(LONDON) — A Russian judge denied the appeal of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been charged with spying, in a Moscow court on Tuesday.
The reporter, a correspondent with the paper’s Moscow bureau, stands accused of “acting on the instructions of the American side” and collecting state secrets about the military.
Moscow City Court was expected to hear an appeal of the espionage charge from Gershkovich’s legal team, Tatyana Nozhkina and Maria Korchagina of the ZKS law firm, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Gershkovich arrived after noon local time, wearing a checkered shirt and jeans. He stood inside a glass detention area within the courtroom, a standard practice for criminal defendants in the Russian court system. Members of the press were escorted out of the courtroom and into a nearby viewing area before the hearing began.
Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, was present in the courtroom. Speaking outside the court following the denial, Tracy said the charges were “baseless” and called again for Russian authorities to release Gershkovich.
“I can only say how troubling it was to see Evan, an innocent journalist, held in these circumstances,” Tracy said.
Russia’s FSB intelligence agency said on March 30 that it had detained the WSJ journalist for spying.
“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,” according to Interfax, a Russian state-affiliated news agency, which quoted FSB officials.
The Wall Street Journal said the same day that it “vehemently denies” the spying allegations brought by Russia’s intelligence service against its reporter.
The paper “seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter,” a WSJ spokesperson said in a statement, adding, “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”
“He is a distinguished journalist and his arrest is an attack on a free press and it should spur outrage in all free people and governments around the world,” Emma Tucker, WSJ editor-in-chief, and Almar Latour, WSJ publisher and Dow Jones CEO, said in a joint statement.
U.S. officials on April 10 said they determined Gershkovich had being “wrongfully detained” by Russia, a designation that would allow the U.S. government to more aggressively advocate for his freedom.
Tracy visited the detained reporter on Monday, according to the State Department.
“I can report based on what Ambassador Tracy has said, he’s in good health and good spirits considering the circumstances,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. “We continue to call for his immediate release from this unjust detention.”
Speaking outside the court on Tuesday, Tracy called for the release of both Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, another American detained in Russia.
“We also call for the immediate release of Paul Whelan,” Tracy said. “Paul has been held for more than four years in Russia. Both men deserve to go home to their families now.”
State Department Photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain
(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed an attack on a U.S. diplomatic convoy in Sudan amid ongoing violence in the region.
“Yesterday, we had an American diplomatic convoy that was fired on,” said Blinken, who is currently in Japan. “All people are safe.”
He called the attack “reckless, irresponsible and unsafe,” and said it’s being investigated.
Since heavy fighting erupted in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Saturday, at least 97 civilians have been killed in the crossfire while 365 others have been wounded, according to a statement released Monday morning from the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties. The group noted there was “a number of injuries and deaths that are not included” because some “hospitals could not be accessed due to the difficulty of mobility and security situation in the country.”
“Severe damages have been confirmed” at several hospitals in Khartoum and other Sudanese cities, with some facilities now “completely out of service” after being bombed, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, which called the issue “a clear violation of international humanitarian law.”
While the violence has spread from Khartoum to other parts of Sudan, “the heaviest concentration of fighting” is centered in the densely populated capital, according to the World Health Organization, the global health arm of the United Nations.
The clashes are the culmination of weeks of tensions between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a Sudanese paramilitary group. So far, neither has shown any indication of backing down. The two men were once allies who had jointly orchestrated a military coup in 2021 that dissolved Sudan’s power-sharing government and derailed its short-lived transition to democracy, following the ousting of a long-time dictator in 2019.
Blinken tweeted late Monday, “I spoke to both Sudanese Armed Forces Commander [Gen. Abdel Fattah al] Burhan & Rapid Support Forces Commander [Mohamed Hamdan] Dagalo and underscored the urgent need for a cease-fire. Too many civilian lives have already been lost. Stressed the importance of ensuring the safety of diplomatic personnel and aid workers.”
The White House on Monday called for de-escalation and an “immediate cease-fire without conditions” in Sudan.
“This dangerous escalation jeopardizes the progress made to date in the negotiations to restore Sudan’s democratic transition, and it undermines the aspirations of the Sudanese people,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said.
