(GUANAJUATO, Mexico) — At least seven people are dead, including one child, in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato after several gunmen stormed the La Palma resort on Saturday, according to authorities.
Authorities said when they arrived, they found the deceased bodies of three women, three men and a 7-year-old child, according to a release from the state attorney general’s office. Another injured person was found and transported to a local hospital.
The armed men allegedly arrived around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. “After the event, they fled but not before causing damage to the store and taking the cameras as well as the monitor,” the release said.
“The municipal government regrets the events that occurred and will provide the corresponding accompaniment to the relatives of those affected, also reiterating the willingness to cooperate with the relevant authorities pending that those responsible are brought to justice,” the statement continued.
No suspects have been apprehended at this time, officials said. The Mexican army and public security forces are working together, including using helicopters, in the investigation.
(LONDON) — It was in early March when Fereshteh, a 42-year-old mother of two, said she received a phone call from a friend claiming there had been a chemical gas attack at a girls’ school in their small town in Iran’s Isfahan Province. She ran all the way to her daughter’s high school, fearing for her only daughter’s safety.
“I felt my heart coming out of my chest with fear. I don’t know how my feet dragged me to Roshana’s (her daughter) school,” Fereshteh said. ABC News has agreed to use pseudonyms for her and her 16-year-old daughter so that they could speak freely of their experience.
Even after finding her daughter safe, Fereshteh told ABC News she did not let either Roshana or her 11-year-old son go to school for five weeks, fearing for their wellbeing.
Over 7,000 students in Iran have been affected by at least 290 similar incidents at schools involving “poisonous substances” from November through March, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a press association established by Iranian human rights advocates. The mysterious poisonings have primarily targeted schools for girls, the agency said.
Hundreds of schoolgirls have been hospitalized as a result of these “targeted chemical attacks,” United Nations officials said in a statement March 16.
“We are deeply concerned about the physical and mental well-being of these schoolgirls; their parents and the ability of the girls to enjoy their fundamental right to education,” the U.N. statement said.
Some protesters and activists allege that the gas attacks are an attempt by government forces to close schools after mass protests that roiled the country in the wake of the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died under mysterious circumstances shortly after being arrested in September for allegedly not wearing a hijab.
Women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad claimed in an interview with ABC News that the attacks are the Islamic Republic’s “revenge” on women for their leading role in the ongoing anti-regime movement.
The Iranian government initially dismissed the reported attacks as rumors, but Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has since called the poisonings an “unforgivable crime.” “If there are any people involved in the matter, and there certainly are… the perpetrators must be given the most severe of punishments,” he warned in a statement March 6.
Amid the closing of schools for the two-week Persian New Year holidays in late March, many parents and observers had said they hoped the gas attacks would be over. However, a series of apparent attacks were reported in several cities across the country in early April, especially in the Kurdish town of Saqez, the hometown of Amini.
Despite her mother’s reluctance for her to attend school, Roshana said she decided to return to school after the New Year break. “I know I am not safe, but I think if these attacks mean that there are people who do not want girls to get educated, I’d be giving them what they want by not going to my classes,” she said.
“It is very tough. I do not know what is right and what is wrong. But I do trust my daughter’s decision,” Fereshteh said. However, she still does not let her son go to school. “I know it damages his learning procedure, especially at this age, but he has respiratory problems, and a gas attack can make him very sick.”
The alleged gas attacks were first reported in November in the holy city of Qom when 18 schoolgirls were hospitalized after feeling sick at a school. Similar events soon spread to over 100 cities, affecting both girls’ and boys’ schools and university students, according to activists.
The attacks have re-ignited new protests against the Islamic Republic. The regime was already under pressure with the women-led protests over the suspicious death of Amini.
Videos shared online by activists and human rights groups appear to show students on hospital beds suffering from respiratory problems, dizziness, nausea, with some complaining they feel numb in their limbs. Some victims said they smelled citrus fruit or rotten fish before feeling sick, according to Iranian media reports.
“No dystopian novel can beat the story our students live now. Poisoning defenseless girls at schools by chemical gases is the worst thing that one can possibly imagine,” Said Shadi, a 26-year Tehran-based tutor, told ABC News.
In February, Iran education minister Yusef Noubri dismissed the first alleged gas attacks as “rumors,” saying the students had underlying illnesses. “A smell was felt in some schools, and some students went to the hospital. Some of these students have underlying diseases and are being treated; then rumors are raised,” he said. The government’s position on the issue changed as the attacks spread throughout the country.
Authorities announced the arrest of several suspects in connection with the suspected poisonings shortly before the Persian New Year. However, some Iranians have expressed doubt that the main culprits have been arrested amid the ongoing attacks.
Some said they do not believe the regime has a “real intention” of arresting or punishing those involved in the poisonings.
“They (authorities) use the traffic cameras and their intelligence to arrest women who do not wear a hijab. If they are serious in their claim, why they do not use these resources to identify the ones attack on innocent kids,” Shadi said.
In early March, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi ordered the Interior Ministry to probe the incidents, with the assistance of the health and intelligence ministries, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
“We talk about the attacks a lot. Some of us think it is them (the regime). Some of us believe they want us to stay at home just like what the Taliban is doing to the girls in Afghanistan,” Roshana said.
The White House said last month that the Biden administration does not know what is causing the apparent attacks and called for the Iranian government to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation.
