(NEW YORK) — A New Zealand-led team of marine geologists investigating an underwater volcano that erupted on Jan. 15 in the Tongan archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean have found that it was the “largest ever recorded” with modern equipment.
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, which triggered a tsunami and a sonic boom that twice-circled the globe, was captured in dramatic satellite imagery which showed huge cloud of ash and steam thrust into the atmosphere.
A team of oceanographers, scientists and marine geologists headed by the New Zealand National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), with assistance from a robot boat remotely operated in the UK by Sea-Kit International, have conducted the “fullest investigation yet” into the underwater Tongan volcano. They discovered that almost 10 cubic kilometres of seafloor was displaced — the equivalent of 2.6 million Olympic-sized pools.
“The eruption reached record heights, being the first we’ve ever seen to break through into the mesosphere,” said Kevin Mackay, NWA marine geologist. “It was like a shotgun blast directly into the sky.”
“While this eruption was large, one of the biggest since Krakatoa in 1883, there have been others of similar magnitude since then that didn’t behave in the same way. The difference here is that it’s an underwater volcano and its also part of the reason we got such big tsunami waves,” added Mackay.
The team of scientists also unraveled new information into the volcano’s underwater pyroclastic flows — a mixture of hot, dense volcanic ash, lava fragments and gas ejected from the volcano — through examining sediment debris found 80 km away.
“The sheer force of the flows is astonishing — we saw deposits in valleys beyond the volcano, which is where the international cable lies, meaning they had enough power to flow uphill over huge ridges and then back down again,” said Dr. Emily Lane, Principal NIWA scientist.
The volcano was also found to have injected an immense plume of water vapor into the Earth’s stratosphere. According to NASA, only the 2015 Calbuco eruption in Chile and the 2008 Kasatochi Island eruption in Alaska released significant amounts of high-altitude water vapor.
“We’ve never seen anything like it,” Luis Millán, atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement in August.
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano’s crater was also found to be 700 meters deeper than before the eruption.
(JAKARTA, Indonesia) — A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck Java island in Indonesia on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Indonesia’s Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency said on Twitter that it had also measured the quake at a magnitude of 5.6. Preliminary data from the USGS had placed the quake at a magnitude of 5.4.
At least 46 people have died and about 700 have been injured, Herman Suherman, the regent of Cianjur Regency in West Java, told Indonesia’s Kompas TV at around 4 p.m. Jakarta time.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(JAKARTA, Indonesia) — A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck Java island in Indonesia on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
At least 62 people have died as of about 7:30 p.m. local time, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, which posted a statement online.
About 700 have been injured, Herman Suherman, the regent of Cianjur Regency in West Java, told Indonesia’s Kompas TV at around 4 p.m. Jakarta time.
Indonesia’s Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency said on Twitter that it had also measured the quake at a magnitude of 5.6. Preliminary data from the USGS had previously placed the quake at a magnitude of 5.4.
The quake struck at a depth of about 10 km, with an epicenter about 18 km southwest of Ciranjang-hilir, Indonesia, USGS said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(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:
Nov 19, 12:49 PM EST
US warns Russia’s eroding situation could lead to ‘more nuclear saber-rattling’
Russia’s eroding situation could lead Russian President Vladimir Putin to “more nuclear saber-rattling,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Saturday.
“The ripples of Russia’s invasion has traveled far beyond Europe. Beijing, like Moscow, seeks a world where autocrats can stamp out the flame of freedom,” Austin said while addressing the Halifax International Security Forum.
Austin said the deadly explosion in Poland this week was the result of the “recklessness of Putin’s war of choice.”
“Russia’s invasion offers a preview of a possible world of tyranny and turmoil that none of us would want to live in. And it’s an invitation to an increasingly insecure world haunted by the shadow of nuclear proliferation,” Austin said.
He went on, “Putin’s fellow autocrats are watching and they could well conclude that getting nuclear weapons would give them a hunting license of their own. And that could drive a dangerous spiral of nuclear proliferation.”
Nov 18, 2:36 PM EST
Trace of explosives found at Nord Stream pipelines, Swedish prosecutors say
An investigation into the cause of a leak from the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea revealed “extensive damage” and several “foreign items,” some with detectable “explosive residue,” the Swedish Security Service and a prosecutor said Friday.
“The advanced analysis work is still in progress – the aim is to draw more definitive conclusions about the Nord Stream incidents. The investigation is extensive and complex and will eventually show whether anyone can be suspected of, and later prosecuted for this,” prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist and the Swedish Security Service said in a statement.
Several blasts near the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines on Sept. 26 caused leaks. Officials are still investigating the cause of the blasts. Major pipelines which supply natural gas from Russia to Europe, were shut off in September. While they were not in use at the time of the blast, the pipelines were filled with natural gas.
Nov 17, 1:53 PM EST
Russian strike on Ukraine’s Dnipro leaves 23 injured
A Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro has left 23 people injured, 15 of whom are in hospital. One person is in grave condition, according to Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Local officials earlier said the strike had left at least 14 people dead.
