation routes, which Americans are using, and we’re still moving naval assets within the region to provide support along the coast. American citizens are arriving in Port Sudan, and we are helping to facilitate their onward travel as appropriate,” Kirby said.

An estimated 16,000 Americans — most of whom are dual U.S.-Sudanese citizens — remain in Sudan, according to Kirby.

“These are people that grew up in Sudan, work in Sudan, families are in Sudan and they want to stay in Sudan, so it’s a number that is difficult to plan to specifically,” Kirby told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview Monday on “Good Morning America.”

Kirby did not have much to offer on the growing concern over the need for humanitarian assistance in Sudan. He noted USAID has a team on the ground, but deferred to USAID Ambassador Samantha Power on any effort to increase humanitarian aid, saying the ceasefire really needs to hold, in order to expand.

ABC News’ Katherine Carroll, Morgan Winsor and Teddy Grant contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian troops have liberated nearly 30,000 square miles of their territory from Russian forces since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, but Putin appeared to be preparing for a long and bloody war.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Apr 26, 12:50 PM EDT
Zelenskyy has 1st call with China’s Xi Jinping since war began

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping in what was the two leaders’ first official contact since January 2022, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Xi announced that he will send a special envoy to visit Ukraine and “other countries” to work on a political solution.

“I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on Twitter.

The Chinese government’s official position still refuses to call the war an “invasion.”

The call between the two leaders is said to have lasted an hour, according to Zelenskyy’s office.

“Before the full-scale Russian invasion, China was Ukraine’s number one trading partner. I believe that our conversation today will give a powerful impetus to the return, preservation and development of this dynamic at all levels,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Karson Yiu, Cindy Smith and Will Gretsky

Apr 25, 1:03 PM EDT
At least 2 dead, 10 injured in strike that hit Ukrainian museum

At least two people were killed and 10 injured after a Russian missile hit a Ukrainian museum Tuesday, officials said.

The local history museum is located in the city center of Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region.

“The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely. Our history, our culture, our people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media while sharing a video that showed the damaged building. “Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.”

Apr 24, 5:48 AM EDT
Russian passports pushed on occupied Ukraine

Russian officials have warned Ukrainians in occupied Kherson that they may be “deported” if they don’t accept Russian passports, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said Monday.

“Russia is using passports as a tool in the ‘Russification’ of the occupied areas, as it did in Donetsk and Luhansk before the February 2022 invasion,” the ministry on Twitter.

Residents of Kherson have been warned of penalties for those who don’t accept Russian passports by June 1. Some may be removed from the territory or may have their property seized, according to the U.K.

Apr 23, 11:42 PM EDT
Russia says US has denied journalist visas, vows it ‘will not forgive’

Russia said Sunday that the U.S. has denied visas to Russian journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s trip to New York.

Lavrov promised that the decision will not be forgotten by their side.

“The country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, most free, fairest has chickened out, has done a silly thing and shown what its sworn assurances on protecting freedom of speech, access to information and so on are worth,” he told reporters at the airport before his flight to New York.

“Most importantly, you can be sure: we will not forget, we will not forgive this,” the minister told the pool of journalists who have not been granted U.S. visas.

The journalists had planned to cover Lavrov’s appearance at the United Nations to mark Russia’s chairmanship of the Security Council.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the U.S.’s decision “outrageous” on Sunday, Interfax, a Russian news agency, reported.

-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva, Edward Szekeres, Natalia Shumskaia

Apr 21, 3:35 PM EDT
Over 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in the EU so far

Over 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers trained in the European Union, Josep Borrell, an EU representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said Friday.

The EU has delivered over $600 million of ammunition and missiles to Ukraine, according to Borrell.

-ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy

Apr 20, 7:08 PM EDT
Russian warplane accidentally fires weapon into Russian city of Belgorod: Defense ministry

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that ammunition from a Russian Su-34 military aircraft fell in Belgorod, a city in the southern region of Russia.

“On the evening of April 20, during the flight of the Su-34 aircraft over the city of Belgorod, an abnormal descent of an aviation munition occurred,” the agency said.

The ministry claimed buildings were damaged but there were no immediate reports of victims. An investigation is underway, according to the agency.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Apr 20, 5:18 PM EDT
Ukraine’s ‘rightful place’ is in NATO: Secretary-General

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg held a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, to highlight the more than €150 billion of support to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion.