Kirby said the military leadership is responsible for protecting civilians, non-combatants and those from third countries, including U.S. diplomatic personnel.
“We’ve been in direct contact with both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, the SAF and the RSF, respectively, to urge them to end hostilities immediately, without preconditions. And we are consulting very closely with regional and other partners on the situation there in Sudan,” Kirby added.
He urged American citizens in Sudan to “treat this situation with the utmost seriousness.”
(LONDON) — Evan Gershkovich, a “Wall Street Journal” reporter who has been charged with spying in Russia, arrived in court for a scheduled appeal hearing on Tuesday.
The reporter, a correspondent with the paper’s Moscow bureau, stands accused of “acting on the instructions of the American side” and collecting state secrets about the military.
Moscow City Court is expected to hear an appeal of the espionage charge from Gershkovich’s legal team, Tatyana Nozhkina and Maria Korchagina of the ZKS law firm, according to the Wall Street Journal. The hearing is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. local time, according to the court.
Gershkovich arrived after noon local time, wearing a checkered shirt and jeans. He stood inside a glass detention area within the courtroom, a standard practice for criminal defendants in the Russian court system.
Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, was present in the courtroom.
Russia’s FSB intelligence agency said on March 30 that it had detained the WSJ journalist for spying.
“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,” according to Interfax, a Russian state-affiliated news agency, which quoted FSB officials.
The Wall Street Journal said the same day that it “vehemently denies” the spying allegations brought by Russia’s intelligence service against its reporter.
The paper “seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter,” a WSJ spokesperson said in a statement, adding, “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”
“He is a distinguished journalist and his arrest is an attack on a free press and it should spur outrage in all free people and governments around the world,” Emma Tucker, WSJ editor-in-chief, and Almar Latour, WSJ publisher and Dow Jones CEO, said in a joint statement.
U.S. officials on April 10 said they determined Gershkovich had being “wrongfully detained” by Russia, a designation that would allow the U.S. government to more aggressively advocate for his freedom.
Tracy visited the detained reporter on Monday, according to the State Department.
“I can report based on what Ambassador Tracy has said, he’s in good health and good spirits considering the circumstances,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. “We continue to call for his immediate release from this unjust detention.”
(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 18, 4:52 AM EDT
Putin visits military in occupied Kherson Region
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a trip to Kherson and Luhansk, visiting a military headquarters in occupied territory in Ukraine.
Putin arrived via helicopter at the headquarters of an army group in occupied Kherson, according to video released on Tuesday by the Kremlin.
In brief remarks after he arrived, Putin said he didn’t want to distract troops from their mission, saying his tour of the installation would be in a “businesslike manner, briefly, but concretely,” according to Interfax, a Russian state-affiliated news wire.
“It is important for me to hear your opinion on how the situation is developing, to listen to you, to exchange information,” he said, according to Interfax.
Apr 17, 6:19 AM EDT
Putin critic sentenced to 25 years
A Moscow court has sentenced one of Russia’s best-known opposition leaders, whose family live in the U.S., to 25 years in prison in what is widely seen a show trial.
Vladimir Kara-Murza is the most high-profile opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin to be jailed since Alexey Navalny.
Kara-Murza’s extraordinarily harsh sentence is one of the lengthiest any opposition figure has received under Putin and illustrates how repressive Russia has become during the war in Ukraine, reverting to something much closer to the USSR where no opposition is tolerated.
Kara-Murza was convicted of treason, as well as “discrediting Russia’s armed forces,” a new law that effectively criminalizes criticizing the war in Ukraine. He was also convicted of belonging to a banned organization. The charges are widely seen as politically motivated.
Kara-Murza is one of Russia’s best-known pro-democracy figures and a veteran critic of Putin.
Kara-Murza, who holds both British and Russian citizenship, spent many years living in the United States and his wife and children still live in Virginia. He was close to the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, who championed human rights in the former Soviet Union.
Dozens of journalists and Western diplomats attended the court hearing on Monday, including the U.S. ambassador who read out a statement condemning the sentence.
“We support Mr. Kara-Murza and every Russian citizen to have a voice in the direction of their country. Mr. Kara-Murza and countless other Russians believe in and hope for a Russia where fundamental freedoms will be upheld. And we will continue to share those hopes and work for that outcome,” Amb. Lynne Tracy said.
