(WASHINGTON) — If the United States approves the transfer of Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine will they really be the game changer that Ukrainian officials expect them to be? And how quickly could they actually get to the battlefield?
Those are some of the questions being raised after U.S. officials have confirmed that the Pentagon has prepared plans to transfer Patriot batteries to Ukraine if approved by President Joe Biden, a possibility that could happen as early as this week.
The air defense system can target ballistic and cruise missiles as well as manned and unmanned aircraft with a maximum range of 100 miles, depending on the system possibly given to Ukraine.
A typical Patriot battery includes a radar system, a power generation supply, and a command and control station connected to several launch stations. With its sophisticated radar system it will be able to engage eight targets at a time.
The transfer of the advanced air defense system is something Ukrainian officials have been demanding since shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
But U.S. officials have not been open to that possibility until recently out of concern over how Russia might react to their presence in Ukraine as well as over what might be learned about the missile’s technology if a missile or its components were to fall into Russian hands.
The U.S. and its partners have resupplied Ukraine’s Soviet-era S-300 air defense missiles and provided Western air defense systems such as shoulder-fired Stinger missiles and other larger air defense systems like the NASAM, jointly produced by the U.S. and Norway.
But it is the Patriot missile that Ukrainians have remained focused on specifically after Russia began using missile and one-way drone barrages targeting Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, causing electricity blackouts throughout much of the country.
Reacting to the news that the U.S. is likely to supply Patriot air defense missile systems to Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian Defense official told ABC News that they will be “a game changer,” describing them as “one of the best systems in the world.” The official added that Ukraine’s access to the missiles will “drastically increase our capacity to defend our skies from Russian strikes.”
“The decision to provide Ukraine with Patriot surface-to-air missile systems was the right one,” said Mick Mulroy, a former assistant and an ABC News contributor.
U.S. officials believe that once the Patriot transfer is approved, a training program for Ukrainian troops could begin in Germany in a matter of weeks. But any training program will have to be much shorter than the training given to American soldiers that requires a minimum of five months of training followed by more advanced training.
“The Ukrainian soldiers have proven they are more than capable of learning complex US systems and will also learn this one,” said Mulroy.
Even with an accelerated training program it could be sometime in early 2023 before a system is operational in Ukraine.
Patriot missiles first became wide-known during the 1991 Gulf War when they successfully intercepted most Iraqi missile attacks on U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia and parallel attacks on Israel.
But there have been many technological upgrades to Patriots since then and it remains to be seen which version of the missile Ukraine would receive.
“Whether this becomes a game changing technology or not will depend on how many of these missile systems the U.S. provides and how many missiles,” said Steve Ganyard, an ABC News contributor.
“But it will certainly go a long way to help plug those gaps in the air defense system that have allowed Russia to attack critical infrastructure like the electrical grids and the cities of Ukraine,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — Rising temperatures are continuing to set alarming trends around the world, according to new data released Wednesday by climate scientists.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that temperatures in September, October and November reached new highs, as global land and ocean temps were 1.51 degrees Fahrenheit greater than the 20th century average of 57.1 degrees.
Last month was the ninth-warmest November in NOAA’s 143-year history, with global temperatures 1.37 degrees above the 20th century average of 55.2 degrees, according to the agency’s monthly report.
NOAA said this year’s global surface temperature is now the sixth warmest on record and this warming trend shows no signs of slowing down.
“There is a greater than 99% chance that 2022 will rank among the 10-warmest years on record,” the agency said in a statement.
The report highlighted some new records in different parts of the globe.
Europe tied for its third-warmest September-November on record, with temperatures 3.33 degrees above the autumn average, according to NOAA. The U.K. recorded its third warmest November on record, the report said.
While North America recorded its fifth warmest autumn on record, the continental U.S. experienced a cooling trend in November, according to NOAA.
Specifically, parts of the Pacific Northwest recorded temperatures that were between 2 to 5 degrees lower than the average, the report said.
“Parts of western North America had their coldest November in nearly 40 years,” NOAA said.
As the year draws to a close, the report said several parts of the globe could see new record-high temperatures.
“Europe and Asia each had their second-warmest January–November period on record after 2020. The Gulf of Mexico had its sixth-warmest year-to-date and the Caribbean Islands had their seventh-warmest year-to-date,” NOAA said.
(NEW YORK) — American Suedi Murekezi has just been freed from Russian-controlled territory by a team from Ukraine’s military intelligence and is now being driven to Kyiv.
