(KYIV, Ukraine) — In an exclusive interview with ABC’s World News Tonight anchor David Muir, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hinted of more counteroffensives as his country tries to turn the tide of war against Russia.
“It’s a very difficult war,” Zelenskyy told Muir from the presidential office in Kyiv. “We will regain our territory.”
You can watch more of David Muir’s full interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on ABC’s Good Morning America and World News Tonight.
Last week, the Ukrainian military launched a long-awaited counteroffensive near the southern port city of Kherson, which Russian forces seized in early March. Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city to fall to the Russians amid the early days of the full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24. The counteroffensive there is one of the first for Ukrainian troops that have been largely on the defensive.
In his nightly video address on Sunday, the Ukrainian president said he had received “good reports” from his military commanders and head of intelligence. He thanks his troops for liberating a settlement in the eastern Donetsk region as well as two settlements in the south, and for advancing and regaining “certain heights” in an eastern area in the Lysychansk-Siversk direction.
Zelenskyy told Muir that Ukrainians “need to, step-by-step, de-occupy our territory.”
“This task is difficult and it doesn’t only depend on us, but I’m sure that is what will happen,” he added. “It’s only matter of time.”
When asked why the Ukrainian military decided to launch the counteroffensive in the Kherson region at this time, Zelenskyy told Muir: “I won’t say that it’s only counteroffensive in Kherson … There is a direction or directions — plural — and we have to move forward.”
Asked to clarify that the Kherson counteroffensive is not the only one underway in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said he “can’t discuss details of any military actions.”
“I want that the enemy gets some surprises from us,” he added.
Muir pressed: “So what you are telling me, more than six months into this war, is that you will cede no Ukrainian territory — that is not on the table?”
(NEW YORK) — Vlad Buryak, 17, was traveling in a car on the morning of April 8 and stopped at a Russian checkpoint. Within hours, he would end up in a Russian prison.
Russian soldiers had seen his cellphone and accused him of filming him, he told ABC News’ Britt Clennett during an interview held over Zoom. They took his phone and while checking his photos and social media, they found a pro-Ukrainian Telegram group.
The soldiers were furious, he said, and threatened to kill him on the spot. Instead, he was taken to a filtration camp and then to a prison where he would spend 48 days before eventually being released.
Thousands of Ukrainians have reportedly been held as prisoners of war and hundreds of thousands have been forcibly deported from the country through so-called filtration camps.
The experience of children during the war, which has stretched over six months, has been uniquely traumatic and provides a chilling portrait into the painful reality on the ground in Ukraine.
The U.N. estimates that nearly 1,000 children have been killed or injured during the conflict and more than 5 million Ukrainian children, both inside the country and living as refugees, are in need of humanitarian aid.
The prison he was put into “so awful and so difficult,” he said, adding that hearing constant cries of “help me” and “don’t beat me” breaks you inside.
His job was to wash floors, cleaning rooms that had been used for torture “three or four days a week,” he said.
He helped pass information between prisoners, written on small bits of paper which they would try to smuggle outside the prison walls to family members.
He wasn’t beaten, but watched other gets beaten and tortured. Although he noticed everything going on around him, he tried to be invisible he said, focusing on his work. He didn’t want the Russian soldiers to know how much he was seeing.
During the interview with ABC News, he admitted that he had probably blocked out many aspects of his time in prison. “If you see awful things, your brain forgets it.” If he dwells on the past too much, “I can have problem in my head,” he said, “and I don’t want to have [that].”
So, he said, “I prefer to not think about this.”
It was very difficult to maintain his psychological health in prison, he said. If you show emotion, there was the fear of being beaten and tortured, and of never being released, he said.
“If you begin crying, if you begin to be angry with these Russian soldiers, these Russian soldiers can kill you or torture you.”
To keep himself mentally sane, he would talk to himself. “I think about what I do when I have freedom. What I do after prison, what I do with my family, how I visit my friends, how I go to the café, how I go to McDonalds,” he said.
After 48 days, he was finally reunited with his father.
“You can’t explain this emotion,” he said, displaying maturity beyond his years. “This emotion you can only feel.”
(SAN DIEGO, Calif.) — A former Marine arrested in El Salvador earlier this week for the 2016 murder of his girlfriend was ordered held without bail during an arraignment hearing in California on Friday.
Raymond McLeod was taken into custody on Monday following a yearslong manhunt. He was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, 30-year-old Krystal Mitchell, who was found strangled to death at a friend’s apartment in San Diego on June 10, 2016.
“This week, this defendant’s brazen attempt to evade justice was over,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said during a press briefing following the arraignment. “The work to hold him accountable has begun.”
McLeod, 37, pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder during his arraignment hearing, San Diego ABC affiliate KGTV reported. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 26, 2023. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, the district attorney said.
Mitchell’s mother, Josephine Funes Wentzel, a former police detective, was instrumental in the search for McLeod by helping generate leads and spreading the word about the manhunt on social media, the district attorney’s office said.
“He’s not going to get away again. He’s never going to be released from that jail if I could have something to do with that,” Wentzel, who was in the courtroom Friday, told reporters after the arraignment hearing. “I will be satisfied when he is convicted for brutally murdering my daughter, and that he is sentenced to life in prison.”
The couple, from Phoenix, was in San Diego to visit friends when Mitchell was killed. McLeod was seen assaulting Mitchell in the hours before she was found dead from a “violent” strangulation, Stephan said. McLeod, the last person with whom Mitchell was seen alive, then fled to Mexico, Stephan said.