Kara-Murza previously has survived being poisoned not once but twice. In 2015 and then again in 2017, he suffered organ failure after being exposed to an unknown toxin. Independent researchers later linked the poisoning to the same team of FSB poisoners who targeted Navalny.
He chose to return to Russia after the war began, believing it was important to continue to campaign for freedom in his country and has been an outspoken critic of the invasion.
His trial was held entirely behind closed doors, but a letter containing his closing statement to the court has been released to reporters.
“I only blame myself for one thing,” Kara-Murza said in the statement. “I failed to convince enough of my compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses for Russia and for the world.”
“Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate.
The parents of Wall Street Journalist journalist Evan Gershkovich spoke in an interview with with the paper Friday, the first time since their son was detained in Russia in March.
Mikhail and Ella Gershkovich, who were born in the Soviet Union and married after emigrating to the U.S. separately in 1979, talked about how much he wanted to work for the Journal and cover Russia.
“He said I’m just one of the few left there,” Ella Gershkovich, his mother, said of his time working in Russia during the Ukraine war.
The couple said their family is keeping hope that their son will be returned.
The couple said their family is keeping hope that their son will be released.
“It’s one of the American qualities we absorbed. Be optimistic, believe in happy ending. That’s where we stand right now, but I am not stupid. I understand what’s involved, but that’s what I choose to believe,” Ella Gershkovich said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Apr 14, 2:52 PM EDT
6 dead, including 1 child, after Russia attacks Slovyansk
Russian forces shelled Slovyansk, a city in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Friday, Andrii Yermak, the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, said on Telegram.
At least seven explosions were heard in the city in the area near a school, and three buildings were struck, Yermak said. Russia hit three five-story buildings in the attack, he added.
Six civilians, including one child, were killed and 17 people have been wounded, as of Friday afternoon, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a video of the attack on his Telegram page and condemned Russian forces.
He said there are still people trapped in the rubble.
“The evil state once again demonstrates its essence, just killing people in broad daylight, [and] ruining, destroying all life,” he said.
-ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy and Ellie Kaufman
Apr 12, 7:12 PM EDT
Singer Brad Paisley visits Ukraine for 1st time with Senate delegation, meets with Zelenskyy
Country singer Brad Paisley visited Ukraine for the first time on Wednesday and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to see firsthand what’s happening in the war-torn country, according to Ukrainian fundraising platform UNITED24.
Paisley, who serves as a global ambassador for UNITED24 and its campaign to help rebuild Ukraine, performed his song “Same Here” while in St. Michael’s Square in Kyiv.
Paisley, who went with a bipartisan U.S. Senate delegation, also played for American troops in Poland, UNITED24 said.
“It’s an emotional experience seeing all of this firsthand,” Paisley said during a press conference. “For me, looking around this city and being here for the first time, I’m absolutely struck by the resilience of life and the beautiful nature of the way this city is trying to thrive in the middle of conflict.”
Apr 12, 5:59 PM EDT
2 US citizens died while fighting in Ukraine, State Dept. says
Two Americans have died while volunteering to fight in Ukraine, he U.S. Department of State said Wednesday.
Edward Wilton and Grady Kurpasi died in combat during the conflict, bringing the total number of Americans killed to at least eight.
Wilton, 22, died on April 7 fighting in Bakhmut, his half brother Parker Cummings told ABC News. He was from Marianna, Florida.
Wilton served in the U.S. Army, Cummings said, and informed his half brother about his plans to fight in Ukraine through a message sent from a plane en route to Poland on April 10, 2022.
“My brother was very selfless. My brother was very honorable and traditional,” Cummings told ABC News. “He cared more about freedom for all than for his own safety. Edward was a true hero and he will be missed until we see him again.”
Joshua Cropper, who told ABC News he fought with Wilton in Ukraine’s International Legion between April and early July 2022, said of Wilton: “He was so young, but immensely brave. Fearless. We’d need three guys to do any task, he’s always going to have his hand up. He was as mature as anybody I’ve ever known.”
Kurpasi was reportedly last seen in April 2022 and was widely reported to be missing last June.