ABC News followed a military convoy into the war’s grey zone just outside Zaphorizhia in southern Ukraine. A two-hour ceasefire was agreed to in the area, starting at midday local time, so that a swap involving dozens of prisoners of war could go ahead. Murekezi was brought out of Russian-controlled territory as part of that exchange.
Suedi had been arrested by the Russian-controlled authorities and spent weeks in a basement, where he said he was tortured. He also spent three months in a prison in Donetsk city. He was later released by the Russians, but he was without his U.S. passport and was effectively trapped in Russian-controlled territory, living in the main city of Donetsk.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News in the grey zone, just after he was brought out of Russian-controlled territory, Murekezi said he felt “trapped” in Donetsk and lived under intense uncertainty about his future and what would happen to him.
He said he was relieved and happy to be back in Ukrainian-controlled territory, a free man in the country where he has lived for years.
Clutching a Ukrainian flag, which he was gifted by military intelligence officers, Suedi said he had been subject to electric shocks and beaten by his captors earlier in the war, when he was held in a basement, which he described as a “torture chamber.”
He said the Russians accused him of being a member of the CIA. He said he and the other Americans with whom he was held were given only minimal food and water.
When asked what he was looking forward to most when he gets back to his home in Minnesota, Murekezi said “a peanut butter sandwich.”
(NEW YORK) — French authorities are gearing up for the country’s World Cup semifinal match on Wednesday against Morocco.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin unveiled the enforced security measures on Tuesday, calling for the mobilization of 10,000 police officers nationwide, with 5,000 officers in Paris alone.
Wednesday’s game in Qatar is sure to be action-filled as the French reigning champions meet Morocco, the first African nation to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. The victor of the game will play Argentina in the final on Dec. 18. Argentina secured their spot in the final with a decisive 3-0 win on Tuesday against Croatia.
French police said they’re concerned about violence and damage in the wake of the game, calling for the closing of several metro stations, along with the removal of garbage cans, construction barriers, or “any other material that can be used as a weapon.”
The rigorous security precautions have precedent in past French World Cup championships in 1998 and 2018. In 1998, France’s victory at home over Brazil prompted 600,000 supporters to march down the Champs-Élysées. Over 300,000 turned out in Paris after the team defeated Croatia in 2018.
Morocco’s 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Portugal on Saturday resulted in nearly 20,000 supporters rallying to celebrate the nation’s qualification on the historic Paris avenue, leading to the arrest of 108 individuals, according to French authorities.
Despite calls from Jeanne d’Hauteserre, the mayor of the eighth arrondissement in Paris, to close the Champs-Élysées, the interior minister has decided to keep the avenue open to traffic but close the roads feeding into it Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. local time.
(LONDON) — Prince William and Kate are getting into the holiday spirit with their annual Christmas card.
The photograph features the prince and princess of Wales with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in Norfolk, England, where they have a country home, Anmer Hall.
In the family photograph, which was taken by Matt Porteous earlier this year, George, Charlotte and Louis are all smiles as William and Kate link hands with them.
The family is dressed in casual outfits. George Charlotte and Louis wear blue shirts and shorts, while William and Kate wear blue jeans and button-down shirts.
“Sharing a new picture of the family for this year’s Christmas card!” the caption reads.
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) December 13, 2022
In recent years, the Waleses have opted for a more relaxed look for their Christmas photos.
William and Kate’s 2021 card featured them with their kids during a trip to Jordan. In the photograph, William, George and Louis wear shorts and polo shirts, while Kate and Charlotte are seen in casual dresses.
The previous year, they smiled in photographs with their three children at their home in Norfolk, posing on haystacks.
The family’s last formal holiday photograph was taken in 2017 at Kensington Palace and featured William, Kate, George and Charlotte in more formal attire.
William and Kate have shared a Christmas photo as a family since 2015. Their first photograph featured the couple with their children George and Charlotte.
In August, Kensington Palace announced William and Kate’s move to Windsor. Their three children started a new school, Lambrook School in Berkshire, in September.
This will be the family’s first Christmas since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, William’s grandmother and his children’s great grandmother. In past years, they have joined the royal family in spending Christmas at Sandringham House, Elizabeth’s estate in Norfolk, England, which now belongs to her son King Charles III, William’s father.
The royal family has not yet been publicly announced where William, Kate and their children will spend Christmas this year.
(NEW YORK) — Seven people, including an Eastern European immigrant living in New Hampshire, have been charged with being part of an international smuggling ring that procured sensitive technology for Russia.
The charges, unsealed Tuesday in the Eastern District of New York, revealed the ring operated since at least 2017 and unlawfully purchased and shipped to Russia millions of dollars in sensitive military technology from vendors in Brooklyn and elsewhere.