Air raid sirens went off in several Ukrainian cities including Odessa and Zaporizhzhia. Officials said four missiles were shot down in Kyiv.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky, Joe Simonetti and James Longman
Nov 17, 1:23 PM EST
Polish officials grant Ukrainian investigators access to site of missile explosion
Polish authorities have granted Ukrainian investigators access to site of the missile explosion, as an investigation into the origin of the missile continues, according to Jakub Kumoch, an aide to Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who denies that the missile originated from Ukrainian air defense, has been requesting access to the site.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Nov 17, 12:57 PM EST
Ukrainian officials refute US estimates on number of killed, injured soldiers
Top Ukrainian security officials are refuting U.S. estimates of how many Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured in the war. Last week, the U.S. chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, said around 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed or injured.
Ukrainian officials are now saying that figure is “not entirely true.”
Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine’s secretary of National Security and Defense Council, said the casualty figures are “definitely not those.”
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Nov 17, 11:35 AM EST
Biden says Zelenskyy’s statements on Poland missile incident are ‘not evidence’
President Joe Biden was asked by reporters Thursday what his reaction was to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denying that the missile that landed in Poland was Ukrainian.
“That’s not the evidence,” Biden responded.
On Wednesday, the White House told reporters it had “seen nothing” to contradict the assessment that the explosion in Poland was likely caused by a Ukrainian defense missile.
“We will continue to assess and share any new information transparently as it becomes available. We will also continue to stay in close touch with the Ukrainians regarding any information they have to fill out the picture,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Lauren Minore
Nov 16, 3:00 PM EST
Zelenskyy disputes claim that missile blast in Poland was fired by Ukraine’s air-defense system
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed back Wednesday against claims that a Ukrainian defense missile landed in Polish territory on Tuesday, killing two.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday that the Russian-made missile likely came from Ukraine’s air-defense system.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he backs Duda’s assertion.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Matt Seyler and Tom Soufi Burridge
Nov 16, 12:48 PM EST
Ukrainian air defense missile likely caused deadly blast in Poland: US official
The U.S. believes that the missile strike was likely due to a Ukrainian air defense missile, according to a U.S. official. The missile strike killed two Polish civilians.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Nov 16, 9:08 AM EST
CIA director met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv after meeting Russian counterpart
CIA Director Bill Burns traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, following a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Turkey, according to a U.S. official.
Burns was in the Ukrainian capital during Tuesday’s widespread Russian missile strikes.
“He is safe and was safely in the U.S. embassy during the strikes,” the official said.
While in Kyiv, the official said, Burns “discussed the U.S. warning he delivered to the head of Russia’s SVR not to use nuclear weapons and reinforced the U.S. commitment to provide support to Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.”
Nov 16, 7:27 AM EST
Polish police share photo of large crater from missile
Poland’s national police force posted an image on Twitter on Wednesday purportedly showing the site of Tuesday’s missile blast, which left two people dead.
The photo showed authorities collecting evidence from a large crater in the ground, alongside debris and a destroyed vehicle.
The Polish Police said in the tweet that its “officers have been securing the area” since the blast happened in the southeastern village of Przewodow, which is close to the border with Ukraine. An investigation into the incident is ongoing, but Polish President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday that the projectile was “probably a Russian-made S-300 missile” and, so far, appeared to be an “unfortunate accident.”
W #Przewodów, gdzie doszło do wybuchu policjanci od początku zdarzenia zabezpieczają teren. Policyjni eksperci m. in. z @CBSPolicji, #CLKP, Biura Kryminalnego @PolskaPolicja wspólnie z innymi służbami szczegółowo wyjaśniają okoliczności zdarzenia i zabezpieczają dowody. pic.twitter.com/ohBP0rT4u7
Nov 16, 7:10 AM EST
Kremlin notes ‘reserved and far more professional reaction’ from US to missile incident
Russia on Wednesday noted the “reserved and far more professional reaction” of the United States compared with other countries following Tuesday’s missile blast that killed two people in Poland.
“In this case, one should take note of the reserved and far more professional reaction of the American side and the American president,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a press briefing in Moscow.
Peskov said the U.S. government’s reaction “stood in contrast to the absolutely hysterical reaction of the Polish side and a whole number of other countries.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that it’s “unlikely” the missile was fired from Russia but that he and other leaders of the G-7 and NATO would support Poland’s investigation into what happened. Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday that the projectile was “probably a Russian-made S-300 missile” but that, so far, it appeared to be an “unfortunate accident.”
Nov 15, 9:18 PM EST
Biden says it’s ‘unlikely’ missile that hit in Poland was fired from Russia
Following his meeting with leaders of the G-7 and NATO on Ukraine, President Joe Biden said Tuesday night that it’s “unlikely” the missile that hit Poland was fired from Russia, but that the group would support the investigation into what happened.
When asked if it’s too early to say whether the missile was fired by Russia, Biden responded: “There is preliminary information that contests that. I don’t want to say that till we completely investigate, but it’s unlikely in the minds of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we will see.”
“I’m going to make sure we find out exactly what happened,” Biden said, and then determine the next steps, adding that there was “total unanimity” among leaders today on this decision.