“It’s deeply concerning news coming out of Iran,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said. “Little girls going to school should only have to worry about learning. They shouldn’t have to worry about their own physical safety, but we just don’t know enough right now.
(NEW YORK) — The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich felt “slight unease” about reporting in Russia, but believed it was his professional duty to remain in the country to “tell the world what was going on,” his close friend, Pjotr Sauer, said in an interview with ABC News’ Kanya Whitworth.
“Evan was accredited with the foreign ministry. He had all the right papers. He was allowed to be there. And he always told me, you know, as long as I’m accredited, as long as I am able to do my work, I will be reporting on Russia,” said Sauer, a Russian affairs correspondent for The Guardian.
Gershkovich was arrested nearly two weeks ago in Russia on espionage charges that the U.S. adamantly denies. On Monday, the State Department officially designated the Moscow-based journalist as wrongfully detained, and a top U.S. hostage negotiator is now on the case. President Joe Biden spoke to Gershkovich’s family on Tuesday while heading overseas on Air Force One.
Gershkovich’s parents said in a statement they were “encouraged” by both the State Department announcement and Biden’s call.
“There is a hole in our hearts and in our family that will not be filled until we’re reunited,” the statement said.
Sauer and Gershkovich met when they both worked at the Moscow Times. Sauer said they would often talk about the political danger of reporting in Russia after the start of the war, adding that Gershkovich told him “he felt sometimes he was being followed.” Sauer, who left Russia, said he was “devastated” after learning of his friend’s arrest.
“No one could imagine Russia would go this far and accuse him of these bogus charges of espionage,” Sauer said.
“This is just a huge shock for us. This is unprecedented. No one could really see this coming. Russia hasn’t arrested a journalist on espionage charges since 1986,” Sauer said.
Gershkovich’s arrest prompted widespread outcry from Russian and international journalists around the world. The Wall Street Journal said in a statement it “vehemently denies” the allegations against their reporter. More than three dozen of the world’s top media organizations called for his release in a letter to Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
Sauer stressed the importance of keeping Gershkovich’s name in the news as his case is pending, which could take months. Sauer is also helping to lead an effort to send letters of support to Gershkovich as he remains detained.
“We need to make sure he feels he’s not alone, he’s not forgotten. And I’m sure eventually, you know, everything will be fine and we’ll get him out,” Sauer said.
(KYIV, Ukraine) — Ukraine’s most senior military intelligence official is blaming Russia for the massive leak of U.S. government secrets that has dominated headlines in recent days.
In his first interview since classified documents from the U.S. Department of Defense were leaked online last week, Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told ABC News in Kyiv on Wednesday evening that information warfare of this kind is nothing new.
“Russia is the only beneficiary of this,” Budanov said. “We will get the final answer only after the completion of the investigation.”
Budanov confirmed he spoke with his U.S. counterparts soon after the leak.
“We have communication with relevant services in the U.S.,” he added, “and from literally the first few hours, we started to talk.”
The Ukrainian intelligence chief insisted there was “no risk” that the matter would damage the relationship between his war-torn country and the United States. Instead, he downplayed the likely impact the shocking revelations will have on the battlefield, as Ukraine endures a second year of Russia’s invasion.
“If there is a problem, it will be solved,” he told ABC News. “If there is no problem, even better. This will not be able to affect the real results of the offensive operation.”
Budanov, who has been credited with predicting the precise date and time of the Russian invasion, talked up the Ukrainian military’s ability to make headway in an upcoming and long-awaited counteroffensive against Russian forces, despite U.S. officials suggesting in private that any prospective gains will likely be more modest than last year’s lightning operation that returned huge swathes of territory to Ukrainian government control.
“What will be the results of these actions? I think that, in the near future, everyone will see and feel it,” he said.
However, Budanov admitted that the “success of this offensive operation is badly needed” — not just for Ukrainians but also their allies who are supplying them with funds and ammunition. While he noted that the “taxpayers” of countries supporting Ukraine’s defensive, such as the U.S., expect to see results, Budanov said he was not aware of any demands made by Western allies nor that continued support would be conditional on battlefield success.
“Without victories, sooner or later, questions will be asked whether it’s worth continuing to support Ukraine,” he told ABC News.
Budanov sat down with ABC News in his office in the Ukrainian capital just days after the leaked cables, which was described by analysts as the most serious breach of U.S. intelligence in over a decade. Budanov refused to be drawn in on some of the more explosive claims, including what appears to be evidence that U.S. officials were listening in on internal Ukrainian discussions about striking targets deep within Russia.
Further evidence of U.S. assistance for Ukraine emerged earlier Wednesday. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that a small military special operations team based at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv has been providing intelligence assistance to Ukrainian special forces and security assistance to VIPs since the early phase of Russia’s war. A former U.S. official told ABC News that, in addition to providing assistance with the oversight of U.S. equipment and supplies being sent to Ukraine, they have also assisted Ukrainian military planners with their operations that have resulted in hundreds — if not thousands — of Russian military casualties. The sources stressed that they were not in combat.
When talking about Russia, Budanov was characteristically bullish. He made headlines last year when he told ABC News that the Ukrainian military would strike at targets “deeper and deeper” inside Russian territory.