According to the indictment, the intended recipients were Russian entities and individuals barred by U.S. sanctions from receiving the sophisticated testing, quantum computing and hypersonic and nuclear weapons equipment.
The seven defendants are charged with facilitating the activities of the Serniya procurement network, which operated under the direction of Russia’s intelligence services to acquire sensitive military and dual use technologies for the Russian military, the defense sector and research institutions.
According to the indictment, one of the Serniya Network’s primary operatives in the U.S. was Boris Livshits, a Russian national who formerly lived in Brooklyn, New York. He would interface directly with U.S. companies and purchase export-controlled items requested by the Serniya Network for Russian end users.
In doing so, Livshits would misrepresent and omit material information to companies, banks and government agencies, including information about how the items would be used, the various parties involved in the transaction, and the identity of the ultimate end user.
Livshits also utilized dozens of U.S.-based front companies and bank accounts that were used to obfuscate the role of Russian or sanctioned entities in transactions.
Alexey Brayman was arrested in New Hampshire and Vadim Yermolenko was arrested in New Jersey. Vadim Konoshchenok has also been taken into custody in Estonia and will undergo extradition proceedings to the United States.
The other defendants are believed to be in Russia.
(SEOUL, South Korea) — Jin, the eldest member of K-pop sensation BTS, was dispatched Tuesday to a front-line military training division north of Seoul.
Jin, 30, is heading to the military after delaying conscription two years beyond the maximum age limit. This was possible due to a change of law designed to buy time for pop artists to carry on with their careers.
Since Jin himself and his entertainment agency had asked fans not to come to see him off at the training division for safety concerns, only a handful of BTS fans were present at the scene. Instead, an ad balloon from fans flew in the air, wishing Jin safe military training.
All seven BTS members will take part in the military, and the billboard-ranking K-pop boy band will be out of the public sphere at least until 2025, according to BTS’ management BigHit Entertainment.
Mandatory conscription has always been a challenge for male Korean national K-pop stars, as the responsibility usually falls upon them at the height of their sometimes sweeping careers. Widely famous K-pop groups like EXO and SuperM already had to send some of their members to the military, which ended up in an inevitable halt to those groups’ performances.
South Korea is one of the few countries in the world — along with Israel and Taiwan — that conscripts men in the military. It is mandatory for all South Korean able-bodied men between the ages 18 to 28 to serve in the military for at least a year-and-a-half.
While conscription duty remains unavoidable, entertainment companies have looked for creative ways to maintain the popularity despite the absence of key members in a group.
“We are proud of completing military service, but it was tough because we couldn’t be there for our fans as one, wholesome team,” Super Junior’s Siwon Choi, who has became a leading actor starring in shows like Netflix’s Revolutionary Love and dozens of other hit shows, told ABC News. “We tried different ways to interact with our fans, like performing in units and solos.”
A second-generation K-pop boy band, Super Junior made a rare successful comeback as a whole team, and is now on a world tour. It took nearly 10 years for all members to finish military duties because of the members’ age differences. In the meantime, the members nurtured talent in MC, solo performance and acting to stay in touch with the public.
“Before serving the military, members from the Super Junior might have worried that they might lose their popularity,” Lee Gyu-Tag, a culture professor in Seoul at George Mason University, told ABC News. “But fans are also growing old, which means that they may need something different, more mature from their favorite bands.”
There are exceptions to mandatory military service in South Korea, as distinguished fine arts performers and athletes are pardoned from serving full time in the military. Those who won the grand prize in the major international contests, or athletes who earned medals in Olympics or other prestigious international competitions, are given an opportunity to replace their service with just five weeks of essential military training. This is to secure them time to raise the prestige of the nation by spending key years of high performance in their own field.
There has been a widely divided public debate whether pop artists like BTS should also be given the same military exception.
“To be fair, I believe pop artists should also be considered to be given an exemption from the military considering their social influence,” Lawmaker Kim Young bae, told ABC News.
Kim, as a lawmaker from the liberal party, proposed a bill last September that will allow top boy band members to avoid mandatory military service.
“I believe this bill will create new paths for young men of Korea to tremendously contribute in advancing the global cultural industry. This is an opportunity for Korea as a nation and a new chance for our youth’s future,” Kim said.
Conservative lawmaker Han Kiho expressed his opinion that military exemption rules should be scrapped altogether, with no exceptions.
“South Korea is already short of soldiers to defend this country While North Korea is constantly threatening with missiles, nuclear tests, and artillery,” Han told ABC News.