The president added that recent Russian missile attacks were also a point of discussion this morning.
“They have been totally unconscionable, what they are doing, totally unconscionable,” he said.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Nov 15, 7:47 PM EST
Polish president says rocket may have been Russian-made; investigation underway
Polish President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday night that a rocket that landed near the Polish-Ukrainian border, killing two Polish citizens, may have been Russian-made. Though he said that there is no conclusive evidence at this time of who launched the missile and that an investigation is underway.
Duda said he has also spoken with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and President Joe Biden.
Stoltenberg said earlier that NATO is monitoring the situation.
Nov 15, 6:41 PM EST
Biden speaks with Polish president, offers ‘full US support’
President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Polish President Andrzej Duda and “expressed deep condolences for the loss of life in Eastern Poland,” according to the White House.
Biden “offered full U.S support for and assistance with Poland’s investigation” and the two agreed “they and their teams should remain in close touch to determine appropriate next steps as the investigation proceeds,” the White House said.
Polish officials confirmed that two Polish citizens were killed in an explosion Tuesday in the area of Hrubieszów. They were the owner of a granary that was stuck and a tractor driver who was transferring corn to the facility, according to local officials.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Tomek Rolski
Nov 15, 5:21 PM EST
Biden administration asks Congress for $37.7B for Ukraine
The White House said Tuesday it has asked Congress for $37.7 billion in additional funding for Ukraine.
The funding would include defense support and humanitarian assistance and be for the rest of the current fiscal year, which runs until Sep. 30, 2023, according to the White House.
“Together, with strong, bipartisan support in the Congress, we have provided significant assistance that has been critical to Ukraine’s success on the battlefield — and we cannot let that support run dry,” Shalanda Young, the head of the White House budget office, said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Tuesday on the funding request.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Nov 15, 4:47 PM EST
State Department investigating reported strike in Poland, will determine ‘appropriate next steps’
State Department officials are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the reported strike in Poland, Principal Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.
Calling the reports “incredibly concerning,” Patel said they were in close communication with the Polish government and other NATO allies to “gather more information.”
“We can’t confirm the reports or any of the details at this time. But I can assure you we will determine what happened and what appropriate next steps would be,” he said during a briefing Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan has spoken with Chief of the National Security Bureau of Poland Jacek Siewiera, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.
“We’ve seen the reports out of Poland and are working with the Polish government to gather more information,” Watson said in a statement, also adding that the White House cannot confirm the reports or any details at this time.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the reports and will be speaking with Polish President Andrzej Duda “shortly,” the White House said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford and Ben Gittleson
Nov 15, 1:52 PM EST
Polish PM calls urgent meeting amid unconfirmed reports of rockets landing in Poland
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called a meeting of the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defense Affairs amid unconfirmed reports that the NATO ally was hit with stray Russian missiles.
According to Polish media, two stray Russian rockets landed in Polish territory killing two people. The rockets reportedly landed in the Polish town of Przewodów, near the border with Ukraine. These reports have not yet been independently confirmed by ABC News.
-ABC News Tom Soufi Burridge and Will Gretsky
Nov 15, 11:48 AM EST
Lviv loses 80% of electricity, heating and hot water stopped, mayor says
After Russia hit critical infrastructure in the Lviv region, the area lost 80% of its electricity supply. The city’s heating and hot water supply has also stopped and there are mobile service interruptions, according to Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv.
Sadovyi warned residents to stay in shelters.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Nov 15, 11:45 AM EST
Zelenskyy lays out ‘peace formula’ to ‘G-19,’ which Lavrov calls ‘unrealistic’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday demanded that Russia end its invasion and reiterated that the territorial integrity of his country is not up for negotiation.
Appearing via video link from Kyiv, Zelenskyy addressed the leaders of the Group of 20 at a summit in Bali as the “dear G-19” — an apparent snub to Russia, whose foreign minister was attending the event.
“Apparently, one cannot trust Russia’s words and there will be no Minsk 3, which Russia would violate immediately after signing,” Zelenskyy said, referring to the Minsk 1 and 2 agreements signed in 2014 and 2015, respectively, which aimed to bring an end to fighting at that time. Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 before using Kremlin-backed proxies to seize territory in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
“I want this aggressive Russian war to end justly and on the basis of the U.N. charter and international law,” he added. “Ukraine should not be offered to conclude compromises with its conscience, sovereignty, territory and independence. We respect the rules and we are people of our word.”
The Ukrainian president called on the United Nations to dispatch a mission to assess the damages to his country’s energy infrastructure from Russian missile strikes. He said Russian forces should also withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — the largest in Ukraine and in Europe — so that the International Atomic Energy Agency — the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog — can take control of the site together with Ukrainian officials.
In addition, Zelenskyy said his country needs a framework that guarantees the long-term security of his country and he called again for a special tribunal to investigate Russian war crimes in Ukraine. He called this series of proposals Ukraine’s “peace formula” and all of them, he said, must be achieved before there is an end to the ongoing war.