McLeod was believed to have also been in Belize, Guatemala and, for the past two-and-a-half years, El Salvador, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Joseph O’Callahan told reporters during Friday’s briefing.
“He really laid low,” O’Callahan said, noting the former Marine may have relied on training in “clandestine operations.”
Then, on Aug. 20, the U.S. Marshals Service received a promising tip that someone resembling McLeod may be working as an English instructor at a school in Sonsonate, El Salvador, O’Callahan said.
A week later, U.S. Marshals traveled to El Salvador and “determined the individual inside the school was, in fact, Mr. McLeod, going by the name of Jack Donovan,” he said.
McLeod, previously described by the U.S. Marshals as an “avid bodybuilder,” is believed to have taken the name of a bodybuilder in Canada who resembled him and “was able to run with that identity,” O’Callahan said.
El Salvadorian law enforcement officials took McLeod into custody on Monday and he was deported back to the U.S. the following day.
McLeod was added to the U.S. Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted List in 2021 and a reward of up to $50,000 was being offered for information leading to his capture. O’Callahan said the U.S. Marshals plan to pay the reward but did not share further details.
Vyacheslav Madiyevskyi/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 01, 1:16 PM EDT
Part of IAEA mission leaves Zaporizhzhia power plant: Report
Several experts with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog have left the Zaporizhzhia power plant, according to Russian news agency Interfax.
Four out of the nine vehicles that arrived earlier Thursday as part of the International Atomic Energy Agency convoy left at 2:15 p.m. local time after about four hours at the plant, according to an Interfax reporter on the ground at the Ukrainian facility.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who is leading the mission, was among those to leave, while some experts remained behind and will stay at the plant, according to Interfax.
Ukraine’s nuclear regulator, Energoatom, also confirmed Thursday that the majority of the IAEA mission has left the power plant, including Grossi, and that five experts stayed behind to unload equipment brought to the plant.
The IAEA team is expected to remain at the plant through Sept. 3, Energoatom said in an update posted to Telegram.
In a video statement posted to Twitter, Grossi said he completed a first tour of “key areas” at the plant on Thursday.
“Of course there’s a lot more to do,” he said. “My team is staying on, and more importantly and most importantly, we are establishing a continued presence … from the IAEA here.”
-ABC News’ Natalia Shumskaia and Fidel Pavlenko
Sep 01, 12:44 PM EDT
NYC apartment of Russian oligarch searched by federal agents: Sources
Federal agents searched the New York City apartment of Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg on Thursday, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The oligarch’s Park Avenue apartment was searched by federal agents with the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, the main investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the sources said.
An address in East Hampton associated with Vekselberg is also being searched as part of court-authorized activity involving the Justice Department’s KleptoCapture task force, according to sources.
The task force has been seizing assets of Russian businessmen associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin over suspected violations of U.S. sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine.
The task force is trying to find yachts, airplanes and other moveable property before the oligarchs can transport them to jurisdictions where it might be more difficult for U.S. authorities to investigate.
In April, Spanish authorities seized Vekselberg’s $90 million yacht in the port of Palma de Mallorca at the request of the Justice Department.
Vekselberg was among the oligarchs previously sanctioned by the U.S. after Russia invaded Crimea in 2018.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Sep 01, 9:46 AM EDT
New school year begins in Ukraine
Thursday marked the start of a new school year in Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing war.
For many of Ukraine’s four million schoolchildren, their last day of school was the day before Russian forces invaded their country on Feb. 24. Since then, thousands of schools across Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed, with less than 60% of schools deemed safe and eligible to reopen by the Ukrainian government, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.
At least 379 children have been killed in Ukraine since the war with Russia began, while the whereabouts of 223 others are unknown and another 7,013 were among Ukrainians forcibly transferred to Russia from Russian-occupied areas, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office. And as of July 31, an estimated 650,000 Ukrainian children living as refugees in 12 host countries were still not enrolled in national education systems, according to UNICEF.
UNICEF is working with the Ukrainian government to help get the country’s schoolchildren back to learning, in classrooms when it is deemed safe, and through online or community-based alternatives if in-person is not possible. Some 760,000 children have received formal or non-formal education since the start of the war. More than 1.7 million children and caregivers have benefited from UNICEF-supported mental health and psychosocial support interventions, the agency said in a press release Thursday.
On the first day of Ukraine’s academic year, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell visited a rehabilitated primary school damaged during the early weeks of war. Only 300 students can attend at any one time due to the capacity of the school’s bomb shelter, a mere 14% of the school’s pre-war capacity, according to UNICEF.
“The new school year should be a time of excitement and promise, as children re-enter the classroom and share stories of their summer with friends and teachers,” Russell said in a statement Thursday. “Yet, for four million children in Ukraine, the mood is one of trepidation. Children are returning to schools — many of which have been damaged during the war — with stories of destruction, uncertain if their teachers and friends will be there to welcome them. Many parents are hesitating to send their children to school, not knowing if they will be safe.”
Sep 01, 8:40 AM EDT
IAEA mission arrives at Zaporzhzhia nuclear power plant
A high-stakes mission from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog reached a Russian-controlled power plant in Ukraine on Thursday afternoon amid reports of heavy fighting there.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has long sought access to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, since invading Russian troops overran the site and the surrounding town of Enerhodar in southeastern Ukraine in early March. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn country, but the site is now on the frontline between Russian-occupied and Ukrainian-controlled territory. Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations of shelling at or near the plant in recent days and weeks, fueling fears that the conflict could spark a radiation disaster.