Speaking to ABC News on Wednesday evening, Budanov vowed to take back the Crimean Peninsula and mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin’s not-so-veiled nuclear threats and failed “winter offensive,” the latter of which has seen minimal gains and heavy losses. While studying a map of Russia, Budanov predicted seismic change within the neighboring country that he believes will play a part in ending Putin’s war in Ukraine’s favor.
“Borders can be changed,” he said. “This is an artificially created mistake and, now, the moment has come for this country to collapse.”
(NEW YORK) — Thousands of foreign volunteer fighters are currently fighting on the side of Ukraine to help the country turn back Russia’s invasion.
But for one group of those foreign fighters, the ongoing war has hit close to home.
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell got an inside look at two brigades made up of mostly Chechen volunteers, filming with them as they trained outside Kyiv before returning to the frontline in eastern Ukraine.
The fighters, many of whom are keeping their identities a secret for fear of reprisal from their repressive government back home, said they volunteered their services to Ukraine because they are all too familiar with the violence wrought by Russia’s government.
“What is happening in Ukraine now, it’s the same thing that happened to Chechnya,” a Chechen volunteer fighter who goes by the call sign “Maga,” told Reevell. “All these occupation(s), all these massive graves, all this genocide of civilians.”
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia fought two devastating wars in Chechnya from 1994 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2009 to prevent the region from breaking away from Moscow’s control. Russian forces laid waste to Chechnya, razing its capital Grozny to the ground with tactics it is now repeating again in cities in eastern Ukraine, like Bakhmut. Between 50,000 to 250,000 civilians were estimated to have been killed in the wars.
Chechnya’s current leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, who was appointed by president Vladimir Putin to keep a tight grip on the region, has turned it into his personal fiefdom, accused of frequently kidnapping, torturing and killing his critics.
Kadyrov has sent thousands of Chechen troops into Ukraine to support Russian forces.
“It’s slaves of the Russian Tsar,” Maga said of Kadyrov and its forces.
Maga belongs to the Dzhokhar Dudayev battalion, named after Chechnya’s leader in the 1990s, who declared its independence. The brigade has around 50 Chechens fighting in it, according to Maga.
Maga and a number of the Chechen soldiers had been already fighting for Ukraine before last year’s full-scale invasion, and when Russian troops began advancing on Kyiv last March they grabbed rifles and joined the defense. Since then, they have become one of Ukraine’s most-battled hardened units, involved in many key Ukrainian victories, including the counteroffensive in Ukraine’s northeast last year, when they were among the first units to enter the strategic city of Izyum.
The victories have given hope to many of these foreign volunteer fighters that they can eventually defeat Russia in Ukraine, which they see as a step towards gaining independence for their own homeland.
“Our objective is to liberate Ukraine and after, to totally liberate Chechnya,” Maga said.
The Chechens are joined by a number of Crimean Tatars, a Muslim minority from the peninsula that Russia seized in 2014. Like the Chechens, tens of thousands of Crimean Tatars were deported from their homeland by Soviet authorities under Joseph Stalin.
Since the Kremlin’s takeover of Crimea, Russian security forces have persecuted the Tatar community, seeing them as disloyal, with dozens arrested on extremism charges, as well as some reportedly kidnapped and tortured.
Tamila Tasheva, the Ukrainian president’s permanent representative for Crimea, who is a Crimean Tatar herself, told ABC News that of 181 political prisoners in Crimea, 116 of them are Tatars.
Ukraine’s successes on the battlefield, as well as a growing number of Ukrainian strikes on Russian bases within the peninsula — most spectacularly on the Crimean bridge connecting it to Russia — have fanned the hopes of Crimean Tatars that Ukraine could re-take Crimea militarily, despite most experts’ belief that that remains a tall order.
A Crimean volunteer fighter, who asked not to be identified, said he left his country in 2014 after the Russian annexation because of the persecution. During a recent training session, he said it is only a matter of time before Ukraine will retake Crimea.
“I definitely don’t know how many years, but I hope that it will be in the near future,” the volunteer fighter said. “I want to return home. I want to visit the tombs of my ancestors.”
(WASHINGTON) — A small U.S. military special operations team has been based at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv since early in the war in Ukraine that began in February 2022, according to a former and a current U.S official.
Both officials stressed to ABC News on Wednesday that the U.S. military team does not go out on the front lines with Ukrainian troops and only operates out of the U.S. Embassy.
Among several duties this team provides is security for VIPs and intelligence assistance to Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, according to the current U.S. official. The official stressed that they are not on the front lines and they are not accompanying Ukrainian troops in Ukraine.
The former U.S. official told ABC News that in addition to providing assistance with the oversight of U.S. equipment and supplies being sent to Ukraine, the team has assisted Ukrainian military planners with operations that have resulted in hundreds, if not thousands, of Russian military casualties.
The presence of U.S. military personnel working at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv was first disclosed by the Pentagon last November.
But the information that there are presumably special operations forces was included in one of the 38 apparently highly classified documents that appear to have been leaked on the internet and that have been reviewed by ABC News. ABC News has not independently verified the authenticity of these documents.
That document mentioned 14 U.S. special operations forces in Ukraine in late February in a round-up description of other NATO countries that had special operations forces inside Ukraine.
Dated to Feb. 28, the apparently leaked document seems to list a total of 97 special operations forces from five NATO countries operating in Ukraine with the highest number coming from the United Kingdom and numbers comparable to the U.S. team from other countries.
The purported leaked document also noted the presence of additional U.S. military personnel working at the embassy with the Defense Attaché’s office and the Defense Cooperation Office.