“Allies are now delivering more jets, tanks, and armored vehicles, and NATO’s Ukraine fund is providing urgent support,” he said in a statement. “All of this is making a real difference on the battlefield today.”

While in Ukraine, the secretary-general visited Bucha and paid his respects to the victims of Russian atrocities.

He also laid a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine, paying tribute to all those who have lost lives or suffered wounds in defense of their homeland.

“Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO. And over time, our support will help to make this possible,” Stoltenberg said.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Apr 20, 4:13 PM EDT
Russian athletes will not be accepted in 2024 Olympics if war goes on: Paris mayor

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, which is hosting the 2024 summer Olympics, told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russian athletes “cannot be accepted in Paris,” if the war with Ukraine is still ongoing when the games begin.

“Paris is the capital of human rights,” Hidalgo said in a statement. “We are trying to convince athletes, international federations and countries. We stand with you.”

Hidalgo and Vasco Cordeiro, the president of the European Committee of the Regions, met with Zelenskyy as part of the International Summit of Cities and Regions Thursday.

Zelenskyy thanked Hidalgo for her support and presented her with Ukraine’s “Rescuer City” honorary award.

-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — An ongoing investigation into a suspected religious cult in southeastern Kenya whose followers were allegedly told to starve themselves has led to the discovery of dozens of bodies.

The death toll reached 90 on Tuesday after Kenyan police exhumed more remains from mass graves on an 800-acre forest in the village of Shakahola, near the coastal town of Malindi.

“This is as of now,” Kenyan Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said during a press conference on Tuesday while visiting the site. “The process continues for the rest of the day and we don’t know how many more graves, how many more bodies we are likely to discover.”

More than 200 people have been reported missing in the area in the wake of the grim findings, according to a press release from the Kenya Red Cross Society.

Most of the dead have been recovered from shallow graves, while some were found alive but later died. Another 34 people who were rescued from the property have survived, Kindiki said.

The victims are all believed to be followers of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and his self-proclaimed Good News International Church. Mackenzie, who owns the land, is accused of luring his followers there and instructing them to “observe fasting till death in order to meet their maker,” according to a statement from Kenya’s Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome.

Mackenzie surrendered to police on April 14 after they raided his property, Koome said. He remains in custody.

Mackenzie has a criminal record dating back to 2017. He was arrested last month in connection with the starvation deaths of two children but he was subsequently released on bail of 10,000 Kenyan shillings (about $75), according to Koome.

A preliminary probe indicates that Mackenzie and other potential suspects could be charged with murder and terrorism, according to a press release from Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which described the scene in Shakahola as “shocking to the human conscience.”

Meanwhile, the interior minister has hinted at the possibility of charging Mackenzie with genocide. He said investigators are also looking into another suspected cult in the same county.

“We have cast the net wider to another religious organization here in Kilifi,” Kindiki told reporters on Tuesday. “We have opened a formal inquiry on this religious group and we are getting crucial leads that perhaps what was being done by Mackenzie is a tip of the iceberg.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — At a movie theatre in central Moscow this month, people had come to watch an illicit film. It wasn’t a documentary about the war in Ukraine or political persecution under Vladimir Putin’s regime; it was Avatar: Way of Water.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Russian cinemas were supposed to have been left without most of the Hollywood blockbusters that had been the core of the country’s movie fare pre-war.

Within the first month of the war, the U.S.’ major movie studios announced they were pausing theatrical releases of their new movies in Russia, as Western governments imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow. Disney which produced the new Avatar, said it was doing so in response to “unprovoked invasion and tragic humanitarian crisis.” Warner Bros, Paramount, Sony Pictures, and Universal also stopped their releases.

But more than a year on, most major U.S. blockbusters are widely available in Russian movie theaters, which are circumventing the defacto boycott by illegally screening high quality pirated copies. With authorities doing little to stop and at times even encouraging the practice, it means Russian movie-goers are still able to watch most of the same movies as the rest of the world.

The theaters showing them are not underground pirate cinemas, but the country’s largest chains. Showings of Avatar: Way of Water, the second film in James Cameron’s Avatar series, were easy to find in theatres in Moscow and across Russia. As is the newly released live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. The versions shown are not shaky videos filmed from inside theaters but full-quality copies, including in 3D.