In addition to safety, arguments also center around the ideas of fairness and justice among the public.
“People feel like it’s not fair for one to have this great loss and trauma in my life if others don’t go through it,” Sean Lim, who runs Seoulite TV on YouTube, a channel that features reactions from K-pop fans, told ABC News. “But I don’t think that’s how you should build a military.”
Members of the public have expressed mixed feelings, but many seemed to agree on the importance of reaching a consensus about mandatory service.
“As long as there is a straightforward standard that everyone could accept when giving military exceptions, I think people will agree with pop artists being given a military exception,” Park Ji-hye, a college student who has long been a K-pop fan, told ABC News.
Both the minister of culture and the minister of defense have stated that the issue of exemptions is under review, and public opinion surveys will be taken into consideration. One of the ideas is to allow flexible dates of service so that all members could finish their duties around the same time.
“Rather than giving a certain group of people the chance to skip military service, I believe it is better to give pop artists special day-offs to perform in groups when it comes to an important performance while fulfilling military duty,” Han said.
The final policy decision is due by the end of the year.
(LONDON) — Iran on Monday executed a second man, 22-year-old Majid Reza Rahnavard, who had been convicted on charges of “waging war against God” amid ongoing protests in the country.
Rahnavard, who was accused of killing two guards and creating an atmosphere of fear, was hung in his hometown of Mashhad, according to Iran’s Mizan news agency, which serves as the media center of the country’s judiciary. His family told activist groups they only found out by a phone call from security forces and got an address of where their son was buried.
Rahnavard is the second protestor executed by the Islamic Republic in less than a week on charges related to the ongoing protests that have gripped the country in recent months. On Thursday, Mohsen Shekari was executed for closing a street in Tehran and injuring a policeman with a knife.
Neither Rahnavard nor Shekari was allowed to appoint their own lawyers. Their execution sentences were carried out 23 and 73 days, respectively, after their arrests, a “surprisingly quick” trial for such cases even with the Islamic Republic’s norms, lawyers said.
A lawyer in Iran, who could not be identified due to security concerns, previously told ABC News the judicial process behind Shekari’s trial and execution “was not transparent and not normal at all.”
“Crimes that are punishable by death, such as ‘moharebeh,’ must have a lawyer in the case,” the lawyer said. “But Shekari was denied the right to appoint a lawyer.”
Crimes such as “moharebeh” are “open for interpretation” by judges, the Iranian lawyer told ABC News on Monday.
“Any action, be it setting a bin on fire or closing a street, can be decided to be a sample of waging war against God. Not being able to appoint a lawyer in such a court makes it a total sham trial,” the lawyer said.
According to the judiciary reports over the past few weeks, at least 20 more people are currently either on death row or charged with “waging war against God” and “corruption on Earth” for participating in the protests, which — according to Iran’s Sharia law — are punishable by execution.
“These prisoners and their families are facing tough days,” an Iranian activist, who did not want their name to be mentioned for security concerns, told ABC News. “They see these executions and can’t keep up hope for having a fair trial for their dear ones.”
“Every night I worry that they will bring me the news of my child’s execution,” Mashallah Karami, father of Mohammad Mehdi Karami, another protestor sentenced to execution, told Iran’s Etemad Daily on Monday.
His son was arrested after participating in the funeral of one of the victims of the protests in Karaj, a town north of Tehran, on Nov. 3.
Karami’s father told the Etemad Daily that his son, too, is not allowed to appoint his own lawyer, and instead, a public defender is assigned by the court to represent him.
The public defender, however, does not respond to his phone calls, Mashallah Karami said.
“The lawyer even refused to give me the address of his office,” Karami’s father told the newspaper, leaving the family in confusion about how to even appeal the court decision.
The Islamic Republic judiciary news website, Mizan, claimed that Rahnavard was executed in “public,” but many people on social media said the crowd shown in pictures of the execution consisted of guards and Basij militias, not ordinary people supporting the execution.
“This is another propaganda by the regime trying to buy itself credit by committing a murder and then staging fake spectators to the scene,” a journalist, who could not be identified due to security concerns, told ABC News. “How could anyone from the public be there to watch the execution when it was totally unannounced, that even Rahnavard’s own family did not know?”
Since the protest movement erupted in September, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody following her arrest for breaching Iran’s strict dress code for women, the Iranian authorities have killed at least 458 including 63 children, according to the NGO Iran Human Rights, with at least 15,000 detained.
(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 13, 3:36 PM EST
US preparing to send Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine
Two U.S. officials confirm that the U.S. has prepared plans to send Patriot air defense missile systems to Ukraine that could be approved by President Joe Biden as early as this week.