“If Russia wants to end this war, let it show it with actions,” Zelenskyy said. “We will not allow Russia to wait us out, to grow its forces and then start a new series of terror and global destabilization. I am sure that it is necessary and possible to stop this destructive Russian war now.”
In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was attending the G-20 summit in Bali, called Zelensky’s demands “unrealistic.”
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge and Patrick Reevell
Nov 15, 10:11 AM EST
Strikes on Kyiv part of Russian strikes across Ukraine
There are reports of Russian strikes in several regions throughout Ukraine after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to G-20 leaders.
The head of the regional administration in Kharkiv confirmed strikes in that region. Ukrainian media reported that people in the Zhytomyr region are without power after strikes.
There are also unconfirmed reports of explosions in the Lviv region, Rivne and Kryvyi Rih.
-ABC News’ Tom Burridge
Nov 15, 9:22 AM EST
Kyiv hit with a series of missile strikes
There have been a series of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv, with the city’s mayor, Vitaliy Klitchko, saying two residential buildings have been hit and several missiles were shot down by air defense.
So far there are no details on casualties; however, unverified videos circulating show an apartment block engulfed in flames.
Nov 14, 3:17 PM EST
International Atomic Energy Agency to dispatch security missions to 3 nuclear plants
The International Atomic Energy Agency will send security missions to three nuclear plants in Ukraine, the agency announced Monday.
Safety and security experts will be dispatched to the South Ukraine, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne Nuclear power plants following a request from Ukraine, the IAEA said in a statement. A security mission will also be conducted at the Chernobyl site, said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
The IAEA already has a team of experts continuously present at the country’s largest such facility, the Zaporizhzhya plant, and has been carrying out safety measures and checks at three other locations in Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian government following allegations by the Russian Federation about activities there, according to the agency.
“From the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the IAEA has been doing everything it can to prevent a nuclear accident with potentially serious consequences for public health and the environment,” Grossi said. “We have delivered nuclear safety and security equipment, produced impartial assessments of the situation, and provided technical expertise and advice.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretzky
Nov 14, 3:06 PM EST
UN General Assembly calls on Russia to pay reparations
The United Nations General Assembly has approved its fifth resolution this year that supports Ukraine and rebukes Russia, declaring that Moscow should pay for damages caused by its invasion.
The resolution, which 94 countries voted in favor of, calls for the creation of “an international mechanism for reparation for damage, loss or injury” resulting from the war.
The resolution was co-sponsored by Canada, Guatemala, Netherlands and Ukraine. China was among the 14 countries that voted against it. There were 73 absentations.
While not legally binding, General Assembly resolutions have been viewed by Western powers as a powerful messaging tool through the conflict, communicating worldwide opposition to Russia’s invasion.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Nov 14, 1:21 PM EST
US citizen among prisoners freed in liberated Kherson
A U.S. citizen has been freed from prison in Kherson, the southern city that Russia had occupied for about eight months, according to a member of Ukraine’s parliament.
Swede Merekezi was arrested in Kherson in July and had not been in contact with officials for “a long time,” Ukraine parliament member Alexandr Kovaliov said in a statement posted to Facebook on Monday.
Merekezi was in Ukraine to defend “our country’s independence” and will be heading home on Monday, Kovaliov said.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said they are aware of unconfirmed reports but declined to comment further due to privacy concerns.
“This once again proves the cohesion and hard work of our team,” Kovaliov said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Will Gretsky
Nov 14, 6:31 AM EST
Zelenskyy visits Kherson after liberation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy on Monday visited Kherson, the southern city that Russia had occupied for about eight months.
He handed out awards and was seen speaking to soldiers and civilians. Video footage showed Zelenskyy waving to residents who waved at him from an apartment window and yelled, “Glory to Ukraine!”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the visit, other than to say that it was Russian territory.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Nov 13, 1:36 PM EST
Ukrainians celebrate Kherson liberation
Russian forces completed their retreat from the Ukrainian city of Kherson on Friday. Now, Ukrainians are celebrating the liberation.
Nov 12, 2:45 PM EST
Banksy mural unveiled in Ukraine
Renowned street artist Banksy debuted a new work in a war-torn Ukrainian town in the Kyiv region.
The anonymous British artist posted photos of a mural to Instagram on Friday in Borodyanka, which was liberated from Russian forces in April.
The piece, which depicts a young girl doing a handstand on a pile of concrete rubble, was painted onto the wall of a building destroyed by shelling.
Fans were taking photos of the work, as well as several others presumed to be by the artist, in the region on Saturday.
Nov 11, 3:15 PM EST
Satellite images show damage to bridge near Kherson
New satellite images from Maxar, a Colorado space technology company, show massive damage to Kherson’s Antonovskiy Bridge and other structures after the Russian withdrawal across the Dnipro River.
The bridge is the main way to cross over the Dnipro River near the city of Kherson.
Photos show several sections of the key bridge have been completely destroyed.