IAEA’s Rafael Grossi, who is leading a team of over a dozen experts sent to inspect the besieged plant, said earlier Thursday that they were “aware” of the high risk posed by the “increased military activity in the area” between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
“There has been increased military activity, including this morning, until very recently, a few minutes ago. I have been briefed by the Ukrainian regional military commander here about that and the inherent risks,” Grossi told reporters as he and his team left their hotel in the city of Zaporizhzhia, north of Enerhodar, across the Dnipro River.
“But, weighing the pros and cons, and having come so far, we are not stopping,” he added. “We are moving now.”
A few hours later, the IAEA announced via Twitter that its “Support and Assistance Mission … has just arrived at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant to conduct indispensable nuclear safety and security and safeguards activities.”
Aug 31, 10:45 AM EDT
IAEA mission arrives in Zaporizhzhia
A long-awaited expert mission from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog arrived in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s team will travel to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar on Thursday for the first time.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who is leading the mission, told reporters during a press briefing in Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday that the aim is for his team to establish a permanent presence at the Russian-occupied plant and that the initial phase would take “days.”
When asked if it was possible to demilitarize the site, Grossi said it was “a matter of political will” and that his mission is to preserve Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. He admitted it was “not a risk-free mission” and underlined that his team would be operating in Ukrainian sovereign territory but in cooperation with Russian forces.
Asked if he thought Russian troops would really give his team full access, Grossi told reporters the IAEA was on a “technical mission” and that he was confident his team could work “on both sides.”
Aug 30, 4:31 PM EDT
Blinken heralds arrival of first shipload of Ukrainian grain to drought-stricken Horn of Africa
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday celebrated the first shipment of Ukrainian grain to arrive in the Horn of Africa — a region facing dire hunger — since Russia’s invasion began.
“The United States welcomes the arrival in Djibouti of 23,300 metric tons of Ukrainian grain aboard the ship Brave Commander. This grain will be distributed within Ethiopia and Somalia, countries that are dangerously food insecure after four years of drought,” Blinken said in a statement.
This is the first shipload to reach the region since a United Nations-brokered deal that allowed ships to leave Ukraine’s ports again.
According to Ukrainian officials, dozens of ships have been able to safely navigate the Black Sea in recent weeks. But State Department officials have claimed Russian allies, like Syria, have unfairly benefitted from recent exports, proving detrimental to countries the World Food Programme has determined are facing a greater level of need.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Aug 30, 4:25 PM EDT
EU preemptively donates 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets to protect Ukrainians from potential radiation exposure
The European Commission said it received a request from the Ukrainian government on Friday for potassium iodide tablets as a preventative safety measure to increase the level of protection around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The European Response Coordination Centre quickly mobilized 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for Ukraine, including 5 million from the rescEU emergency reserves and 500,000 from Austria.
“No nuclear power plant should ever be used as a war theatre,” EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said. “It is unacceptable that civilian lives are put in danger. All military action around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant must stop immediately.”
-ABC News’ Max Uzol
Aug 30, 2:15 PM EDT
Sens. Klobuchar, Portman meet with Zelenskyy in Ukraine
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on a visit to the war-torn country.
“The support that the U.S. has given has been strongly bipartisan and we want that to continue,” Klobuchar told ABC News.
Portman noted the psychological advantage of Ukraine now making advances in Kherson, which was the first oblast taken by the Russians six months ago.
It shows that “even when the Russians are dug in, as they are in that region, that Ukrainians can make progress in an offensive,” he said. “And my hope is that we will continue to see that to the point that the Russians will finally come to the bargaining table and stop this illegal, totally unprovoked war on Ukraine.”
-ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud
Aug 30, 11:07 AM EDT
Russian forces shelling corridors leading to nuclear plant, Ukraine says
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russian forces are shelling corridors the International Atomic Energy Agency mission would take to reach the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine.
Podolyak said Russian forces are probably shelling the path to ensure the IAEA mission pass through Russian-controlled territory to reach the plant.
Aug 29, 4:38 PM EDT
Zelenskyy vows to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday vowed to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces.
“Ukraine is returning its own. And it will return the Kharkiv region, Luhansk region, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia region, Kherson region, Crimea. Definitely our entire water area of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, from Zmiinyi Island to the Kerch Strait,” he said in his daily address. “This will happen. This is ours. And just as our society understands it, I want the occupiers to understand it, too. There will be no place for them on Ukrainian land.”
Zelenskyy said his message to Russian fighters is that if they want to survive, it’s time for them to flee or surrender.
“The occupiers should know, we will oust them to the border — to our border, the line of which has not changed. The invaders know it well,” he said. “If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. Go home. If you are afraid to return to your home in Russia, well, let such occupiers surrender, and we will guarantee them compliance with all norms of the Geneva Conventions.”
Aug 29, 3:00 PM EDT
White House calls for controlled shutdown of Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactors, DMZ around plant
White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Russia should agree to a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and that a controlled shutdown of the reactors “would be the safest and least risky option in the near-term.”
Kirby also expressed support for the IAEA mission to the power plant.
“We fully support the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Grossi’s expert mission to the power plant, and we are glad that the team is on its way to ascertain the safety, security and safeguards of the systems there, as well as to evaluate the staff’s working conditions,” he said. “Russia should ensure safe, unfettered access for these independent inspectors.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Aug 29, 1:33 PM EDT
Ukrainian forces launch major counteroffensive
Ukrainian forces have launched a major counteroffensive in multiple directions in the southern part of Ukraine, Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Command, said Monday.