At the Kinomax cinema in Moscow’s Riga Mall, the scheme for showing Avatar: Way of Water was simple. Customers buy a ticket nominally for a different, Russian film, but that also includes a “preview” screening. In this case, the “preview” was the over three-hour Avatar sequel.

“It’s like you buy a ticket to one movie, and you’re getting another,” said Nikita, who came to watch the film and like most people ABC News spoke with at the cinema gave only their first name. “It’s a somewhat surprising situation but what can you do.”

Most outside the cinema also shrugged at the irregular showing, saying they were glad they still had the chance to watch foreign movies.

“We live in Russia. Nothing ever bothers us,” said Maria. “So, we have to look for some loopholes, tricks.”

The practice of presenting Avatar and other Hollywood films as “previews” is widespread in Russian theaters. The reason is an attempt to avoid fines under Russian laws, which still prohibit it.

To be released in cinemas, movies require a distribution certificate from the Russian ministry of culture. But by listing a licensed Russian film as the main billing with the Avatar “preview” tagged on, cinemas can write down the screening as legitimate, according to the Russian state newspaper Izvestia. An upshot of that is the little known Russian films are assigned the massive viewing figures and takings that in fact come from Avatar.

In reality, by showing Avatar as a preview, cinemas are still violating the culture ministry regulations, which carry a fine of roughly $1,200 to $2,450, according to Izvestia. But because of the high takings from films like it, many companies prefer just to risk the fine, the newspaper wrote, citing industry sources. And in any case, the ministry is hardly enforcing the rules, Izvestia wrote.

Russian authorities have done little to stop the screenings. In fact, former president, Dmitry Medvedev, a Putin ally and now deputy head of Russia’s security council, encouraged Russians to illegally download Western films and series no longer released in the country.

“Find the right pirates and download them,” Medvedev told Russian news agencies in March. “If they’ve left us, all these ‘Netflix’ and so on, it means we will download it all, we will use it for free. And I would that it was spread all round the internet, so as to cause them maximum losses. So that they go bankrupt.”

State television has also told people openly about the opportunity to watch the movies as previews in cinemas.

The Walt Disney Company declined to comment on the screenings of its movies in Russia. (Disney is the parent company of ABC News).

The studio boycott was initially catastrophic for Russia’s cinema industry. Movies released by Sony, Disney, Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros accounted for 80% of the Russian market pre-war, according to a leading Russian industry magazine. Too few major domestically produced Russian features are made to fill the gap.

The Russian cinema industry has lobbied the government to legalize the unlicensed screenings and Russia’s parliament has moved towards doing so. The parliament now is reportedly close to completing a bill that would allow Russian companies to license films, series and music against the wishes of owners from “unfriendly countries,” which includes most Western countries. The bill would give Russian courts the right to re-assign the licenses to Russian companies in certain circumstances, according to the business paper, Vedomosti.

Some experts warn that would violate international trade agreements Russia is party to.

Movies are just one area where Russia is trying to adapt to its new isolation. Kremlin friendly businessmen bought some high-profile western brands and reopened them under new names: McDonalds’ is now “Tasty. Full Stop”; Starbucks has been reopened as “Stars”. Products from most well-known brands are still widely available via the gray market, imported by resellers from countries like Turkey or Kazakhstan.

Only a small percentage of the hundreds of foreign companies that announced they were leaving Russia have done so. The Kremlin has used hardball tactics to try to block the exit, creating bureaucratic hurdles that have made the process to leave complicated and expensive. Companies have to receive permission from a government commission to exit the market, selling at a below market price and now must make a direct donation from the sale to the Russian state.

Some companies decided to continue operating, but many are currently trapped, struggling to complete the exit process. The Kyiv School of Economics, which has been tracking over 3,100 foreign companies in Russia through its Leave Russia project, says only 216 have fully exited and 474 have announced a decision to leave.

“There were so many announcements when the war started by companies that they were going to leave. But in practical terms, it turned out to be very difficult unless you were prepared to just leave your business,” Tatiana Orlova, a lead economist at Oxford Economics told ABC.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Mohamed Ahmed went back to Sudan for the first time in 13 years for his father’s funeral earlier this month. He was scheduled to come back to his family in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on April 19 — but clashes between Sudan’s warring parties left him stranded and unable to immediately return.