ABC News’ Stephen Wood
Nov 11, 10:54 AM EST
Russians leave Kherson Oblast, not just the city
Russian forces have retreated not just from the city of Kherson, but the rest of Kherson province that surrounds the city and lies north of the Dnipro River.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that its 30,000 troops have now crossed to the other bank of the river, a figure that is in line with how many forces U.S. officials had estimated were in Kherson.
Russians claimed they are continuing to shell areas around Kherson that they’ve just left, which could be a concern for Ukrainian troops who will be in the range of Russian artillery fire while in the city.
Russia also claimed that fire damage is being inflicted on the accumulations of manpower and military equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces on the right bank of the Dnipro River.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Nov 11, 10:06 AM EST
Russia says withdrawal from Kherson complete
Russian forces have completed their retreat from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the Russian Ministry of Defense said, saying the last of its troops crossed over to the other side of the Dnipro river.
In a statement carried by Russia’s state news agencies, the ministry said the withdrawal was completed at 5 a.m. Moscow time on Friday.
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Nov 10, 3:53 PM EST
Pentagon announces $400M in aid to Ukraine
The Pentagon announced a new $400 million defense package for Ukraine on Thursday.
The new aid will include four short-range Avenger air defense systems, which is a first for the packages approved for the war in Ukraine. It will also include more missiles for HAWK air defense systems, more anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, HIMARS ammunition, precision-guided artillery rounds and Humvees.
The Ukrainians will need some training on the Avengers, according to Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh, who did not give an estimate on when the systems might arrive and be ready to use.
With this latest drawdown, the U.S. has now committed more than $18.6 billion for the war since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Nov 10, 11:51 AM EST
US estimates 100,000 Russians killed or wounded in Ukraine
A new U.S. assessment estimates 100,000 Russians have been killed or wounded in the war in Ukraine, according to Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The U.S. last gave an estimate in early August that the number of Russians killed and wounded was between 70,000 and 80,000.
“There has been a tremendous amount of suffering, human suffering, you’re looking at maybe 15, 20, 30 million refugees, probably 40,000 Ukrainian innocent people who are civilians have been killed as collateral damage,” said Milley.
He added, “You’re looking at well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed or wounded, same thing probably on the Ukrainian side.”
He pointed out that Russia invaded Ukraine with a force of 170,000 troops.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Nov 09, 12:54 PM EST
Oligarch close to Putin says Russian troop retreat was necessary
Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who runs the private military company Wagner, said Wednesday that Russia’s retreat from the key Ukrainian city of Kherson was painful but necessary.
Prigozhin, nicknamed “Putin’s Chef” due to his restaurant and catering businesses, said Russian troops had to withdraw from Kherson because they were nearly surrounded by Ukrainian forces and cut off from supply lines.
“Neither I, nor Wagner abandoned Kherson,” Pigozhin said. “Without question, it is not a victorious step in this war, but it’s important not to agonize, nor to fall into paranoia, but to make conclusions and work on mistakes.”
He praised Russian Gen. Sergey Surovikin for making the decision to withdraw Russian troops and saving the lives of thousands of soldiers.
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Nov 09, 11:32 AM EST
Russian troops retreat from key Ukrainian city
Russia’s defense minister and top commander in Ukraine announced Wednesday that Russian troops will pull back from the key city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.
Defense minister Sergey Shoigu said he accepted a proposal from Russian Gen. Sergey Surovikin to order Russian forces to retreat to the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, in effect abandoning the city of Kherson.
Surovikin said it was a “very difficult decision” and justified it as necessary to save the lives of Russian soldiers and to preserve their capacity for future operations.
“Besides that, it frees up part of the forces and resources, which will be employed for active actions, including offensive, in other directions,” Surovikin said in the televised meeting with Shoigu.
Kherson is the only regional capital the Russians have occupied since 2014. The city and the surrounding area act as a gateway to Crimea Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Nov 09, 3:21 AM EST
White House denounces Griner transfer to penal colony
Brittney Griner, the WNBA star detained in Russia, has been transferred to a penal colony, a move decried by White House officials.
“Every minute that Brittney Griner must endure wrongful detention in Russia is a minute too long,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement early Wednesday. “As the Administration continues to work tirelessly to secure her release, the President has directed the Administration to prevail on her Russian captors to improve her treatment and the conditions she may be forced to endure in a penal colony.”
Griner’s lawyers said in a statement that she was transferred on Nov. 4 from a detention center in Iksha. She’s now on her way to a penal colony in an undisclosed location.
“We do not have any information on her exact current location or her final destination,” the lawyers, Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, said in a statement. “In accordance with the standard Russian procedure the attorneys, as well as the U.S. Embassy, should be notified upon her arrival at her destination.”
The White House said it had made a “significant offer” to Russian officials to “resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions of American citizens.”
“In the subsequent weeks, despite a lack of good faith negotiation by the Russians, the U.S. Government has continued to follow up on that offer and propose alternative potential ways forward with the Russians through all available channels,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
She added, “The U.S. Government is unwavering in its commitment to its work on behalf of Brittney and other Americans detained in Russia — including fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan.”
ABC News’ Cindy Smith, Ahmad Hemingway and Tanya Stukalova
(NEW YORK) — The United Nations on Tuesday officially declared that the global population had reached 8 billion, highlighting massive growth in the last few decades and the decades to come, but also raising concerns about food scarcity and prices around the world.