Humeniuk said the situation in the south remains “tense,” but controlled.
Ukrainians have been targeting strategic Russian command posts and slowly advancing toward Kherson for weeks. Kherson was first major city in the south to be captured by Russian forces following the invasion.
Russian military issued a statement confirming the offensive and claiming Ukraine sustained heavy losses.
Meanwhile, at least 12 missiles have struck Mykolaiv, which remains under Ukraine’s control in the south. Two people were killed and 24 were wounded, according to the governor of Mykolaiv Oblast.
-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Natalia Shumskaia
Aug 29, 12:47 PM EDT
Ukrainian official accused of treason is shot and killed
Oleksiy Kovalyov, a Ukrainian official who was accused of treason for openly collaborating with Russia, was shot and killed in his home on Sunday in Hola Prystan, Kherson Oblast, according to preliminary information from the Investigative Committee of Russia (SKR). An unidentified woman was also killed, SKR said.
Kovalyov was a Ukrainian lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party who was accused of treason; criminal proceedings were initiated by Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations in June. He is one of the highest-ranking Ukrainian defectors who fled to Kherson after the invasion and openly collaborated with Russia. He was appointed by the Russians as the deputy head of the Kherson Military-Civil Administration.
Aug 29, 12:19 PM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the IAEA team will travel to the plant via Ukrainian-controlled territory, state-run TASS reported.
The area around the nuclear plant is controlled by Russian forces. Peskov said once the IAEA team enters Russian-controlled territory, all necessary security will be provided.
Aug 29, 2:21 AM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
(NEW YORK) — A high-stakes mission from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog reached a Russian-controlled power plant in Ukraine on Thursday afternoon amid reports of heavy fighting there.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has long sought access to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, since invading Russian troops overran the site and the surrounding town of Enerhodar in southeastern Ukraine in early March. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn country, but the site is now on the frontline between Russian-occupied and Ukrainian-controlled territory. Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations of shelling at or near the plant in recent days and weeks, fueling fears that the conflict could spark a radiation disaster.
IAEA’s Rafael Grossi, who is leading a team of over a dozen experts sent to inspect the besieged plant, said earlier Thursday that they were “aware” of the high risk posed by the “increased military activity in the area” between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
“There has been increased military activity, including this morning, until very recently, a few minutes ago. I have been briefed by the Ukrainian regional military commander here about that and the inherent risks,” Grossi told reporters as he and his team left their hotel in the city of Zaporizhzhia, north of Enerhodar, across the Dnipro River.
“But, weighing the pros and cons, and having come so far, we are not stopping,” he added. “We are moving now.”
While acknowledging the risks, Grossi said his team had the “minimum conditions” to forge on with the final and dangerous leg of their journey. He told reporters to “wish us luck.”
“We know that there is an area, as you know, the so-called grey zone, where the last line of the Ukrainian defense comes, and before the first line of the Russian occupying forces begins, where the risks are significant,” he said. “At the same time, we consider that we have the minimum conditions to move, accepting that the risks are very, very high. Still, myself and the team, we believe that we can proceed with this. We have a very important mission to accomplish.”
Upon arrival, the team plans to immediately start “an assessment of the security and the safety situation at the plant, as it is right now,” according to Grossi.
“We are going to be liaising and consulting with the staff at the facility. And I am going to consider the possibility of establishing a continued presence of the IAEA at the plant, which we believe is indispensable to stabilize the situation and to get regular, reliable, impartial, neutral updates of what the situation is there,” he added. “It’s very important that the world knows what’s happening here.”
A few hours later, the IAEA announced via Twitter that its “Support and Assistance Mission … has just arrived at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant to conduct indispensable nuclear safety and security and safeguards activities.”
Grossi and his team landed in Kyiv earlier this week, where they met with with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, before making their way to the Zaporizhzhia region in a convoy of U.N.-marked vehicles.
When asked by reporters on Wednesday if it was possible to demilitarize the plant, Grossi said it was “a matter of political will” and that his mission is to preserve the biggest nuclear power station in both Ukraine and Europe. He emphasized that his team would be operating in Ukrainian sovereign territory but in cooperation with Russian forces.
Asked if he thought Russian troops would really give his team full access, Grossi told reporters the IAEA was on a “technical mission” and that he was confident they could work “on both sides.”
Vyacheslav Madiyevskyi/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 01, 8:40 AM EDT
IAEA mission arrives at Zaporzhzhia nuclear power plant
A high-stakes mission from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog reached a Russian-controlled power plant in Ukraine on Thursday afternoon amid reports of heavy fighting there.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has long sought access to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, since invading Russian troops overran the site and the surrounding town of Enerhodar in southeastern Ukraine in early March. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn country, but the site is now on the frontline between Russian-occupied and Ukrainian-controlled territory. Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations of shelling at or near the plant in recent days and weeks, fueling fears that the conflict could spark a radiation disaster.
IAEA’s Rafael Grossi, who is leading a team of over a dozen experts sent to inspect the besieged plant, said earlier Thursday that they were “aware” of the high risk posed by the “increased military activity in the area” between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
“There has been increased military activity, including this morning, until very recently, a few minutes ago. I have been briefed by the Ukrainian regional military commander here about that and the inherent risks,” Grossi told reporters as he and his team left their hotel in the city of Zaporizhzhia, north of Enerhodar, across the Dnipro River.