Last November, the Pentagon’s top spokesman noted the presence of U.S. military personnel at the embassy to help with the accountability of the billions of U.S. military assistance being provided to Ukraine and emphasized they were not in Ukraine in a combat role.
“We’ve had U.S. forces serving at the embassy as part of the Defense Attache Office, which is where these guys are assigned,” Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a Nov. 1 press briefing.
“We’ve been very clear there are no combat forces in Ukraine, no US forces conducting combat operations in Ukraine,” Ryder said at the time. “These are personnel that are assigned to conduct security cooperation and assistance as part of the Defense Attache Office.”
(CAIRO) — A 3,200-year-old tomb belonging to Panehsy, the guard of the temple of Egyptian deity Amun, has been uncovered in Saqqara necropolis, south of the Egyptian capital Cairo, the tourism ministry said on Wednesday.
The temple-shaped tomb, dating back to ancient Egypt’s 19th dynasty (1292-1189 BC), was discovered by a team of Dutch and Italian archeologists.
Saqqara, one of the most important burial sites of ancient Egypt, has seen a series of archaeological discoveries in recent years.
Egypt aims to show off newly discovered artifacts as it seeks to revive its vital tourism industry, a key source of foreign currency and jobs for the struggling economy. The country attracted 11.7 million visitors in 2022.
“The new find sheds light on the development of Saqqara necropolis during the Ramesside era, and lifts the curtain on new individuals not yet known in historical sources,” said Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The tomb resembles a freestanding temple with an entrance, an inner courtyard of columned porticoes, a shaft leading to underground burial chambers, and three chapels. It borders the tomb of Maya, a high-ranking official during the reign of ancient Egypt’s boy-king Tutankhamun.
Inside the tomb, archeologists found a stela picturing Panehsy and his wife Baia, who was the singer of Amun, in front of an offering table, as well as several other drawings of priests and religious offerings.
The team also unearthed four small chapels during excavation work in the area, two of which bear well-preserved reliefs of funeral scenes and drawings of the resurrection of a mummy to live in the afterlife, officials said.
The team includes archeologists from the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden (RMO), whose mission has been excavating the area since 1975, and the Egyptian Museum in Turin (Museo Egizio), which joined the excavation project as a main partner in 2015.
(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 12, 2:50 PM EDT
Efforts to pressure Russia to release WSJ reporter ‘senseless and futile,’ Russia says
Days after the U.S. designated Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as wrongfully detained in Russia, Russian officials referred to pressure from the U.S. to release him as futile.
“Any attempts to put pressure on the Russian authorities and the court, insisting on a ‘special treatment’ for U.S. citizens who have violated Russian law, are senseless and futile,” the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
After some missed calls, President Joe Biden finally connected with the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Tuesday.
“He felt it was really important to connect with Evan’s family,” she told reporters on Air Force One as the president travels to Ireland.
Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Gershkovich’s detention is “pretty fresh” and officials are still trying to get consular access to Gershkovich, which they have not been able to do.
He would not get into any specific conversations the U.S. is having with Russians about releasing Gershkovich or if a prisoner swap is a possibility.
“I just want to make a couple of things clear that is, the determination of wrongful detention, it doesn’t start the clock necessarily on communicating with the Russians about getting him released,” Kirby said. “We’re very early in this process here and I certainly, I think you can understand why I wouldn’t talk about any discussions we might be having with the Russians about his release or Paul [Whelan]’s release. We certainly wouldn’t do that.”
Kirby said the administration is “certainly having discussions about what we can do to get him released.”
“I don’t want to go into details about these internal deliberations, having things out in the public sphere viscerally might actually make it harder to get Evan and Paul home, and that’s what we’re focused on,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Apr 10, 4:28 PM EDT
Gershkovich designated as wrongfully detained by Russia
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has determined that Wall Street Journalist reporter Evan Gershkovich is being wrongfully detained by Russia, according to a statement released Monday afternoon.
Two Americans are now considered to be wrongfully detained by Russia — Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.
Gershkovich’s case will now be transferred to the Office of the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, the U.S. government’s top hostage negotiator.
Gershkovich, a 31-year-old New Jersey native who has lived and worked in Moscow as an accredited journalist for the last six years, was in a restaurant in Yekaterinburg on March 29 when Russia’s Federal Security Service arrested him on espionage charges that the Wall Street Journal, his colleagues and the U.S. government have said are absurd.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford
Apr 06, 8:00 PM EDT
Pentagon reviewing reported leak of classified Ukraine war planning documents to social media
The Pentagon is investigating the reported leak of classified U.S. and NATO documents posted on Twitter and Telegram, a spokesperson said.
The New York Times first reported the investigation.
“We are aware of the reports of social media posts, and the Department is reviewing the matter,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement provided to ABC News.
The war plans provided statistics on Ukrainian troop and casualty numbers as well as information about weapons deliveries and Ukrainian troop schedules, the New York Times reported.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Apr 05, 12:16 PM EDT
Blinken says he views WSJ reporter as ‘wrongfully detained’ in Russia
At a press conference following a bilateral NATO meeting in Brussels, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters the U.S. is going through a formal process to determine whether it will designate Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as wrongfully detained in Russia, but said he has no doubt that is the case.