Every night around 828 million people go to bed hungry, according to the World Food Program (WFP), a United Nations organization focusing on providing food assistance globally.
Since 2019, the number of people facing significant food insecurity has increased from 135 million to 345 million, according to WFP.
“We are on the way to a raging food catastrophe,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told world leaders at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, this week. “People in five separate places are facing famine.”
The global population has been growing slowly since the 1950s, falling under 1% in 2020.
The latest projections by the U.N. show the global population may reach 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050. It is projected to peak at around 10.4 billion during the 2080s and remain at that level until 2100.
India will surpass China as the world’s most populous country next year, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.
The world produces enough food yearly, around 4 billion tons, to feed everyone, but around one-third of all food made, approximately 1.3 billion tons of fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat, goes to waste, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, that’s enough calories to feed every undernourished person.
Experts said that other parts of the growing food insecurity problem are rising food prices and malnutrition, proving most detrimental to women and children.
“When you look at the food price crisis, it’s particularly foods that are nutritious and are high in vitamins and minerals that these children need that are the most costly,” Saskia Osendarp, executive director of the Micronutrient Forum and co-coordinator of Standing Together for Nutrition, a consortium of nutrition, economics, food and health system experts, told ABC News.
Osendarp added that if women and children cannot afford or have access to healthier, vitamin-rich foods, they risk having micronutrient deficiencies.
When food prices increase, households switch to cheaper staple foods and processed foods instead of buying more nutritious — and generally more expensive– foods, such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, decreasing the quality of their diets, Osendarp said in an April op-ed in Nature magazine.
About one in two preschool-aged children and two in three women of reproductive age globally experience at least one micronutrient deficiency, according to a report from the Lancet Global Health.
Malnutrition can also lead to significant health problems, particularly in children, who may develop cognitive and developmental issues, as well as how they perform in school, Osendarp said.
“We call this hidden hunger because you don’t immediately notice it, but you do see it in individuals that lack these critical vitamins,” she said. “It has devastating impacts on their survival, their immunity, their health, but also on their growth and overall development. The impacts will last for a long time.”
At the G20 Summit, Guterres told world leaders that if there isn’t an organized action plan, then affordability issues this year will lead to food shortages in 2023.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also increased food prices, as both countries are important suppliers of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil.
In May, Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos that Russia’s war in Ukraine had caused global food and fertilizer shortages, resulting in increased prices for consumers and farmers around the world.
“It is just another catastrophic effect of Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Power said at the time.
Over half of the projected global population growth up to 2050 will happen in eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.
According to the U.N., food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa is at 66.2%, the highest in the world.
Over half of the world’s undernourished live in Asia and more than one-third live in Africa, with the situation worsening because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a U.N report.
Last month at the Committee on World Food Security, WFP executive director David Beasley said the world is facing threats of mass starvation and that global leaders must act and provide humanitarian support.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud, Julia Jacobo and Gabriel Pietrorazio contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — British shoppers looking for eggs have been met with empty shelves as the United Kingdom’s “largest ever” outbreak of bird flu and rising costs have placed pressure on egg supplies across the country.
Customers at British supermarket retailers Sainsbury’s and Tesco found eggs out of stock, while retailer Lidl has put a ration on eggs at some of its supermarket branches — limiting each customer to three units of eggs due to the shortage.
Elsewhere, breakfast menus at restaurant and pub chains across the country are also being curtailed, with chefs seeking alternatives for eggs as they grapple with the shortages.
“We are now facing this year, the largest ever outbreak of bird flu and are seeing rapid escalation in the number of cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across England,” says the United Kingdom’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss. “The risk of kept birds being exposed to disease has reached a point where it is now necessary for all birds to be housed until further notice.”
There have been 234 cases of bird flu in England since October 2021, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says a record 48 million birds have been culled across the UK and Europe during the 2021 to 2022 avian flu epidemic season.
Rising production costs on British poultry farmers have also compounded pressure on egg supply chain.
“Egg producers have been hit with huge hikes in production costs,” says the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA). “Feeding hens is now at least 50% more expensive than it was, and energy prices have soared in the same way that consumers have seen their domestic bills rise.”
“Not a single box”
“I went to my local Sainsbury’s yesterday morning and there was not a single box of eggs on the shelf,” Gemma De Souza, 27, told ABC News. “I own a small home bakery business so eggs are a lifeline for me. I had to hop round two Tesco’s until I stumbled on one with a stocked egg shelf, so even in my local area it’s a very mixed picture with some stores having plenty of eggs, and some none at all.”
British-Americans have also noticed egg shortages ahead of Thanksgiving celebrations next week.
“I’ve got family coming down from the States next week and our family tradition is we always have this huge Thanksgiving feast,” Sam Johnson, 32, told ABC News. “My regular store’s egg shelves have been empty all week and so I’ve been running all over London the last few days on an egg-locating mission.”