“But, weighing the pros and cons, and having come so far, we are not stopping,” he added. “We are moving now.”
A few hours later, the IAEA announced via Twitter that its “Support and Assistance Mission … has just arrived at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant to conduct indispensable nuclear safety and security and safeguards activities.”
Aug 31, 10:45 AM EDT
IAEA mission arrives in Zaporizhzhia
A long-awaited expert mission from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog arrived in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s team will travel to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar on Thursday for the first time.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who is leading the mission, told reporters during a press briefing in Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday that the aim is for his team to establish a permanent presence at the Russian-occupied plant and that the initial phase would take “days.”
When asked if it was possible to demilitarize the site, Grossi said it was “a matter of political will” and that his mission is to preserve Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. He admitted it was “not a risk-free mission” and underlined that his team would be operating in Ukrainian sovereign territory but in cooperation with Russian forces.
Asked if he thought Russian troops would really give his team full access, Grossi told reporters the IAEA was on a “technical mission” and that he was confident his team could work “on both sides.”
Aug 30, 4:31 PM EDT
Blinken heralds arrival of first shipload of Ukrainian grain to drought-stricken Horn of Africa
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday celebrated the first shipment of Ukrainian grain to arrive in the Horn of Africa — a region facing dire hunger — since Russia’s invasion began.
“The United States welcomes the arrival in Djibouti of 23,300 metric tons of Ukrainian grain aboard the ship Brave Commander. This grain will be distributed within Ethiopia and Somalia, countries that are dangerously food insecure after four years of drought,” Blinken said in a statement.
This is the first shipload to reach the region since a United Nations-brokered deal that allowed ships to leave Ukraine’s ports again.
According to Ukrainian officials, dozens of ships have been able to safely navigate the Black Sea in recent weeks. But State Department officials have claimed Russian allies, like Syria, have unfairly benefitted from recent exports, proving detrimental to countries the World Food Programme has determined are facing a greater level of need.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Aug 30, 4:25 PM EDT
EU preemptively donates 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets to protect Ukrainians from potential radiation exposure
The European Commission said it received a request from the Ukrainian government on Friday for potassium iodide tablets as a preventative safety measure to increase the level of protection around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The European Response Coordination Centre quickly mobilized 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for Ukraine, including 5 million from the rescEU emergency reserves and 500,000 from Austria.
“No nuclear power plant should ever be used as a war theatre,” EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said. “It is unacceptable that civilian lives are put in danger. All military action around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant must stop immediately.”
-ABC News’ Max Uzol
Aug 30, 2:15 PM EDT
Sens. Klobuchar, Portman meet with Zelenskyy in Ukraine
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on a visit to the war-torn country.
“The support that the U.S. has given has been strongly bipartisan and we want that to continue,” Klobuchar told ABC News.
Portman noted the psychological advantage of Ukraine now making advances in Kherson, which was the first oblast taken by the Russians six months ago.
It shows that “even when the Russians are dug in, as they are in that region, that Ukrainians can make progress in an offensive,” he said. “And my hope is that we will continue to see that to the point that the Russians will finally come to the bargaining table and stop this illegal, totally unprovoked war on Ukraine.”
-ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud
Aug 30, 11:07 AM EDT
Russian forces shelling corridors leading to nuclear plant, Ukraine says
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russian forces are shelling corridors the International Atomic Energy Agency mission would take to reach the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine.
Podolyak said Russian forces are probably shelling the path to ensure the IAEA mission pass through Russian-controlled territory to reach the plant.
Aug 29, 4:38 PM EDT
Zelenskyy vows to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday vowed to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces.
“Ukraine is returning its own. And it will return the Kharkiv region, Luhansk region, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia region, Kherson region, Crimea. Definitely our entire water area of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, from Zmiinyi Island to the Kerch Strait,” he said in his daily address. “This will happen. This is ours. And just as our society understands it, I want the occupiers to understand it, too. There will be no place for them on Ukrainian land.”
Zelenskyy said his message to Russian fighters is that if they want to survive, it’s time for them to flee or surrender.
“The occupiers should know, we will oust them to the border — to our border, the line of which has not changed. The invaders know it well,” he said. “If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. Go home. If you are afraid to return to your home in Russia, well, let such occupiers surrender, and we will guarantee them compliance with all norms of the Geneva Conventions.”
Aug 29, 3:00 PM EDT
White House calls for controlled shutdown of Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactors, DMZ around plant
White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Russia should agree to a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and that a controlled shutdown of the reactors “would be the safest and least risky option in the near-term.”
Kirby also expressed support for the IAEA mission to the power plant.
“We fully support the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Grossi’s expert mission to the power plant, and we are glad that the team is on its way to ascertain the safety, security and safeguards of the systems there, as well as to evaluate the staff’s working conditions,” he said. “Russia should ensure safe, unfettered access for these independent inspectors.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Aug 29, 1:33 PM EDT
Ukrainian forces launch major counteroffensive
Ukrainian forces have launched a major counteroffensive in multiple directions in the southern part of Ukraine, Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Command, said Monday.
Humeniuk said the situation in the south remains “tense,” but controlled.
Ukrainians have been targeting strategic Russian command posts and slowly advancing toward Kherson for weeks. Kherson was first major city in the south to be captured by Russian forces following the invasion.
Russian military issued a statement confirming the offensive and claiming Ukraine sustained heavy losses.