If approved by Biden, the transfer of the advanced air defense systems would meet a long-standing request from Ukraine.
The U.S. has stressed the importance of Ukraine getting additional air defense systems in the coming months but has worked with other countries on alternative systems other than the Patriot.
The Patriot missile systems to be given to Ukraine will come from
U.S. inventories under the presidential drawdown authority, according to officials.
Another one of those announcements is expected to be announced on Thursday, though it is unclear if the Patriots will be included as part of that package.
If Biden approves the Patriot systems, then the training of Ukrainian troops will begin in Germany a few weeks later, officials said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin must sign off on the transfer before it goes to the White House.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Dec 13, 3:17 PM EST
Ukraine to get 30 upgraded Soviet-era tanks from Czech Republic next year
Soviet-era tanks are getting new optics, armor, and more at a Czech facility in Šternberk, thanks partly to the efforts of Ukrainian refugees working there.
Around 150 people have been hired by Excalibur Army in an effort to modernize old military equipment from around the world, which will then be shipped to Ukraine after months of work on upgrades.
According to the company’s commercial director, Richard Kuběna, it is concentrating on a large order to modernize up to 120 T-72 tanks, which the U.S. and the Netherlands governments ordered and paid 2.2 billion crowns for.
The tanks were ordered initially from Šternberk by an African country. However, after negotiating with the U.S., E.U., and Czech Ministry of Defense, they decided to give the tanks to Ukraine, Kuběna said.
“Next week, the first five units of tanks for Ukraine will be received, we would like to deliver 18 units by the end of the year,” noted Kuběna.
Kuběna said he would like to
Dec 13, 6:47 AM EST
Russian withdrawal ‘out of the question’
A Kremlin official said on Tuesday that Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine was “out of the question.”
A reporter asked Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov for comment on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s proposal that Russia start to pull out forces from Ukraine before Christmas. Peskov was also asked whether Moscow was ready to do so before the end of this year.
“This is out of the question,” Peskov said.
Dec 11, 7:56 PM EST
Biden speaks with Zelenskyy about recent security assistance packages: White House
President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday to discuss continued support for Ukraine’s defense amid Russian attacks on critical infrastructure, according to a White House readout of their call.
“President Biden highlighted how the U.S. is prioritizing efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense through our security assistance, including the December 9 announcement of $275 million in additional ammunition and equipment that included systems to counter the Russian use of unmanned aerial vehicles,” the White House said.
“President Biden also highlighted the November 29 announcement of $53 million to support energy infrastructure to strengthen the stability of Ukraine’s energy grid in the wake of Russia’s targeted attacks,” it added.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Dec 09, 12:05 PM EST
Treasury sanctions 4 Russians for carrying out human rights abuses
The U.S. Department of Treasury issued sanctions against four Russians accused of forcibly seizing personal data and conducting interrogations and searches against Ukrainian citizens to determine if they have any connections to the Ukrainian government or military.
There are also allegations that deportations, disappearances and torture have also been carried out.
Two of those sanctioned “oversaw the filtration of city government officials and other civilians from Mariupol, Ukraine, including through the filtration center in Manhush, Ukraine. Witnesses have reported insufficient food supplies, overcrowded cells, and beatings at the Manhush filtration center. One witness overheard Russia’s soldiers discussing shooting people who underwent filtration at Manhush,” according to a press release from the Treasury.
The Treasury is also sanctioning members of Russia’s Central Election Commission for overseeing the sham referenda held in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine in September, during which Ukrainians were forced to vote for annexation.
Dec 07, 6:01 PM EST
10 civilians killed in Russian air strike, Zelenskyy says
A Russian airstrike that struck Kurakhov, a city in Donetsk Oblast in southeastern Ukraine, has killed 10 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Wednesday.
Civilian areas such as a market, gas station, bus station and a residential building were among the targets that were struck, Zelenskyy said.
Dec 07, 1:19 PM EST
Putin says Russia will not be the first to use nuclear weapons in war with Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday the threat of nuclear war is increasing but Russia will not be the first to use nuclear weapons.
Putin, speaking at Russia’s Human Rights Council, said nuclear weapons should act as a deterrent in conflicts, not provoke them.
“We consider weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons, it is all built around the so-called retaliatory strike. When we are struck, we strike back,” Putin said.