As recently as last fall, his family said they believed he was in critical condition in a Russian-controlled hospital in Donetsk, but it’s not clear exactly when he was confirmed dead or if he was ever hospitalized.
A GoFund Me page organized on behalf of Kurpasi’s wife provides few details on his time in Ukraine, but states that he “ended up leading a squad into battle and was killed in action.”
“We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine. We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement when asked about his case. “When a U.S. citizen dies overseas, including in Ukraine, the Department of State supports the legal representative and family of the deceased in numerous ways, including by providing information on the disposition of remains and estates and issuing a consular report of death.”
The spokesperson added: “The U.S. government takes its role in such a situation very seriously, providing all appropriate assistance through the legal representative, next of kin or their designee.”
Regarding Wilton, a State Department official confirmed that a U.S. citizen died near Bakhmut and said they’re in touch with the family and providing all appropriate consular services.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Chris Looft
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.
(MOSCOW) — A Moscow court has sentenced one of Russia’s most high-profile Kremlin critics, Vladimir Kara-Murza, to 25 years in prison on charges of treason for criticizing the war in Ukraine — in what was widely viewed as a show trial.
The unprecedented sentence is the lengthiest ever given to an opponent of President Vladimir Putin, highlighting the crackdown unleashed by Russia’s government since the invasion of Ukraine, which has moved to stamp out any opposition at home.
Kara-Murza is a long-time pro-democracy activist whose family lives in the United States and who was a contributing opinion writer for The Washington Post. A dual British and Russian citizen, Kara-Murza was arrested in April 2022 and charged with spreading false information about the Russian military in Ukraine over statements he made accusing it of committing war crimes. He was later charged with treason over public speeches criticizing Putin and the war. He was also charged with belonging to an “undesirable organisation.”
Virtually all prominent Russian opposition figures are now either in jail or in exile amid the crackdown and the length of Kara-Murza’s sentence prompted horror among liberal Russians, drawing comparisons to Joseph Stalin-era trials.
“This sentence is comparable only with times of Stalin,” Yan Rachinsky, head of the Russian human rights organization Memorial, which was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, told the Russian news site Meduza. “It’s especially monstrous that the sentence is for words. It is, in fact, a symptom of the fact that the authorities are afraid of words, they are trying to shut the mouths of anyone who stands against them.”
Kara-Murza dismissed the charges against him. His trial was held entirely behind closed doors but his closing statement to the court was released to journalists in a letter.
“I only blame myself for one thing,” Kara-Murza said. “I failed to convince enough of my compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses for Russia and for the world.”
“Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate,” he said.
Western governments condemned Kara-Murza’s jailing on Monday. Dozens of Western diplomats came to the court on Monday, where they were able to watch the verdict on a video screen, and some ambassadors issued statements afterward criticizing the verdict.
“We support Mr. Kara-Murza and every Russian citizen to have a voice in the direction of their country. Mr. Kara-Murza and countless other Russians believe in and hope for a Russia where fundamental freedoms will be upheld. And we will continue to share those hopes and work for that outcome,” Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Moscow, told reporters afterward.
Kara-Murza, 41, previously survived two near-fatal poisoning attempts — first in 2015 and then again in 2017. He suffered organ failure in both incidents, which saw him put in an artificial coma and left him with enduring health problems. The assassination attempts were later linked by independent researchers to the same team of poisoners from Russia’s FSB intelligence service that nearly killed the opposition leader Alexey Navalny in 2018.
Navalny, Russia’s best-known Putin critic, on Monday said he was “deeply upset” by Kara-Murza’s sentence.
“I believe this sentence is illegal, unconscionable, and simply fascistic,” Navalny wrote from prison in a message released by his team.
Navalny is currently being held in a prison camp and his team in recent days has warned he is seriously ill after prolonged stints in solitary confinement. His team this week said it feared authorities may be being slowly poisoning him again.
Following his poisonings, Kara-Murza spent much of his time in the U.S., where his wife and children live in Virginia. But he continued returning to Russia after the Ukraine war began, saying he believed it was important to oppose the Kremlin’s invasion and to campaign for a free Russia.