“In Evan’s case, we are working through the determination on wrongful detention, and there’s a process to do that, and it is something that we are working through very deliberately but expeditiously as well,” Blinken answered a WSJ reporter who had asked about the determination.
“I’ll let that process play out. In my own mind, there’s no doubt that he’s being wrongfully detained by Russia, which is exactly what I said to Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov when I spoke to him over the weekend and insisted that Evan be released immediately,” Blinken added.
Blinken said he expected the formal process to be “completed soon.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Apr 04, 5:22 PM EDT
Zelenskyy invited to NATO summit in July
NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that he invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11 and 12.
Zelenskyy will meet with alliance member states, according to Stoltenberg.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
Apr 04, 3:35 PM EDT
US ‘working diligently’ to get WSJ reporter consular access: White House
The U.S. is continuing to push for consular access for Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing Tuesday, adding that “this is a priority” for President Joe Biden.
Asked how worrying it was the U.S. still didn’t have consular access, Jean-Pierre said, “We’re concerned.”
“We’re taking this very seriously,” Jean-Pierre said, pointing to Secretary Antony Blinken’s conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over the weekend. “We’re working diligently, very hard to get a counselor to Evan.”
Jean-Pierre declined to say whether the U.S. was close to determining that Gershkovich was being “wrongfully detained” or provide a timeline of when that determination may happen, saying the State Department’s process “is currently ongoing.” That classification would allow the federal government to use more resources to try to free him.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Apr 04, 12:05 PM EDT
US announces $2.6B in new security aid for Ukraine
The Pentagon announced $2.6 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine on Tuesday.
The aid will come in two forms: a $500 million presidential drawdown authority package pulling from existing U.S. stockpiles (the 35th such package for Ukraine); and $2.1 billion from Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds to procure new equipment.
Both the PDA and USAI packages are largely focused on providing munitions for Ukraine, including additional Patriot air-defense missiles and HIMARS ammunition. They also include anti-drone weapons, vehicles, communications equipment, spare parts and more.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Apr 03, 10:21 PM EDT
At least 501 children killed, almost 1,000 injured since February 2022: UNICEF chief
At least 501 children have been killed and almost 1,000 others injured since February 2022, Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF, tweeted Monday.
“Another tragic milestone for Ukraine’s children and families,” she wrote, adding: “This is just the UN verified number. The real figure is likely far higher, and the toll on families affected is unimaginable.”
Apr 03, 1:45 PM EDT
Russia to arrest anyone who supports ICC warrant for Putin
The Russian State Duma will arrest anyone who agrees with the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing him of committing war crimes, the State Duma said on its official Telegram channel Monday.
Russia will imprison those who “call for the implementation of the decision” of the International Criminal Court “on the arrest of Vladimir Putin accused of war crimes,” the State Duma of the Russian Federation said.
“The profile committees of the State Duma are preparing amendments to the Federal Law ‘On Security,’ which will prohibit the activities of the International Criminal Court and international bodies directed against the Russian Federation on our territory and its citizens,” Chairman of State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes in March, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy
Apr 03, 5:11 AM EDT
Suspect arrested in St. Petersburg explosion, report says
A suspect in a St. Petersburg cafe blast that killed a Russian military blogger on Sunday has been arrested, Inferfax reported.
The Russian Investigative Committee said on Telegram that Darya Trepova was arrested on suspicion of involvement, the Russian wire service reported.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Apr 02, 5:21 PM EDT
Russia to move tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus’ western border
Russia plans to move tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus to the country’s western borders, Boris Gryzlov, the Russian ambassador to Belarus, said Sunday.
Gryzlov’s announcement comes just three days after Russia and the United States clashed in the United Nations over the Kremlin’s plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. U.S. officials denounced the move as a desperate attempt by Russia to avoid military defeat and “threaten the world with nuclear apocalypse.”
Gryzlov said in an address aired on the Belarusian STV channel that tactical nuclear weapons “will be moved to the western borders of our Union State and will increase the possibilities for ensuring our security.”
The western border of Belarus is shared by Poland, a NATO country supporting Ukraine. Russian forces have used Belarus as a staging ground for the war in Ukraine.
“This will be done despite the noise in Europe and the United States,” Gryzlov said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the decision and slammed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, saying he “no longer decides which weapons are on his territory.”
“And does (Vladimir) Putin threaten the world? Of course, if Ukraine does not resist, it will fall, Putin will move on, we have emphasized this many times,” Zelenskyy said. “With the help of our friends and partners, our army will stand firm and win what is rightfully ours. Victory and our independence.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned a Russian missile strike on Sunday in the eastern Ukraine city of Kostiantynivka that killed six people and injured at least 11.
In an address to his country Sunday night, Zelenskyy called Russia an “evil state” for targeting residential buildings in Kostiantynivka with long-range missiles.
“The evil state must be defeated,” Zelenskyy said.
Kostiantynivka, which is close to Bakhmut, is being used as a second-line staging area for Ukrainian troops holding the line on that part of the front.
Zelenskyy said the fighting in Bakhmut was “especially hot” on Sunday.
He predicted a day would come when Ukraine will “celebrate the last Russians being killed or driven out of currently Russian occupied territories, including Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson Oblasts, as well as Crimea.”
A top Russian pro-war blogger has been killed in a bomb attack on a cafe in Russia, according to police.
The explosion on Sunday tore through a cafe in St. Petersburg, killing Vladlen Tatarsky, one of the best-known of the Russian military bloggers who have become influential during the war in Ukraine.