“I have already said: we don’t have our own nuclear weapons, including tactical ones, on the territory of other countries, but the Americans do. Both in Turkey and in a number of other European states … we haven’t done anything yet,” Putin said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Dec 07, 8:56 AM EST
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Time’s 2022 ‘Person of the Year’
Time named Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Spirit of Ukraine as the 2022 “Person of the Year.”
More than a dozen Ukrainians who embodied the spirit of Ukraine were also named: Dr. Iryna Kondratova, who helped mothers give birth during shelling in the hospital basement; Oleg Kutkov, an engineer who laid the groundwork for the essential connectivity; Olga Rudenko, editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Independent; and Levgen Klopotenko, a Kyiv chef who converted his restaurant into a relief canteen.
“This year’s choice was the most clear-cut in memory. Whether the battle for Ukraine fills one with hope or with fear, the world marched to Volodymyr Zelensky’s beat in 2022,” Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal said in a statement.
Dec 06, 4:22 PM EST
Ukrainian special forces were deep in Russia to guide drone, senior Ukrainian official says
Ukrainian special forces were deep inside Russian territory and helped guide drones to at least one of the bases hit in Monday’s attacks, a senior official from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inner-circle confirmed to ABC News.
-ABC News’ Marcus Moore
Dec 06, 2:28 PM EST
White House does not have assessment on drone attacks inside Russia
The U.S. does not have an assessment on recent drone attacks deep inside Russia, which a person close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told ABC News Ukraine is responsible for, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday.
“I don’t want to speculate about whether Ukraine is responsible for these attacks,” Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre also told reporters Russia is to blame for this conflict.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Dec 06, 11:30 AM EST
Russia now out of Iranian-made drones, Western officials say
According to Western officials, Russia has run out of Iranian-made drones. Russia had been using the lethal drones, along with missiles, in a wave of aerial bombardments on Ukrainian infrastructure over a period of several weeks.
But, the drones have been absent in recent Russian attacks. A western official said the Russians “anticipate a resupply.”
In light of Ukraine’s apparent drone attacks on military airbases deep inside Russia, Western officials said Russia will now be undergoing “a significant amount of soul-searching” over their ability to defend significant military assets deep inside Russia’s borders.
The official, who characterized the attacks as “an egregious failure of security” said the Russian military’s potential had been consistently overestimated by the west.
“I no longer think the Russians are ten-feet tall,” the official said.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Dec 06, 10:17 AM EST
Ukrainian drone crashes into military airfield in Russia
A Ukrainian drone crashed into a military airfield in Russia, setting an oil tanker on fire, according to the governor of Russia’s Kursk region.
There were no casualties at the Kursk base. This comes a day after drone attacks on two Russian airbases where jets used to bomb Ukraine are housed. No one immediately claimed responsibility.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Dec 05, 10:36 AM EST
Missiles rain on Ukraine after purported drone strikes in Russia
A new barrage of missiles strikes was launched against Ukraine on Monday, hitting targets across the country, including the capital city of Kyiv, officials said.
Casualties and damage from the attacks were being assessed, Ukrainian officials said.
The majority of the missiles were shot down by air defense forces, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said the Russians launched missiles from the Volgodonsk, Caspian and Black seas.
The strikes damaged two infrastructure objects in the Odesa region, leaving the area without electricity and running water, officials said. One person was hospitalized, according to Ukrainian officials.
Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said a missile hit a substation that supplies the city of Belvaevska’s pumping station with electricity.
According to the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, missile strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region killed two people and injured three others, including a toddler, in the village of Novosofiyivka.
Explosion were also heard in Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Kherson and Cherkasy, officials said.
The missile strikes followed reports from Russian media outlets that drones were used to bomb two military air bases in Russia, hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian officials have not claimed responsibility for the drone attacks, but Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to Ukraine’s president, posted a cryptic tweet, saying “if you launch something very often into the airspace of other countries, sooner or later the unknown flying objects will return to the place of departure.”
Dec 02, 2:18 PM EST
No peace talks till Russian soldiers leave, Ukraine says
Ukraine said it would not consider peace talks before the last Russian soldier leaves Ukrainian territory. This comes after President Joe Biden indicating he would be willing to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin if he has legitimate interest in peace negotiations.
Ukraine also said that there must not be any peace negotiations without Ukraine, reiterating that Biden has been clear that there won’t be any talks happening without the participation of U.S. allies and Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Dec 02, 2:17 PM EST
IAEA expresses optimism over creation of protection zone around Zaporizhzhia
The International Atomic Energy Agency expressed optimism over possibly creating a safe zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant before the end of the year.