Some free-range egg farmers have been calling out supermarket chains, saying that the current shortages are the result of retailers not paying farmers enough, which has left them at a loss whilst producing eggs.
In a viral video, Welsh Farmer Ioan Humphreys said: “Supermarkets aren’t paying us a fair price to cover the cost. They’ve raised the price for the consumer, but that hasn’t come down to us, the farmers.”
According to the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA), the average price of an egg tray has risen by 50 pence (59 U.S. cents) in supermarkets, however farmers have only seen a price rise of payment by about 5 to10 pence during this period.
“We have been warning for months that failing to pay farmers a price which allows them to make a profit would result in mass de-stocking or, worse still, an exodus from the industry,” says Robert Gooch, Chief Executive of BFREPA.
Responding to concerns about the egg crisis in the House of Commons, Therese Coffey — the U.K.’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — says she is “confident we can get through this supply difficulty in the short term,” adding that there are “still 40 million egg-laying hens available” across the U.K. and that she is “meeting the industry on a regular basis.”
(LONDON) — North Korea has fired one of the most power intercontinental ballistic missiles it has ever launched with the latest having the potential trajectory to strike the mainland of the United States.
North Korea, which has launched at least 88 ballistic and other missiles this year, fired an ICBM that could travel 9,300 miles or longer, putting the U.S. mainland within its range, according to Japan’s Defense Minister.
Both the militaries of the United States & South Korea militaries are analyzing the data but North Korea’s latest launch — and it’s second this month — involved a missile that covered a distance of 620 miles, according to Japanese and South Korean officials.
The missile had an altitude of 3,700 miles and flew for 69 minutes before it landed about 130 miles off Hokkaido in northern Japan, authorities confirmed.
The commander of the 35th Fighter Wing at the Misawa Air Base located in northern Japan ordered everyone, including service personnel and staff, at the base to seek cover for 23 minutes following the missile launch.
“At this time, there are no additional indications or warnings of an immediate threat to Misawa Air Base,” said Commander Michael Richard who issued a seek cover order at 10:33 a.m. as a precautionary measure.
President Biden was briefed on the situation and will continue close consultation with allies, according to a statement released from the White House overnight.
“This conduct of by North Korea most recently is a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Resolution. It destabilizes security in the region and unnecessarily raises tensions,” said Vice President Kamala Harris, who is in Bangkok attending the Asia-Pacific Cooperative forum (APEC). “We strongly condemn these actions, and we again call for North Korea to stop further unlawful, destabilizing acts. On behalf of the United States, I reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our Indo-Pacific Alliances. Together the countries represented here will continue to urge North Korea to commit to serious and sustained diplomacy.”
(WASHINGTON) — WNBA star Brittney Griner has been taken to penal colony IK-2 in the Russian region of Mordovia, her lawyers said in a statement Thursday.
Griner is nearing her ninth month in detention after being taken into custody at a Moscow area airport in February for possessing vape cartridges with hashish oil, which is illegal in Russia. Griner pleaded guilty in July and was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison in August.
“We visited her early this week. Brittney is doing as well as could be expected and trying to stay strong as she adapts to a new environment,” Griner’s legal team said in a statement to ABC News. “Considering that this is a very challenging period for her, there will be no further comments from us.”
The lawyer continued, “On behalf of Brittney, we would like to thank everyone who has expressed care for her. During the last few days, we’ve received numerous messages of support.”
The U.S. government has classified Griner as “wrongfully detained” in Russia as it continues to negotiate for her freedom. U.S. officials have accused Russia of imposing an unusually harsh sentence on Griner and using her as a political prisoner as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine just a week after Griner was taken into custody.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris called the WNBA player’s wife, Cherelle Griner, in July to “reassure” her that they are working to secure Griner’s release.
The U.S. has publicly floated a proposal it made to the Russian government to negotiate the release of Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who has been detained in Russia since 2019, in exchange for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Griner filed an appeal to her nine-year prison sentence, but a Russian judge rejected the appeal on Oct. 25.
The 32-year-old Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and eight-time All-Star for the Phoenix Mercury, was traveling to Russia to play for her club team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, during the WNBA’s offseason when she was taken into custody.
Last week, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that while the U.S. did not know Griner’s exact location or final destination, diplomats were already advocating for her through official channels.
“As soon as we learned of her transfer, we requested formally from the Russian government, we requested more information about her transfer,” Price said, reacting to reports she had been transferred to a penal colony. “We are also engaging to do all that we can to ensure that her conditions are as safe, as healthy, as can be during this time.”
Price said Russia had not responded to the requests.
Biden had expressed optimism that negotiations with the Russian government might be more successful now that the midterm elections were over.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford contributed to this report.
(KYIV, Ukraine) — As darkness descends on the Ukrainian capital, the consequences of the waves of Russian missile strikes against critical energy infrastructure become apparent.
There’s no street lighting in many places around Kyiv, with people carrying flashlights or just their mobile phones with lights on to navigate around. Even traffic lights go off from time to time — all part of the new reality that residents are getting used to.