At least 30 other people were injured in the blast, according to the Ministry of Health. Video circulating online appeared to capture the aftermath, showing bloodied people emerging from the heavily damaged cafe.
The Russian Interior Ministry said an explosion has occurred in a cafe on the city’s Universitetskaya Embankment.
“One person was killed in the incident, it was military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, the Russian Interior Ministry press center told reporters on Sunday.
Denis Pushilin, acting head of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, issued a statement describing Tatarsky as “a great patriot” of the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine and Russia. Pushilin blamed the attack on the Kyiv regime, calling it a terrorist regime.
“A man with a difficult fate, Vladlen earned the respect of his comrades-in-arms because he lived and worked for the sake of truth and justice, for the sake of victory,” Pushilin said of Tatarsky. “He managed to fight, and in the status of a military correspondent to make his contribution.”
Pushilin said Tatarsky was to be awarded a medal “for the liberation of Mariupol” in eastern Ukraine.
It was the most serious bomb attack on a pro-war Russian figure inside Russia since the high-profile assassination of the Daria Dugina, the daughter of the ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugina, who was killed in a car bombing last year.
Tatarsky was a Russian ultra-nationalist and one of the best-known military bloggers, who strongly supported the war in Ukraine. He had also criticized the execution of the war by Russia’s military command.
Tatarsky had become a significant source of information for how the war was being fought on the Russian side.
His killing will likely set off speculation on whether Ukraine or Russia was behind his killing, similar to the Dugina episode.
In the Dugina case, U.S. intelligence sources eventually told The New York Times that Ukraine was behind the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned a Russian missile strike on Sunday in the eastern Ukraine city of Kostiantynivka that killed six people and injured at least 11.
In an address to his country Sunday night, Zelenskyy called Russia an “evil state” for targeting residential buildings in Kostiantynivka with long-range missiles.
“The evil state must be defeated,” Zelenskyy said.
Kostiantynivka, which is close to Bakhmut, is being used as a second-line staging area for Ukrainian troops holding the line on that part of the front.
Zelenskyy said the fighting in Bakhmut was “especially hot” on Sunday.
He predicted a day would come when Ukraine will “celebrate the last Russians being killed or driven out of currently Russian occupied territories, including Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson Oblasts, as well as Crimea.”
A top Russian pro-war blogger has been killed in a bomb attack on a cafe in Russia, according to police.
The explosion on Sunday tore through a cafe in St. Petersburg, killing Vadim Tatarsky, one of the best-known of the Russian military bloggers who have become influential during the war in Ukraine.
At least 16 other people were injured in the blast, according to Russian police. Video circulating online appeared to capture the aftermath, showing bloodied people emerging from the heavily damaged cafe.
The Russian Interior Ministry said an explosion has occurred in a cafe on the city’s Universitetskaya Embankment.
“One person was killed in the incident, it was military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky. Sixteen people were injured and are being examined by medics,” the Russian Interior Ministry press center told reporters on Sunday.
It was the most serious bomb attack on a pro-war Russian figure inside Russia since the high-profile assassination of the Daria Dugina, the daughter of the ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugina, who was killed in a car bombing last year.
Tatarsky was a Russian ultra-nationalist and one of the best-known military bloggers, who strongly supported the war in Ukraine. He had also criticized the execution of the war by Russia’s military command.
Tatarsky had become a significant source of information for how the war was being fought on the Russian side.
His killing will likely set off speculation on whether Ukraine or Russia was behind his killing, similar to the Dugina episode.
In the Dugina case, U.S. intelligence sources eventually told The New York Times that Ukraine was behind the attack.
At least six civilians were killed and eight others were injured Sunday when Russian missiles slammed into houses and apartment buildings in an eastern Ukrainian city, Ukrainian officials said.
The attack occurred in downtown Kostiantynivka, a city in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the site of the war’s fiercest fighting.
Andriy Yermak, deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, said at least six people were killed in the attack.
Three Russian S-300 long-range missiles and four other rockets hit homes and apartment buildings in Kostiantynivka, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor.
Kostiantynivka is about eight miles west of the embattled town of Bakhmut, currently the main hotspot of the war.
-ABC News’ Tatiana Rymarenko
Apr 02, 11:33 AM EDT
Blinken speaks to Russian counterpart about arrested US journalist
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Kremlin to release imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in a phone call Sunday with his Russian counterpart, according to a State Department spokesperson.
Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, conveying the United States’ “grave concern” over the “unacceptable detention” of a U.S. citizen, according to Vedant Patel, a deputy spokesperson for the State Department.
“The secretary called for his immediate release. Secretary Blinken further urged the Kremlin to immediately release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan,” said Patel, referring to the American held in Russia on espionage charges since 2018.
According to a read out of the phone call released by the Kremlin, Lavrov emphasized that Gershkovich “was taken red-handed while trying to obtain classified information, collecting data constituting a state secret under the guise of journalistic status.”
“In the light of the established facts of illegal activity of a U.S. citizen, of whose detention the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was notified in accordance with the established procedure, his further fate will be determined by the court,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
The Kremlin said that during the conversation, Lavrov emphasized officials in Washington and the Western media are “escalating the hype with the clear intention of giving this case a political coloring.”
Blinken and Lavrov also spoke of the “importance of creating an environment that permits diplomatic missions to carry out their work,” according to Patel.