“I know that President Putin is following the process, and I do not rule out another meeting with him soon, as well as with Ukrainian President Zelensky,” IAEA Director General Rafael Rossi said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
“There is a concrete proposal on securing Zaporizhzhia and important progress has been made. …The two sides now agree on some basic principles. The first is that of protection: it means accepting that you don’t shoot ‘on’ the plant and ‘from’ the plant. The second is the recognition that the IAEA is the only possible way forward: that was the heart of my meeting with President Putin in St. Petersburg on October 11,” Rossi added.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Dec 02, 12:27 PM EST
Bloody packages with animal eyes sent to Ukrainian embassies
Packages believed to be blood-soaked and containing the eyes of animals, were sent to Ukrainian embassies worldwide, including in Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Croatia and Italy, the Ukrainian ministry of foreign affairs said Friday.
The entrance to the ambassador’s residence in the Vatican was also vandalized, according to the Ukrainian ministry of foreign affairs.
The Ukrainian embassy in the U.S. received a letter with a photocopy of a critical article about Ukraine. Like most other envelopes, the letter arrived along with others from the territory of an unnamed European country.
“We have reason to believe that a well-planned campaign of terror and intimidation of Ukrainian embassies and consulates is taking place. Not being able to stop Ukraine on the diplomatic front, they are trying to intimidate us. However, I can immediately say that these attempts are useless. We will continue to work effectively for the victory of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement.
The Ukrainian embassy in Spain received a letter-bomb on Wednesday which was opened and ignited, resulting in one slight injury.
A similar envelope was sent to the U.S. embassy in Madrid, but it was detected before going off, according to Spanish officials.
All Ukrainian embassies and consulates have been placed under heightened security. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on foreign governments to guarantee maximum protection of Ukraine’s diplomatic institutions.
Dec 01, 3:28 PM EST
Biden ‘prepared to speak with Putin’ if he wants to end war
Speaking at a joint press conference with France’s Emmanuel Macron, President Joe Biden said he would be open to speaking with Vladimir Putin if the Russian leader has legitimate interest in peace negotiations. Biden, however, said he has “no immediate plans to contact Mr. Putin.”
Biden also noted that Putin has “miscalculated every single thing” when it comes to this war.
“So the question is what is his — how does he get himself out of the circumstance he’s in? I’m prepared if he’s willing to talk to find out what he’s willing to do, but I’ll only do it in consultation with my NATO. I’m not going to do it on my own,” Biden said.
Meanwhile, President Macron, who has continued speaking with Putin, said it’s up to Ukraine to come to the negotiating table.
“So it’s only legitimate that President Zelenskyy sets some conditions to talk. We need to work on what could lead to a peace agreement. But it’s for him to tell us when the time comes and what the choices of the Ukrainians are,” Macron said.
-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky
Dec 01, 1:46 PM EST
Shelling in Kherson damages power lines as energy company works to finish repairs
Electricity was back for 60% of customers in the Ukrainian city of Kherson, but shelling overnight damaged power lines, according to the head of Ukraine’s regional energy company.
Workers are hoping to finish the repairs by the end of Thursday.
In Kyiv, 652,000 residents were subject to power outages throughout Thursday, according to the director of YASNO energy company, Serhiy Kovalenko. Kyiv’s main power grid is operating at less than 70% capacity and 20% of residents are still without power or heat.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Dec 01, 12:20 PM EST
Russia accuses US, NATO of direct involvement in war
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of being directly involved in the war in Ukraine by supplying the country with weapons and training its soldiers.
“You are training their military on your territory, on the territories of Britain, Germany, Italy and other countries,” Lavrov said at a press conference Thursday.
Lavrov also claimed that Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities and other key infrastructure were intended to weaken Ukraine’s military potential and derail the shipments of weapons from the West.
Lavrov also said Moscow is open to peace talks to end the conflict.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Nov 29, 11:47 AM EST
US to send $53M in energy aid to help Ukraine through winter
The U.S. will provide Ukraine with more than $53 million to acquire critical electric grid equipment to help its citizens get through the winter, the State Department announced Tuesday.
The announcement comes amid Russia’s continued attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“This new assistance is in addition to $55 million in emergency energy sector support for generators and other equipment to help restore emergency power and heat to local municipalities impacted by Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s power system,” the State Department said in a release.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Nov 28, 4:36 PM EST
UN lays out ‘dire’ situation in southern Ukraine
Denise Brown, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ukraine, traveled to the Ukrainian cities of Kherson and Mykolaiv over the weekend to get an update on the humanitarian issues affecting the southern part of the country, according to the U.N.
Although repairs to the area’s water system are finally able to commence, there is still a lot of work to be done to help the people in those cities, the U.N said.