Kara-Murza was active in campaigning in the U.S. and Europe to bring sanctions against Russian officials accused of human rights abuses. A friend of the late Sen. John McCain, Kara-Murza played a leading role in persuading the U.S. Congress to pass the 2012 Magnitsky Act, which created a blacklist of Russian officials accused of abuses.
The judge who sentenced Kara-Murza on Monday, Sergey Podoprigorov, was already sanctioned by the U.S. government under the Magnitsky Act. The judge rejected a demand by Kara-Murza’s lawyers to recuse himself over the issue.
The British Foreign Office on Monday noted it had also already sanctioned the judge for previous involvement in human rights violations and warned it will “consider further measures” to hold to account those involved in Kara-Murza’s detention and mistreatment.
Russian authorities charged Kara-Murza in part over a speech he gave to lawmakers in Arizona in March 2022 shortly after Russia’s invasion, where he accused Putin of war crimes.
“We all see what Vladimir Putin is doing with Ukraine. Cluster bombs in residential areas, hospitals schools — all these are war crimes,” Kara-Murza said in the address. Kara-Murza’s lawyer, Maria Eismont told Meduza he viewed the sentence as proof his efforts challenging the Kremlin were right.
“‘My self-worth has even gone up. I understand that I’ve been doing everything right. 25 years is the highest mark I could have received for what I have done,'” Eismont quoted Kara-Murza as telling her after the sentencing.
Kara-Murza’s wife, Yevgenia, tweeted fter the ruling Monday: “I am infinitely proud of you, my love, and I’m always by your side.”
(NEW YORK) — The family of American Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia for years, said Monday he feels “abandoned” by the U.S. and that “his resilience is shaken” in the wake of Russia’s arrest of a second American on espionage charges.
In a Friday phone call with his parents, Whelan, a businessman and former U.S. Marine, said “he feels as though the U.S. government has abandoned him,” according to his brother David.
“His struggles have been apparent in his letters and in his phone calls over the years,” David Whelan wrote. “But now, Paul seems rattled like never before, understandably apprehensive that the U.S. government will choose not to bring him home again, now that there is another American wrongfully detained by the Kremlin.”
Last month’s arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has brought renewed calls from U.S. officials for Russia to release Whelan.
Like Whelan, Gershkovich, 31, has been charged with espionage. Whelan, 53, was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Gershkovich is currently being held in pretrial detention. Russian authorities blocked American diplomats from gaining to access to the imprisoned reporter for weeks, but on Monday U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy tweeted that she was finally able to visit him.
The U.S. government has designated both Whelan and Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained,” allowing additional resources to be applied to their cases.
But the reaction to Gershkovich’s detention has also shown how the backing of a large media organization — the Wall Street Journal — can place more attention on a case — and more pressure on the White House.
“The speed at which Evan’s case has been handled by the administration should be replicated for every case,” Jonathan Franks, the spokesperson for a coalition of families of Americans detained abroad, the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, said last week. “Unfortunately, we have seen firsthand that the reality is, that the speed with which the Government acts is very different for detainees who aren’t famous or journalists.”
In the nearly four years and four months since Whelan was arrested, the U.S. has secured the release of at least two other Americans designated “wrongfully detained”: WNBA star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, neither of whom was accused of espionage.
Griner was released in December in a prisoner swap for a Russian arms dealer after being held for nine-and-a-half months. The WNBA had made a significant effort to draw attention to her case and pressure the Biden administration.
Reed had been held for two years and was released in exchange for a Russian drug trafficker. He was freed less than a month after his parents protested outside the White House and secured a meeting with Biden in the process.
Sources within the State Department say that Whelan’s ongoing detention is not for lack of trying on the part of U.S. officials, but the result of Russia’s unwillingness to negotiate and how severely the Kremlin views the espionage charges against him — allegations the U.S. strongly rejects.
In early March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly revealed the U.S. had made a second offer to Russia for Whelan, calling it a “serious proposal” but declining to disclose any additional detail.
Blinken has repeatedly urged Russia to accept the agreement, but Moscow has broadcast little interest and there is no indication that that the administration has made any attempts to enhance the deal.