Meanwhile, at least 12 missiles have struck Mykolaiv, which remains under Ukraine’s control in the south. Two people were killed and 24 were wounded, according to the governor of Mykolaiv Oblast.
-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Natalia Shumskaia
Aug 29, 12:47 PM EDT
Ukrainian official accused of treason is shot and killed
Oleksiy Kovalyov, a Ukrainian official who was accused of treason for openly collaborating with Russia, was shot and killed in his home on Sunday in Hola Prystan, Kherson Oblast, according to preliminary information from the Investigative Committee of Russia (SKR). An unidentified woman was also killed, SKR said.
Kovalyov was a Ukrainian lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party who was accused of treason; criminal proceedings were initiated by Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations in June. He is one of the highest-ranking Ukrainian defectors who fled to Kherson after the invasion and openly collaborated with Russia. He was appointed by the Russians as the deputy head of the Kherson Military-Civil Administration.
Aug 29, 12:19 PM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the IAEA team will travel to the plant via Ukrainian-controlled territory, state-run TASS reported.
The area around the nuclear plant is controlled by Russian forces. Peskov said once the IAEA team enters Russian-controlled territory, all necessary security will be provided.
Aug 29, 2:21 AM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
(NEW YORK) — Last year saw record levels of major greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, released into the Earth’s atmosphere, according to an international climate report.
The annual State of the Climate report, published Wednesday in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society and led by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information, also found that global sea level and ocean heat reached record highs in 2021.
“The data presented in this report are clear — we continue to see more compelling scientific evidence that climate change has global impacts and shows no sign of slowing,” NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement. “With many communities hit with 1,000-year floods, exceptional drought and historic heat this year, it shows that the climate crisis is not a future threat but something we must address today as we work to build a Climate-Ready Nation — and world — that is resilient to climate-driven extremes.”
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the “most significant driver of observed climate change since the mid-20th century,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, warming the climate as they build up in the atmosphere.
In 2021, the global annual average atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was 414.7 parts per million (ppm) — 2.3 ppm greater than the amounts measured in 2020, according to the latest State of the Climate report. That marks the highest amount measured since 1958 — the start of the instrumental record — and in at least the last million years, based on paleoclimatic records, the report found. It was also the fifth-highest growth rate in the modern record.
Two other major greenhouse gases — methane and nitrous oxide — also saw record concentrations last year, according to the report. The annual increase in methane was the highest in the modern record, and the growth rate of nitrous oxide the third-highest, it found.
Last year was the fifth- or sixth-warmest on record, depending on the dataset referenced, with the last seven years (2015-2021) the seven warmest years on record, according to the report.
Global ocean heat content, measured from the ocean’s surface to a depth of more than 6,000 feet, saw record levels in 2021, “indicative of steadily increasing heat in Earth’s system,” according to the report. Meanwhile, the global sea surface temperature cooled compared to 2019 and 2020, due to the ongoing La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific, though it was higher than the 1991-2020 average, the report found.
For the 10th year in a row, the global average sea level rose about 4.9 mm to a new record high, according to the report. The level was about 97 mm higher than the average recorded in 1993, when satellite measurements began, the report stated.
Both global ocean heat content and global average sea level saw “year-on-year increases substantially exceeding their trend rates of recent decades,” the report stated.
Among other highlights, the report found that tropical cyclone activity was “well above average” in 2021, with 97 named tropical storms during the Northern and Southern Hemisphere storm seasons compared to the 1991-2020 average of 87. Last year’s storm season saw Hurricane Ida, a category 4 cyclone that was the costliest U.S. disaster last year and the fifth most expensive hurricane on record since 1980, with $75 billion in damage, the report noted.
The climate report, now in its 32nd issuance, is based on contributions from more than 530 scientists in over 60 countries.
“The 2021 AMS State of the Climate provides the latest synthesis of scientific understanding of the climate system and the impact people are having on it,” American Meteorological Society associate executive director Paul Higgins said in a statement. “If we take it seriously and use it wisely, it can help us thrive on a planet that is increasingly small in comparison to the impact of our activities.”
(LONDON) — Inspectors from the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency are heading to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine that has been shelled in the ongoing fight between Russian and Ukrainian forces, threatening a nuclear catastrophe in the region.
According to the IAEA, experts plan to “assess the physical damage to the ZNPP’s facilities, determine whether the main and back-up safety and security systems were functional and evaluate the staff’s working conditions, in addition to performing urgent safeguards activities on the site.”
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a Twitter post this week.
Grossi, who is leading the mission, has long sought access to the nuclear power plant.
Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster. The nuclear power plant has been occupied by Russian forces while still being operated by Ukrainian engineers since early May, according to the IAEA.
The nuclear power plant completely lost power on Thursday due to damage from nearby shelling, according to the IAEA. Two of the six reactors at the plant are currently operating from a single remaining power line.
A secure off-site power supply from the electric grid and back-up power supply systems have kept the nuclear power plant running since the shut-off on Aug. 25, the IAEA said.
A lack of power poses a risk to the operation of the plant’s cooling systems, which are needed for the nuclear reactor and spent fuel ponds in the facility, Scott Roecker, nuclear materials security vice president at Nuclear Threat Initiative, told ABC News last week.
“And if there’s not active cooling of both of those facilities, it could lead to a reactor meltdown and a significant release of radiation,” Roecker said.
Amid the threat, officials in the region began distributing iodine tablets, which help block the absorption of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland in a nuclear accident, to nearby residents, the Associated Press reported.