“We continue to be concerned about the plight of civilians in Ukraine especially as winter sets in,” a U.N. spokesperson said in a statement.
Some heating points have already been established in Mykolaiv to help people who cannot heat their homes, according to the U.N.
“Aid workers are providing supplies and generators to make these places functional,” the U.N. said in a statement.
The agency added that donations and funding for humanitarian efforts are critical as the cold weather sets in.
Nov 25, 1:13 PM EST
Power restored in all regions, Ukraine grid operator says
All of Ukraine’s regions are now connected to the European Union’s energy system and all three nuclear power plants located in the Kyiv-controlled area are working, CEO of Ukrenergo grid operator Volodymyr Kudrytskyi announced.
“In one to two days, they will reach their normal planned capacity, and we expect to introduce planned rolling blackouts instead of emergency outages,” Kudrytskyi said.
Power is slowly returning to all Ukrainian cities, but blackouts and emergency shutdowns continue. Power issues are the worst in Kyiv, Kirivigrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Poltava and Lviv, according to Kudrytskyi.
Kyiv’s critical infrastructure receives electricity, the water supply is fully restored and heating is being restored, but 50% of residential houses remain without power. Only one-third of houses currently have heating, according to the mayor.
(NEW YORK) — Prince Harry and Meghan opened up about their decision to leave their senior royal roles in a new trailer for their Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan.
The trailer, released Monday, opens with footage of the duke and duchess of Sussex in their royal roles with Harry saying, “I wonder what would’ve happened to us if we had not got out when we did.”
Meghan then says the couple’s security was “pulled” and “everyone in the world knew where we were.”
The trailer includes a selfie video Harry took on what he described as the “freedom flight” that presumably took him out of the United Kingdom following his last engagement as a senior working royal.
Later in the trailer, Harry, the fifth in line to Britain’s throne, alleges that “lies” were told to protect his older brother Prince William, the heir to the throne.
As Harry is speaking, a shot of Buckingham Palace is shown followed by a clip of Harry walking next to William in the funeral procession for their grandfather Prince Philip in 2021.
“They were happy to lie to protect my brother,” Harry says, as a photo of him and Meghan flashes across the screen. “They were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.”
Harry also alleges “institutional gaslighting,” while Meghan says of her experience as a senior royal, “I wasn’t being thrown to the wolves. I was being fed to the wolves.”
Harry and Meghan stepped down from their senior royal roles in early 2020, just before they celebrated their second wedding anniversary.
The Netflix docuseries marks the Sussexes’ most extensive comments about their decision to leave the U.K. and start a new life in California, where they now live with their two children Archie and Lilibet.
The first three episodes of the docuseries, made in association with Harry and Meghan’s Archewell production company, aired on Dec. 8.
The final three episodes, which the new trailer previewed, will air on Netflix on Dec. 15.
In addition to detailing the controversy over their royal departure, the docuseries also shows glimpses of the life Harry and Meghan have created for themselves in California.
The trailer includes footage of Harry and Archie kicking a ball with Meghan’s mom Doria Ragland, in what appears to be the backyard of the couple’s Montecito home.
Meghan says, “It gave us a chance to create that home that we had always wanted.”
Amid clips of Harry walking on the beach and riding bikes with Meghan among the palm trees, the prince says, “I’ve always felt as though this was a fight worth fighting for.”
The trailer also includes quotes from Tyler Perry, who allowed the couple to stay in his California mansion when they first moved there from the U.K.
“They wanted to be free to love and be happy,” Perry says. “I applauded that.”
Members of the royal family have not commented on Harry and Meghan’s docuseries.
In the opening seconds of the first episode of Harry & Meghan, Netflix states that members of Britain’s royal family “declined to comment on the content within this series.”
Royal sources however told ABC News last week “that neither Buckingham Palace nor Kensington Palace nor any members of the royal family were approached for comment on the content of the series.”
According to royal sources, Kensington Palace, the household of Harry’s brother Prince William and his wife Kate, the princess of Wales, received an email purporting to be from a third-party production company, via a different, unknown organization’s email address.
The palace contacted Harry and Meghan’s production company, Archewell Productions, and Netflix to attempt to verify the authenticity of the email, but received no response, sources claimed.
According to the sources, without being able to verify the email’s authenticity, the palace was “unable” to provide any response.
A source at Netflix, meanwhile, told ABC News that communications offices for Harry’s father King Charles III and William were contacted in advance and given the right to reply to claims within the series.
According to Netflix, interviews for the series were completed by August, one month before the death of Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