Whelan’s family has maintained close contact with the State Department and the White House National Security Council over the years since Whelan was first detained in 2018 — primarily through his sister Elizabeth.
But Elizabeth Whelan, he said, is now “going to pause her interactions with the State and National Security staff until they stop wasting her time and come up with something more than thoughts and prayers.”
“It is unfair and unreasonable to put the burden on wrongful detainee families to grab the White House’s attention, to do the creative work, to ensure that the different parts of the government are communicating clearly and working effectively to bring Paul home,” he continued. “There is a literal cost to families to do this advocacy.”
The White House and State Department did not respond when asked for reaction to David Whelan’s statement.
(LONDON) — Dozens of civilians have died and hundreds have been injured in Sudan as forces loyal to two rival generals battle for control of the resource-rich North African nation for a third day.
Since heavy fighting erupted in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Saturday, at least 97 civilians have been killed in the crossfire while 365 others have been wounded, according to a statement released Monday morning from the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties. The group noted there was “a number of injuries and deaths that are not included” because some “hospitals could not be accessed due to the difficulty of mobility and security situation in the country.”
While the violence has spread from Khartoum to other parts of Sudan, “the heaviest concentration of fighting” is centered in the densely populated capital, according to the World Health Organization, the global health arm of the United Nations.
The WHO said in a statement Sunday that it is “monitoring the health needs and resources across Khartoum and other affected cities to ensure that limited supplies are directed to where they are most needed.” However, movement in the capital “is restricted due to the insecurity creating challenges for doctors, nurses, patients, and ambulances to reach health facilities, and putting at risk the lives of those who need urgent medical care,” according to the WHO.
“Supplies distributed by WHO to health facilities prior to this recent escalation of conflict are now exhausted, and many of the nine hospitals in Khartoum receiving injured civilians are reporting shortages of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids, medical supplies, and other life-saving commodities,” the agency added. “There are also reports of shortages of specialized medical personnel, including anesthesiologists. Water and power cuts are affecting the functionality of health facilities, and shortages of fuel for hospital generators are also being reported.”
The clashes are the culmination of weeks of tensions between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a Sudanese paramilitary group. So far, neither has shown any indication of backing down. The two men were once allies who had jointly orchestrated a military coup in 2021 that dissolved Sudan’s power-sharing government and derailed its short-lived transition to democracy, following the ousting of a long-time dictator in 2019.
As the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations met in Japan on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that they “have been consulting very closely on the situation in Sudan.”
“We’ve also been in close touch with partners in the Arab world, in Africa, in international organizations,” Blinken said. “There is a shared deep concern about the fighting, the violence that’s going on in Sudan, the threat that that poses to civilians, that it poses to the Sudanese nation and potentially poses even to the region.”
“There is also a very strongly shared view about the need for Generals Burhan and Hemeti to ensure the protection of civilians and noncombatants as well as people from third countries, including our personnel who are located in Sudan,” he added, “and also a strongly held view — again, across all of our partners — on the need for an immediate ceasefire and a return to talks — talks that were very promising in putting Sudan on the path to a full transition to civilian-led government.”
The United States has been “closely in touch” with its embassy in Khartoum “to make sure that our personnel is safe and accounted for, which is the case,” and also “with any American citizens in Sudan to make sure that those who are registered with the embassy and that we’re actually in contact with get all the information they can about how to remain safe and secure,” according to Blinken.
Lakshmi Parthasarathy, 32, is one of the U.S. citizens currently in Khartoum. When the fighting broke out early Saturday, Parthasarathy said the sound awoke her and she initially thought it was a thunderstorm. But then she looked outside her window.
“There was massive amounts of smoke and it was very clear it was gunfire,” Parthasarathy told ABC News in a remote interview on Sunday. “We went onto the roof and there were people running and we saw jets, and it looked like all-out war was happening like right there.”
“It’s basically been non-stop now since yesterday morning,” she added. “It doesn’t sound like it’s de-escalating. It’s definitely a scary experience.”
Parthasarathy, a software engineer and travel blogger from Boston, said she is staying at an Airbnb rental located less than a mile from the central part of the Sudanese capital, near the presidential palace and the shuttered international airport, where some of the heaviest fighting has taken place. She described the scene as “very chaotic” but noted that there are also “areas of calm” in Khartoum.