On Aug. 28, Ukrainian officials informed the IAEA of renewed shelling in recent days at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, but said all safety systems remained operational and there had been no increase in radiation levels, according to Grossi. Continued shelling raises the risk for a potential nuclear accident, experts say.
Shelling over the weekend hit two so-called “special buildings,” both located about 300 feet from a reactor. According to the IAEA, those buildings house facilities including water treatment plants, equipment repair shops or waste management facilities.
Grossi and his team arrived in the city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday and are expected to visit the nuclear power plant on Thursday for the first time. He told reporters during a press briefing that the IAEA mission aims to establish a permanent presence at the plant and that the initial phase would take days.
When asked if it was possible to demilitarize the site, Grossi told reporters that was “a matter of political will” and that his mission is to preserve Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. He admitted it was “not a risk-free mission” and underlined that his team would be operating in Ukrainian sovereign territory but in cooperation with Russian forces.
Asked if he thought Russian troops would give his team full access, Grossi told reporters the IAEA was on a “technical mission” and that he was confident his team could work “on both sides.”
The IAEA said it seeks to bring clarity to the crisis with the mission, helping to address contradictory information about the status of the facility, its operation and the damage sustained.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s representative to the international organizations in Vienna, said on Wednesday that Russia welcomes the idea that IAEA experts could stay at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on a permanent basis.
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River. Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
(WASHINGTON) — “They know that I was working with the coalition forces,” Abdul, a former interpreter for the U.S. Marines said about the Taliban when ABC News spoke with him in June 2021. “If they take over Kabul, they will come, they will behead us, they will kill us. I know that I will be killed by the Taliban,” he told ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz.
Just two months later, the United States-backed Afghan government collapsed, and the Taliban swept through Kabul, taking over the country. Chaos ensued as thousands of Afghans rushed to the Kabul airport to flee, 13 U.S. service members, along with 170 Afghans were killed in a terrorist bombing, and a U.S. transport plane departed with Afghans clinging to its wheels.
“Those days were worst days in all [our] life — in all Afghanistan,” Abdul told ABC News this August. “There was no life, there was no future.”
“We lost almost — our everything, our dreams, our planning, what we wanted to do for our future,” Lima, his wife, added. ABC News is not using their full names to ensure their safety.
Having worked with the U.S., Abdul was immediately in danger. The Taliban came knocking on his door, he said, and he and his wife decided the only way they would see a future with their three young daughters — Susan, Hosai, and Uswa – was to escape.
“That was horrible when we were coming to [the] airport,” Hosai, 10, added as she said she remembered the gunfire and the harrowing journey to safety. “That was very horrible.”
The family made it to the Kabul airport. And with the help of Abdul’s American friends, in addition to ABC News, his family was able to make it out. First to Qatar, then to New Jersey, and finally to Northern Virginia, where his family is rebuilding their lives from scratch.
But Abdul and his family are the lucky ones — they’re the ones who got out, and have resettled successfully. Some 3.5 million Afghans are still displaced within Afghanistan, according to a United Nations Refugee Agency report from December. And while over 100,000 Afghans were airlifted out by the United States that August, many Afghans who have resettled in the United States are struggling.
Many Afghans have found their arrival riddled with red tape – from having difficulty receiving a Social Security number to finding affordable housing to remaining in constant limbo over their immigration status. Many Afghans came to the United States under so-called humanitarian parole, which lasts two years, and they now need to apply for asylum. But a Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University report found that asylum status is denied in 70% of cases.
Abdul and his family are the lucky ones. After attending a job fair, Abdul got hired by the Hilton Hotels chain to become a safety and security manager. He says he loves his job.
“I love the environment of my job especially,” Abdul said. “And I am sure I will get more opportunities because this is a land of opportunities.”
Abdul and his family have slowly been able to make their new home feel like the one they had to escape, decorating their living room floor with a bright red Afghan rug and having piping hot tea always ready to serve any guests.
Abdul’s three daughters have started the new school year — entering 8th grade, 5th grade, and 2nd grade.
“When we came here, it was like — [at] first, I didn’t feel like it was home, but after a month I [felt] like in my — I’m in my home,” Susan, 13, said. “So, it feels so good. I’m comfortable here. We are happy to be here in the United States.”
“Yeah,” Uswa, 6, added. “And I — and I feel safe here because there are no Taliban here.”
Abdul and Lima recognize that they are the lucky ones, especially since women in Afghanistan have lost many freedoms since the Taliban took over. They know escaping is the right decision.
“This is the place that they will have a great future,” Abdul said of his three girls. “And I’m happy. Everybody’s happy here right now. These five people are very happy and enjoying life in America.”
Vyacheslav Madiyevskyi/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 31, 10:45 AM EDT
IAEA mission arrives in Zaporizhzhia
A long-awaited expert mission from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog arrived in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s team will travel to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar on Thursday for the first time.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who is leading the mission, told reporters during a press briefing in Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday that the aim is for his team to establish a permanent presence at the Russian-occupied plant and that the initial phase would take “days.”
When asked if it was possible to demilitarize the site, Grossi said it was “a matter of political will” and that his mission is to preserve Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. He admitted it was “not a risk-free mission” and underlined that his team would be operating in Ukrainian sovereign territory but in cooperation with Russian forces.
Asked if he thought Russian troops would really give his team full access, Grossi told reporters the IAEA was on a “technical mission” and that he was confident his team could work “on both sides.”