Apr 02, 9:27 AM EDT
World media groups demand Kremlin release Wall Street Journal reporter
More than three dozen of the world’s top news media organizations are calling on Russia to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
The news groups joined the Wall Street Journal and the Committee to Protect Journalists, in penning a letter to Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, writing Gershkovich’s “is a journalist, not a spy.” The media organizations — including the Associated Press, New York Times, the Washington Post and The Times of London — wrote that Kershkovich’s “unwarranted and unjust arrest” represents “a significant escalation” of anti-press actions by the Russian government.
“Russia is sending the message that journalism within your borders is criminalized and that foreign correspondents seeking to report from Russia do not enjoy the benefits of the rule of law,” the letter reads.
The media groups urged Russia to immediately give Gershkovich access to a lawyer hired by the Wall Street Journal and allow him to communicate with his family.
The Kremlin has yet to publicly respond to the letter.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 31, 1:09 PM EDT
Finland set to join NATO in ‘coming days,’ Stoltenberg says
Finland will formally join NATO in the “coming days,” after the country was able to clear its final hurdle, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“Their membership will make Finland safer and NATO stronger. Finland has highly capable forces, advanced capabilities and strong democratic institutions. So Finland will bring a lot to our alliance,” Stoltenberg said in a statement Friday.
Turkey was the last of the 30 NATO allies to approve Finland’s bid to join the alliance.
Mar 30, 4:22 PM EDT
6 missiles fired at Kharkiv
Russia just struck Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine with multiple missiles, Ukrainian officials said Thursday night.
Local officials in Kharkiv said Russia fired six Soviet-era S-300 surface-to-air missiles.
ABC News reporters heard explosions outside the city center and saw Ukrainian air defense active just before and during the attacks.
There are currently no reports of casualties or damage to infrastructure as a result of the strikes in Ukraine’s second-largest city.
There are also reports of Russian strikes in the Dnipro region.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Mar 30, 1:37 PM EDT
Russia to enlist 147,000 soldiers in April
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday ordering a spring conscription. Russia will call up 147,000 people to join the Russian Armed Forces from April 1 to April 15.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Mar 30, 11:10 AM EDT
Russia preparing to start another soldier recruitment, UK says
Russian media reporting suggests authorities are preparing to start a major military recruitment aiming to sign up an additional 400,000 troops, the United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry assessed.
Russia is presenting the campaign as a drive for volunteer, professional personnel, rather than a new, mandatory mobilization. There is a realistic possibility that in practice this distinction will be blurred, and that regional authorities will try to meet their allocated recruitment targets by coercing men to join up, UK officials said.
Russian authorities have likely selected a supposedly ‘volunteer model’ to meet their personnel shortfall in order to minimize domestic dissent. It is highly unlikely that the campaign will attract 400,000 genuine volunteers, according to UK officials.
However, rebuilding Russia’s combat power in Ukraine will require more than just personnel; Russia needs more munitions and military equipment supplies than it currently has available, UK officials said.
Mar 30, 6:22 AM EDT WSJ ‘vehemently denies’ spying allegation against reporter
The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday that it “vehemently denies” the spying allegations brought by Russia’s intelligence service against its reporter.
“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich,” a spokesperson for the WSJ said in a statement to ABC News. “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”
Mar 30, 4:24 AM EDT WSJ reporter detained in Russia on spying charge
Russia’s FSB intelligence agency said on Thursday it had detained a journalist working for The Wall Street Journal on spying charges.
Russian state media cited an FSB statement saying Evan Gershkovich was detained in Ekaterinburg, a city in central Russia, and accusing him of collecting “state secrets” on an enterprise belonging to Russia’s military industrial complex on behalf of the United States.
A criminal case has been opened against him, the officials said.
“It is established that Evan Gershkovich, acting on the instruction of the American side, was collecting information consisting of state secrets, about the activity of one of the enterprises of the Russian military industrial complex. He was arrested in Ekaterinburg during an attempt to receive secret information,” Russian media said, quoting FSB officials.
Earlier reports from local media said that Gershkovich had been in Ekaterinburg reporting on the Wagner private military company.
Gershkovich is a reporter for the WSJ covering Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. He previously reported for Agence France-Presse and The Moscow Times, according to his WSJ profile. He also served as a news assistant at The New York Times.
Mar 28, 4:45 PM EDT
US will support special tribunal to try ‘crime of aggression’ against Russia
The U.S. will support the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute top Kremlin officials for Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine, State Department officials said Tuesday, marking a significant shift for the Biden administration and a notable step toward outlining what accountability on the international stage might look like after the conflict.
A department spokesperson said the administration envisioned the tribunal would take the form of an international court that is “rooted in Ukraine’s judicial system” but ideally located in another European country.
The spokesperson added that such a mechanism would work to “facilitate broader international support and demonstrate Ukraine’s leadership in ensuring accountability for the crime of aggression” as well as “maximize the chances of achieving meaningful accountability for the crime of aggression.”
Ukraine and other Western countries have long called for a special tribunal, but until now, the U.S. has not publicly declared if it would support the creation of a new structure.
Mar 27, 12:21 PM EDT
Two dead, 29 hurt in Russian missile strike on Sloviansk
At least two people were killed and 29 were injured Monday morning when a pair of long-range Russian missiles slammed into buildings in a city in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.