It’s Parthasarathy’s first time in Sudan and she has been traveling around the vast country for the past several weeks but only arrived in the capital a few days ago. She said her family is worried about her but that she has made several Sudanese friends who are helping her feel safe and has also registered with the U.S. embassy in Khartoum in case the situation worsens. She noted seeing many people flee the city but said most are staying indoors, particularly at night.
“It’s unclear to anyone what’s happening and where this is going,” Parthasarathy told ABC News. “I really didn’t expect this. This is not part of the plan. I’m nervous about what happens next.”
(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.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. forces conducted a raid against ISIS militants in northwest Syria on Monday, according to U.S. Central Command.
“The raid resulted in the probable death of a senior ISIS Syria leader and operational planner responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe,” CENTCOM spokesman Joe Buccino told ABC News in a statement.
Two “armed individuals” were also killed, according to a statement from CENTCOM.
“Extensive planning went into this operation to ensure its successful execution. No U.S. troops were wounded. No U.S. helicopters were damaged. We assess no civilians were killed or injured,” the statement said.
Earlier this month, U.S. forces killed an “ISIS senior leader” in a strike in northwest Syria, CENTCOM had announced.
The military identified the leader as Khalid ‘Aydd Ahmad Al-Jabouri, who it said was responsible for planning attacks in Europe and Turkey, and developing ISIS’s leadership network.
“The death of Khalid ‘Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri will temporarily disrupt the organization’s ability to plot external attacks,” a release from CENTCOM said at the time.
The U.S. has roughly 900 troops in Syria as part of its effort to defeat ISIS in the region. In recent years, American forces have killed or captured several ISIS leaders in the country.
“Though degraded, ISIS remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East. We will continue the relentless campaign against ISIS,” CENTCOM Commander Gen. Erik Kurilla said in a statement Monday.
(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 17, 6:19 AM EDT
Putin critic sentenced to 25 years
A Moscow court has sentenced one of Russia’s best-known opposition leaders, whose family live in the U.S., to 25 years in prison in what is widely seen a show trial.
Vladimir Kara-Murza is the most high-profile opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin to be jailed since Alexey Navalny.
Kara-Murza’s extraordinarily harsh sentence is one of the lengthiest any opposition figure has received under Putin and illustrates how repressive Russia has become during the war in Ukraine, reverting to something much closer to the USSR where no opposition is tolerated.
Kara-Murza was convicted of treason, as well as “discrediting Russia’s armed forces,” a new law that effectively criminalizes criticizing the war in Ukraine. He was also convicted of belonging to a banned organization. The charges are widely seen as politically motivated.
Kara-Murza is one of Russia’s best-known pro-democracy figures and a veteran critic of Putin.
Kara-Murza, who holds both British and Russian citizenship, spent many years living in the United States and his wife and children still live in Virginia. He was close to the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, who championed human rights in the former Soviet Union.
Dozens of journalists and Western diplomats attended the court hearing on Monday, including the U.S. ambassador who read out a statement condemning the sentence.
“We support Mr. Kara-Murza and every Russian citizen to have a voice in the direction of their country. Mr. Kara-Murza and countless other Russians believe in and hope for a Russia where fundamental freedoms will be upheld. And we will continue to share those hopes and work for that outcome,” Amb. Lynne Tracy said.
Kara-Murza previously has survived being poisoned not once but twice. In 2015 and then again in 2017, he suffered organ failure after being exposed to an unknown toxin. Independent researchers later linked the poisoning to the same team of FSB poisoners who targeted Navalny.
He chose to return to Russia after the war began, believing it was important to continue to campaign for freedom in his country and has been an outspoken critic of the invasion.
His trial was held entirely behind closed doors, but a letter containing his closing statement to the court has been released to reporters.
“I only blame myself for one thing,” Kara-Murza said in the statement. “I failed to convince enough of my compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses for Russia and for the world.”
“Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate.
The parents of Wall Street Journalist journalist Evan Gershkovich spoke in an interview with with the paper Friday, the first time since their son was detained in Russia in March.