After the first massive Russian strike on Oct. 10 on energy facilities in various regions, Ukrainians have been warned of expected blackouts and outages and urged to save as much electricity as possible. The most popular commercial to watch on TV (that’s when the lights are on and the TV works, of course) is the government appeal to help stabilize the energy network: switch off as many appliances as possible, especially from 7-9 a.m. and between 7-11 p.m.
As a result of Russian missile attacks on Wednesday, more than 10 million Ukrainians are currently without electricity, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Most of them are in Vinnytsia, Odesa, Sumy regions and Kyiv, he said.
The governor of Kyiv region said Thursday that at least 78% of customers are affected by power outages in one way or another. Last week, 350,000 households in Kyiv alone were without electricity, roughly half of the city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Then there’s public transport used by hundreds of thousands of residents every day with a vast network of metro, tramway and trolleybus lines — all needing power, yet needed to save power. Hence, less services and longer intervals between them: waiting for the metro train for 10 minutes instead of 2-3 minutes is a new norm, if service hasn’t been stopped altogether as it happens every time when air sirens signal the threat of another missile strike.
The worst is yet to come, officials warn, saying energy companies have run out of spare parts to repair essential infrastructure and appealing to international partners for urgent technical help. But any supplies will take time and for now people are told to prepare not just for planned blackouts but for emergency outages lasting hours.
This would be the best case scenario, says Dmytro Sakharukm, the CEO of DTEK, the biggest energy company in Ukraine, adding that a more realistic scenario includes having permanent blackouts with planned electricity supplies at intervals.
Not many residents will take those warnings with great optimism as the weather is not on their side either. With the first snow in Kyiv overnight on Thursday and more expected by the weekend, pressure will be mounting on energy systems as plunging temperatures mean the heating network will be more and more hungry for power.
The majority of households in Kyiv and the region have been affected by outages, yet it’s a matter of luck.
Much of it depends on where exactly you live in Kyiv and which generator and transformer facilities or power lines have been damaged. In general, residents on the left bank of Dnipro River have been affected much worse due to the higher number of industrial facilities and residences in the area that require more power.
Serhiy Holichenko, a resident of Schaslyve, a town about 3 miles outside Kyiv, told ABC News that the temperature outside was not yet a major concern but he is worried about his electric stove getting power.
“You never know when you’ll be able to cook or just heat your meal,” he said.
(SAN JOSE DEL CABO, Mexico) — An American woman’s death in Mexico is being investigated as a femicide, a form of gender-based violence, according to the Baja California Sur Attorney General’s Office.
The family of Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, North Carolina, is desperate for answers after she died while vacationing with friends in Mexico last month.
Robinson went to San Jose del Cabo, a resort city on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, with six friends on Oct. 28. They stayed at a rental villa in Fundadores, an exclusive gated community with vacation homes and a private beach club, Robinson’s parents told Charlotte ABC affiliate WSOC-TV in a recent interview.
The next day, Robinson’s parents got a frantic telephone call from their daughter’s friends saying she had died.
“They said she wasn’t feeling well, that it was alcohol poisoning,” Robinson’s mother, Sallamondra Robinson, told WSOC-TV.
However, the Mexican Secretariat of Health’s autopsy report and death certificate for Robinson, obtained by ABC News, lists her cause of death as “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation,” with no mention of alcohol. The document also states that the approximate time between injury and death was 15 minutes, while a box asking whether the death was “accidental or violent” was ticked “yes.”
According to the document, which was dated Nov. 4, Robinson was found unconscious in the living room of a residence on Padre Kino Avenue, near Fundadores Beach Club, in San Jose del Cabo on the afternoon of Oct. 29.
The Fundadores Beach Club did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Thursday.
Robinson’s parents described their late daughter as a hardworking business owner who had a “great heart.”
“It’s like a nightmare. I can’t even sleep,” Robinson’s father, Bernard Robinson, told WSOC-TV. “I just want some truth because this doesn’t add up right.”
In recent days, a video — not verified by ABC News — has surfaced online purportedly showing a woman attacking Robinson. Speaking to WSOC-TV, Robinson’s mother identified the people in the footage as the friends who accompanied her daughter to Mexico and said she believes it was taken during the trip. In the video, someone can be heard asking if Robinson “could at least fight back.” It’s unclear when and where the video was taken.
“It was never a fight. She didn’t fight. They attacked her,” Sallamondra Robinson told WSOC-TV. “She did not deserve to be treated like that.”
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City told ABC News on Wednesday that its staff “are aware of Shanquella Robinson’s death and are providing consular services to her family.”
A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s field office in Charlotte, North Carolina, told ABC News on Thursday that the agency has been in contact with Robinson’s family.
As the mystery deepens and questions remain, the State Attorney General’s Office of Baja California Sur released a statement Wednesday saying it is continuing to investigate Robinson’s death.
The office said it received a call on Oct. 29 at approximately 6:15 p.m. local time from a “public security member” who reported the death of a foreign woman in a room of a house in the Fundadores Beach Club area in San Jose del Cabo. Investigators were sent to the scene and are still collecting “more evidence to achieve the accurate clarification of the events, without ruling out any hypothesis,” according to the office.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