His wife Jacy Ahmed said she’s anxious to see her husband again, as he’s now en route home via a 50-hour journey back to the U.S.

The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on April 15. More than 420 people have been killed and 3,700 people injured, the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office said Sunday.

Jacy Ahmed recalled when Mohamed told her that morning that he wouldn’t be coming home to his family when planned.

“He said, ‘Honey war broke out,'” she told ABC News. “‘I might have to stay in this country a little bit longer.’ And I just I flipped, I flipped out.”

She said they were able to communicate despite weak internet in Mohamed’s area.

“We typically speak daily or at least text,” Jacy Ahmed said.

Her husband had been staying in Omdurman, Sudan, with family, she said.

The couple met at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, where Mohamed was learning English and Jacy was an adjunct, she said. Mohamed came to the United States as an immigration lottery selection, she continued, and they both spent a lot of time together before marrying. The couple is just months away from their nine-year anniversary; they run a local cleaning service and have three daughters who are 6, 10 and 13 years old.

“They would just say, ‘When is he going to be back; and he would say, ‘Well, soon we’re working on it soon,'” Jacy Ahmed said.

Mohamed Ahmed had a scary encounter when he was on the phone with Jacy and an aircraft was heard flying over the house in Omdurman, she said.

Jacy Ahmed said she could hear how loud it was, and her husband said it was causing the house to shake and doors to open.

“That was pretty scary,” Jacy Ahmed said, recalling when he told her.

Shortly after, Mohamed Ahmed planned a way home.

In order to leave Sudan, he’s taking an alternate route: A 40-hour bus from Omdurman to Aswan, Egypt; an 11-hour train ride to Cairo, and then a flight to Chicago, which is a three-hour, 40-minute drive from Iowa.

He waited hours for the bus in Omdurman on Sunday and, according to Jacy Ahmed, the ticket prices increased from $500 to $2,000.

“Every time a new bus comes, they raise it,” she said of the ticket prices. “It’s horrible.”

Jacy Ahmed said she couldn’t reach her husband after finding out about the increasing prices, and he didn’t have enough to pay for the ride. But Jacy Ahmed said a stranger miraculously lent him the rest of the money needed to board after explaining to the person who he was.

Minutes before speaking to ABC News on Tuesday, Jacy Ahmed received a text from her husband saying he’s reached Egypt as he continues his long journey home.

When asked what she will do when she first sees her husband again, Jacy Ahmed said she will run and jump at him.

“He’s 6-foot-5,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll cry.”

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(NEW YORK) — Family members of two U.S. citizens who were trapped in Sudan and had to endure major obstacles to leave the country are grateful they’re now in Egypt.

Imad, a Bay area resident who asked ABC News not to disclose his full name, said his parents Ahmed, 74, and Nafisa, 66, who are dual U.S.-Sudanese citizens, were in the country for the last few months trying to sell a property before retiring fully in America.

On Tuesday evening, Imad told ABC News his parents just crossed the Egyptian border and are out of Sudan.

Imad said last week he spoke to his father after he was missing for a few hours, when the fighting was getting more ferocious in a mall in Khartoum.

“He had to quickly find the escape plan,” Imad told ABC News.

Ahmed was able to stay in a hotel for two days while Nafisa hid in another part of the city, according to Imad.

“So when we speak to him on the phone, you would hear the bombs going off[ and] you would hear the heavy artillery,” Imad said, adding that he and his family felt helpless trying to help their parents thousands of miles away.

“I don’t think anyone would imagine their parents in a war zone and out of nowhere,” he said.

Imad’s family told Ahmed to make a run for it before the fighting got worse, and through the help of some other family members and other Sudanese families, made it to a borough north of the country.

After two days of hiding in the burrow, in territory controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, Ahmed walked for more than three hours to reunite with Nafisa, according to Imad.

“It was over 100 [degrees]. He got stopped a couple of times [at] checkpoints along the way. The RSF stopped them but he was able to cross the bridge… and safely make it to my mom in one piece,” Imad said.

The National Security Council has urged Americans stuck in Sudan to stay in place and diplomats were evacuated out of the country over the weekend.

“They don’t have any food. They just had to make a run for it,” Imad said.