Mikhail and Ella Gershkovich, who were born in the Soviet Union and married after emigrating to the U.S. separately in 1979, talked about how much he wanted to work for the Journal and cover Russia.
“He said I’m just one of the few left there,” Ella Gershkovich, his mother, said of his time working in Russia during the Ukraine war.
The couple said their family is keeping hope that their son will be returned.
The couple said their family is keeping hope that their son will be released.
“It’s one of the American qualities we absorbed. Be optimistic, believe in happy ending. That’s where we stand right now, but I am not stupid. I understand what’s involved, but that’s what I choose to believe,” Ella Gershkovich said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Apr 14, 2:52 PM EDT
6 dead, including 1 child, after Russia attacks Slovyansk
Russian forces shelled Slovyansk, a city in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Friday, Andrii Yermak, the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, said on Telegram.
At least seven explosions were heard in the city in the area near a school, and three buildings were struck, Yermak said. Russia hit three five-story buildings in the attack, he added.
Six civilians, including one child, were killed and 17 people have been wounded, as of Friday afternoon, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a video of the attack on his Telegram page and condemned Russian forces.
He said there are still people trapped in the rubble.
“The evil state once again demonstrates its essence, just killing people in broad daylight, [and] ruining, destroying all life,” he said.
-ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy and Ellie Kaufman
Apr 12, 7:12 PM EDT
Singer Brad Paisley visits Ukraine for 1st time with Senate delegation, meets with Zelenskyy
Country singer Brad Paisley visited Ukraine for the first time on Wednesday and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to see firsthand what’s happening in the war-torn country, according to Ukrainian fundraising platform UNITED24.
Paisley, who serves as a global ambassador for UNITED24 and its campaign to help rebuild Ukraine, performed his song “Same Here” while in St. Michael’s Square in Kyiv.
Paisley, who went with a bipartisan U.S. Senate delegation, also played for American troops in Poland, UNITED24 said.
“It’s an emotional experience seeing all of this firsthand,” Paisley said during a press conference. “For me, looking around this city and being here for the first time, I’m absolutely struck by the resilience of life and the beautiful nature of the way this city is trying to thrive in the middle of conflict.”
Apr 12, 5:59 PM EDT
2 US citizens died while fighting in Ukraine, State Dept. says
Two Americans have died while volunteering to fight in Ukraine, he U.S. Department of State said Wednesday.
Edward Wilton and Grady Kurpasi died in combat during the conflict, bringing the total number of Americans killed to at least eight.
Wilton, 22, died on April 7 fighting in Bakhmut, his half brother Parker Cummings told ABC News. He was from Marianna, Florida.
Wilton served in the U.S. Army, Cummings said, and informed his half brother about his plans to fight in Ukraine through a message sent from a plane en route to Poland on April 10, 2022.
“My brother was very selfless. My brother was very honorable and traditional,” Cummings told ABC News. “He cared more about freedom for all than for his own safety. Edward was a true hero and he will be missed until we see him again.”
Joshua Cropper, who told ABC News he fought with Wilton in Ukraine’s International Legion between April and early July 2022, said of Wilton: “He was so young, but immensely brave. Fearless. We’d need three guys to do any task, he’s always going to have his hand up. He was as mature as anybody I’ve ever known.”
Kurpasi was reportedly last seen in April 2022 and was widely reported to be missing last June.
As recently as last fall, his family said they believed he was in critical condition in a Russian-controlled hospital in Donetsk, but it’s not clear exactly when he was confirmed dead or if he was ever hospitalized.
A GoFund Me page organized on behalf of Kurpasi’s wife provides few details on his time in Ukraine, but states that he “ended up leading a squad into battle and was killed in action.”
“We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine. We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement when asked about his case. “When a U.S. citizen dies overseas, including in Ukraine, the Department of State supports the legal representative and family of the deceased in numerous ways, including by providing information on the disposition of remains and estates and issuing a consular report of death.”
The spokesperson added: “The U.S. government takes its role in such a situation very seriously, providing all appropriate assistance through the legal representative, next of kin or their designee.”
Regarding Wilton, a State Department official confirmed that a U.S. citizen died near Bakhmut and said they’re in touch with the family and providing all appropriate consular services.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Chris Looft
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.