The two S-300 Russian missiles hit administrative and office buildings, and private homes in Sloviansk, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor.
Sloviansk is in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where heavy fighting has been waged since the start of the war.
The missiles struck the city around 10:30 a.m. local time, Kyrylenko said.
He said the town of Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region was also targeted in Monday’s missile attacks. Kyrylenko said a Russian missile “almost completely destroyed” an orphanage in Druzhkivka, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
“Another day that began with terrorism by the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine “will not forgive the torturing of our people.”
“All Russian terrorists will be defeated,” Zelenskyy said. “Everyone involved in this aggression will be held to account.”
Mar 26, 1:47 PM EDT
Ukrainian drone injures 3 inside Russia
Three people were injured in an explosion in the Kireevsky district of the Tula region on Sunday, Yekaterina Makarova, press secretary of the region’s Ministry of Health, told Interfax.
Russian authorities and law enforcement agencies said a Ukrainian drone with ammunition caused the explosion in the town far from the two countries’ border.
Kireevsk is about 180 miles from the border with Ukraine and 110 miles south of Moscow.
The Russian state-run news agency Tass reported authorities identified the drone as a Ukrainian Tu-141. The Latvia-based Russian news outlet Meduza reported that the blast left a crater about 50 feet in diameter and 16 feet deep.
(LONDON) — Italy’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill to fine vandals who damage monuments or other cultural sites up to 60,000 euros (about $65,000).
The legislation, championed by Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, was proposed following a string of vandalism by environmental activists across the European nation. Earlier this month, activists protesting fossil fuels dyed the water black in Rome’s iconic Barracia fountain at the foot of the Spanish Steps.
“The attacks on monuments and artistic sites produce economic damage to all,” Sangiuliano said in a statement on Tuesday. “To clean it up, the intervention of highly specialized personnel and the use of very costly machines are needed.”
“Whoever carries out these acts must assume also the financial responsibility,” he added.
The fines would range from 10,000 to 60,000 euros (about $11,000 to $65,000) and would help with repairs and clean-up. Offenders could also face criminal charges.
Vandalism by environmental activists to the facade of Palazzo Madama, a 15th-century palace that houses the Italian Senate, recently cost the government 40,000 euros (nearly $44,000) to repair, according to Sangiuliano.
Last year, an American tourist caused 25,000 euros (about $27,000) worth of damage to Rome’s Spanish Steps after throwing an electric bicycle down the 18th century stairway. That incident came just weeks after a Saudi tourist drove a Maserati down the 138 steps, causing an estimated 50,000 euros ($54,649) worth of damage.
The bill swung into law following the Cabinet’s approval on Tuesday but will expire if it is not adopted by Parliament within 60 days. Premier Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government holds a majority and is expected to pass the legislation.
Italy joins a host of other European countries and cities that have imposed similar measures to deter badly behaving tourists. The Netherlands’ capital, Amsterdam, has introduced several new regulations this year as part of its “stay away” campaign, including the early closure of bars and restaurants as well as a ban on cannabis in its famous red light district.
(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden spoke to the family of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who the United States says is being unjustly imprisoned by Russia, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday.
The president “felt it was really important to connect with Evan’s family,” Jean-Pierre said.
“We’re making it real clear that it’s totally illegal what’s happening,” Biden told reporters on the tarmac as he boarded the plane to depart for a state visit to Ireland.
The Gershkovich family said that it was encouraged by both the State Department’s announcement and the president’s call.
“We appreciate President Biden’s call to us today, assuring us that the U.S. government is doing everything in its power to bring him home as quickly as possible,” the statement said. “In addition to being a distinguished journalist, Evan is a beloved son and brother. There is a hole in our hearts and in our family that won’t be filled until we are reunited.”
The State Department announced on Monday that Gershkovich, who was arrested on espionage charges in late March that the U.S. adamantly denies, is now officially classified as a wrongfully detained American, a designation that grants additional powers and resources to U.S. officials as they work to secure his freedom.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that as of Tuesday, Gershkovich has not been granted consular access.
“When I spoke to Foreign Minister Lavrov about a week ago now–just after Evan was detained–I of course pressed for his immediate release but I also pressed for immediate consular access to him,” he said. “The fact that Russia has not granted that access puts it once again in violation of international commitments it’s made–commitments that are at the heart of diplomatic relations between countries and the ability of our citizens as well to be able to safely be present in other countries.”
Blinken predicted Russia’s refusal to grant consular access would “do even more damage to Russia’s standing around the world– standing that has been in freefall particularly since its reinvasion of Ukraine last year.”
John Kirby, the White House’s National Security Council spokesperson, said this was just the beginning of what could be a lengthy battle to bring Gershkovich home.
“The determination of wrongful detention, it doesn’t start the clock necessarily on communicating with the Russians about getting him released. We’re very early in this process here,” he said.
American diplomats have still not been able to gain access to Gershkovich in detention — a violation of longstanding agreements between Russia and the U.S. and international law, according to the State Department.
Blinken and the U.S. ambassador to Russia have both spoken to their counterparts about Gershkovich’s case.
Kirby declined to disclose any details about conversations with the Russian government, but he said that officials within the administration were “certainly having discussions about what we can do to get him released.”
Russian officials have charged Gershkovich with espionage. Gershkovich denies the charges and his lawyers filed for an appeal, which is scheduled to be heard in Moscow later this month.