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(AFGHANISTAN) — The terrorist allegedly responsible for planning the August 2021 bombing at the Kabul, Afghanistan, airport that killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghans was himself killed by Taliban fighters “in recent weeks,” U.S. officials tell ABC News.

A senior Biden administration official on Tuesday described the deceased leader of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate (also known as ISIS-K or Islamic State Khorasan) as “the mastermind” of the attack, which involved a suicide bomber detonating an explosive device from within the dense crowds desperately trying to enter the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal.

“We have become aware in recent weeks that the ISIS-K terrorist most responsible for that horrific attack of August 26, 2021, has now been killed in a Taliban operation,” the senior official said on Tuesday.

The U.S. did not coordinate with the Taliban in the killing of the ISIS-K leader, according to the official.

“We did not conduct this operation directly with the Taliban. We are not partnering with the Taliban. But we do think the outcome is a significant one,” the official said, adding that the U.S. did not learn of the killing from the Taliban.

The Taliban, which has been in control of Afghanistan’s government since 2021, is opposed to ISIS-K.

The senior administration official said that ISIS-K still aspires to extend the reach of its violent operations but so far has not grown strong enough to pose a major threat outside of Afghanistan.

But the U.S. military’s top general for the Middle East gave a dire warning in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month.

“Specifically ISIS-Khorasan, senator, it is my Commander’s estimate that they can do an external operation against U.S. or Western interests abroad in under six months, with little to no warning,” U.S. Central Command’s Commander Gen. Erik Kurilla said.

It is not clear why the Taliban has so far not publicly taken credit for such a high-profile blow against its adversary, according to the senior official.

The official would not give the name of the leader but said he “remained a key ISIS-K figure and plotter” after the Abbey Gate bombing.

While U.S. officials became aware the leader was likely killed soon after the Taliban attack, it took weeks until they were certain enough to begin informing the families of service members who were killed in the suicide bombing.

“It took a bit of time to go to a high level of confidence that this indeed was an individual who had been removed in the operation. And we of course we wanted to get that right before notifying families,” the official said.

The official said that there’s no expectation the news will take away the pain felt by grieving families, but “we felt and feel a moral responsibility” to inform them.

The Afghanistan withdrawal received renewed public attention last month after the most gravely wounded U.S. survivor of the blast at Abbey Gate gave powerful testimony during a GOP-led House hearing on the matter.

Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who lost two limbs in the attack, said he believes his sniper team had the suicide bomber in its sights before the explosion but was not allowed to take the shot.

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(WASHINGTON) — The world’s second-largest tobacco company has agreed to pay what the Department of Justice is saying is “the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the Department of Justice.”

The British American Tobacco subsidiary pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud and violating U.S. sanctions against North Korea by selling tobacco products to the country between 2007 and 2017, according to newly unsealed court documents. North Korea rakes in as much as $20 for every $1 spent in the production and trafficking of counterfeit cigarettes, and “a substantial portion of this profit is believed to flow back directly to the North Korean government, its military and its WMD program,” according to U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Matt Graves.

“To those companies and individuals thinking of evading international sanctions on North Korea, be forewarned. If you conspire with North Korea, you are helping to grow their illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic military programs.” Suzanne Turner, assistant director of the FBI’s Inspection Division, said at a press conference Tuesday.

The $508 million settlement BAT reached with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control — the “maximum statutory penalty available” — is OFAC’s “largest settlement ever with a non-financial institution,” according to Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

“The DPRK’s murderous repression at home and relentless pursuit of nuclear capabilities threaten not just its own people, but the entire international community. Allowing funds to illegally flow into the coffers of the DPRK is an unconscionable act,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen, who added that the case would “serve as a warning shot to companies” that attempt to evade sanctions.

The company noted steps it has taken so that it is “better equipped to lead a responsible and sustainable business.”

“On behalf of BAT, we deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us,” Jack Bowles, chief executive of BAT, said in the Tuesday statement.

Beginning in 2007, BAT outsourced sales to North Korea to a third-party Singapore-based company, resulting in over $400 million in transactions passing through the banking system, according to the documents. North Korean buyers served as a front for the Hermit Kingdom, the documents add.

BAT says it has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with DOJ while its Singaporean subsidiary entered into a plea agreement with the Department of Justice.

The company also entered into a settlement with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, with the total amount payable to the U.S. through all three cases reaching $635.2 million plus interest.

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