Aug 30, 4:31 PM EDT
Blinken heralds arrival of first shipload of Ukrainian grain to drought-stricken Horn of Africa
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday celebrated the first shipment of Ukrainian grain to arrive in the Horn of Africa — a region facing dire hunger — since Russia’s invasion began.
“The United States welcomes the arrival in Djibouti of 23,300 metric tons of Ukrainian grain aboard the ship Brave Commander. This grain will be distributed within Ethiopia and Somalia, countries that are dangerously food insecure after four years of drought,” Blinken said in a statement.
This is the first shipload to reach the region since a United Nations-brokered deal that allowed ships to leave Ukraine’s ports again.
According to Ukrainian officials, dozens of ships have been able to safely navigate the Black Sea in recent weeks. But State Department officials have claimed Russian allies, like Syria, have unfairly benefitted from recent exports, proving detrimental to countries the World Food Programme has determined are facing a greater level of need.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Aug 30, 4:25 PM EDT
EU preemptively donates 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets to protect Ukrainians from potential radiation exposure
The European Commission said it received a request from the Ukrainian government on Friday for potassium iodide tablets as a preventative safety measure to increase the level of protection around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The European Response Coordination Centre quickly mobilized 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for Ukraine, including 5 million from the rescEU emergency reserves and 500,000 from Austria.
“No nuclear power plant should ever be used as a war theatre,” EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said. “It is unacceptable that civilian lives are put in danger. All military action around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant must stop immediately.”
-ABC News’ Max Uzol
Aug 30, 2:15 PM EDT
Sens. Klobuchar, Portman meet with Zelenskyy in Ukraine
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on a visit to the war-torn country.
“The support that the U.S. has given has been strongly bipartisan and we want that to continue,” Klobuchar told ABC News.
Portman noted the psychological advantage of Ukraine now making advances in Kherson, which was the first oblast taken by the Russians six months ago.
It shows that “even when the Russians are dug in, as they are in that region, that Ukrainians can make progress in an offensive,” he said. “And my hope is that we will continue to see that to the point that the Russians will finally come to the bargaining table and stop this illegal, totally unprovoked war on Ukraine.”
-ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud
Aug 30, 11:07 AM EDT
Russian forces shelling corridors leading to nuclear plant, Ukraine says
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russian forces are shelling corridors the International Atomic Energy Agency mission would take to reach the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine.
Podolyak said Russian forces are probably shelling the path to ensure the IAEA mission pass through Russian-controlled territory to reach the plant.
Aug 29, 4:38 PM EDT
Zelenskyy vows to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday vowed to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces.
“Ukraine is returning its own. And it will return the Kharkiv region, Luhansk region, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia region, Kherson region, Crimea. Definitely our entire water area of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, from Zmiinyi Island to the Kerch Strait,” he said in his daily address. “This will happen. This is ours. And just as our society understands it, I want the occupiers to understand it, too. There will be no place for them on Ukrainian land.”
Zelenskyy said his message to Russian fighters is that if they want to survive, it’s time for them to flee or surrender.
“The occupiers should know, we will oust them to the border — to our border, the line of which has not changed. The invaders know it well,” he said. “If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. Go home. If you are afraid to return to your home in Russia, well, let such occupiers surrender, and we will guarantee them compliance with all norms of the Geneva Conventions.”
Aug 29, 3:00 PM EDT
White House calls for controlled shutdown of Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactors, DMZ around plant
White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Russia should agree to a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and that a controlled shutdown of the reactors “would be the safest and least risky option in the near-term.”
Kirby also expressed support for the IAEA mission to the power plant.
“We fully support the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Grossi’s expert mission to the power plant, and we are glad that the team is on its way to ascertain the safety, security and safeguards of the systems there, as well as to evaluate the staff’s working conditions,” he said. “Russia should ensure safe, unfettered access for these independent inspectors.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Aug 29, 1:33 PM EDT
Ukrainian forces launch major counteroffensive
Ukrainian forces have launched a major counteroffensive in multiple directions in the southern part of Ukraine, Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Command, said Monday.
Humeniuk said the situation in the south remains “tense,” but controlled.
Ukrainians have been targeting strategic Russian command posts and slowly advancing toward Kherson for weeks. Kherson was first major city in the south to be captured by Russian forces following the invasion.
Russian military issued a statement confirming the offensive and claiming Ukraine sustained heavy losses.
Meanwhile, at least 12 missiles have struck Mykolaiv, which remains under Ukraine’s control in the south. Two people were killed and 24 were wounded, according to the governor of Mykolaiv Oblast.
-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Natalia Shumskaia
Aug 29, 12:47 PM EDT
Ukrainian official accused of treason is shot and killed
Oleksiy Kovalyov, a Ukrainian official who was accused of treason for openly collaborating with Russia, was shot and killed in his home on Sunday in Hola Prystan, Kherson Oblast, according to preliminary information from the Investigative Committee of Russia (SKR). An unidentified woman was also killed, SKR said.
Kovalyov was a Ukrainian lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party who was accused of treason; criminal proceedings were initiated by Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations in June. He is one of the highest-ranking Ukrainian defectors who fled to Kherson after the invasion and openly collaborated with Russia. He was appointed by the Russians as the deputy head of the Kherson Military-Civil Administration.
Aug 29, 12:19 PM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the IAEA team will travel to the plant via Ukrainian-controlled territory, state-run TASS reported.
The area around the nuclear plant is controlled by Russian forces. Peskov said once the IAEA team enters Russian-controlled territory, all necessary security will be provided.
Aug 29, 2:21 AM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
