(LVIV, Ukraine) — In southern Ukraine, far from the frontlines of the war, the planting season is set to begin. There, farmers are preparing for a crucial upcoming season, which will prove pivotal for not just Ukraine, but the global food supply in the months and years ahead, in what one farmer described as the “second frontline.”
The war has already ushered in a “staggering” humanitarian and economic crisis, according to Anna Bjerde, World Bank vice president for the Europe and Central Asia region, with the Ukrainian economy expected to shrink by 45% this year. Yet the crisis could extend far beyond the country’s borders, with Ukraine’s claim to be one of the world’s “breadbaskets” now at risk.
The country is a top ten global exporter of a number of key agricultural products, including wheat, barley, corn, sunflower oil, soybeans and poultry, and officials and farmers warn the disruption caused by the invasion will have global consequences.
At a NATO summit last month, President Joe Biden said leaders discussed food shortages, saying “it’s going to be real.”
Facing the realities of a land war in the country, farmers have been forced to improvise, but time is running out, Alex Lissitsa, a leading businessman and president of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, told ABC News.
“Farmers are very, very flexible and especially the Ukrainians are also very, very flexible and adaptive,” he said. “But right now, even the Ukrainian farmers did not expect the brutality of the Russians. We did not expect actually the whole infrastructure bill will be broken here… the main question is actually about the future because I did talk to two farmers; I did talk to companies and everybody has money left for the next four or five months. But if we cannot sell our products, if we don’t have access to the export markets and the world market, it’s done.”
“The majority of Ukrainian farmers will become bankrupt somewhere [around] the summer,” he added.
Food prices globally are already rising at the fastest rate in history, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture now estimating that Americans are likely to pay between 4.5%-5.5% more for food this year.
An estimated 70% of Ukraine — an area larger than Italy — is used as farmland, according to USAID. Russia has been accused by Ukrainian officials of destroying grain silos and key infrastructure during their invasion, as well as laying mines on significant areas of arable land.
Around 70% of Ukraine’s exports are moved by Black Sea ports, in places like Odessa and Mariupol, which have now been blocked from carrying out this function due to incessant Russian shelling.
“It’s quite clear that their goal is to create harm in Ukraine,” Taras Vysotskyi, Ukraine’s first deputy minister of Agriculture, told ABC News. “The main directions of destroying actual machinery, silos, fuel storages, animal farms and blocking the possibilities to export, which means less of cash, less of money for the agricultural producers to keep working and keep planting for the next season.”
Products, from maize to cattle, can be held in storage for varying amounts of time, but the longer the war drags on the more likely it will be that these cannot be exported and are at risk of being wasted, he said.
“If the ports keep blocked, it’s really a disaster for Ukraine agriculture because it has been export oriented, usually in the last decade, like 70%, 75% of all agricultural commodities have been exported, so we can’t consume them inside,” Vysotskyi said.
Around 300 million people are fed on Ukrainian products around the world on a yearly basis, Vysotskyi said, but current capacity — the export infrastructure is only working at 10% of the usual amount of goods — are leaving the country through alternative means, he said.
Russia, too, is a major player on the global agricultural stage, and senior official Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Russia “will supply food and crops only to our friends” this month, and the country’s increasing isolation on the global stage could have similar consequences to the disaster in Ukrainian agriculture.
Countries in Africa and the Middle East are particularly vulnerable to the crisis. Somalia and Benin have a total dependence on imports of mostly Russian and Ukrainian wheat, and many other countries rely on them for more than half their wheat imports, according to a rapid assessment by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
“The combination of very high prices of food and fuel and macroeconomic tightening will place severe pressure on households in developing countries: real incomes will be squeezed, and economic growth will be constrained,” the UNCTAD stated in its March assessment. “Even in the absence of disorderly moves in financial markets, developing economies will face severe constraints on growth and development.”
“Overall, the war is really going to damage international consumers and theirs, as well as countries where people are less rich,” Vysotskyi said. “Then of course, they will feel it more… So it wouldn’t be as a matter of price, it’s just that they can’t find it physically and what to eat.”
Both Lissitsa and Vysotskyi said a package of international financial support is vital to alleviate the crisis.
“Otherwise, we will have in one year even the war zone situation, because right now we’ll be discussing about global hunger,” Lissitsa said. “But if Ukrainian farmers will go bankrupt actually in that year, then next year will be even worse situation. I think the majority of the countries, especially when it comes to Africa but also in Asia, do not understand how serious is that problem.”
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian troops invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Russian forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.
In recent days, Russian forces have retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, the United States and European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 13, 8:11 pm
Blinken authorizes Pentagon to supply $800M of weapons to Ukraine
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has authorized the Pentagon to provide $800 million in new military aid to Ukraine that the White House announced earlier Wednesday.
Blinken said that though Ukrainian forces are “regaining ground,” the war is “far from over,” with Russia repositioning itself for renewed attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine.
“The United States, its Allies and partners must take action now to surge additional military assistance as Ukraine prepares for the next phase in the fight for its freedom and its very future,” Blinken said in a statement.
The new package includes increased capabilities, such as sea drones, armored vehicles and long-range artillery, he said.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Apr 13, 6:15 pm
US moving ‘as quickly as possible’ on latest Ukrainian military aid
The U.S. will be moving “as quickly as possible” to get the latest military aid announced Wednesday into Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
“We will literally start right away,” Kirby told reporters during a briefing Wednesday.
“We’re aware of the clock. And we know time is not our friend,” he continued.
The weapons systems, which include 155 mm howitzer artillery, are intended to help Ukraine fight against Russia in the eastern Donbas region and met requests that came from the Ukrainians, Kirby said.
“We tailored this list specifically to meet the needs that they have asked for, with respect to what’s going on in eastern Ukraine,” said Kirby. “That’s what’s really driving this.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Apr 13, 5:46 pm
Biden updates Zelenskyy on US support
President Joe Biden on Wednesday updated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on ongoing efforts the United States is making to provide Ukraine with additional military support, according to the White House.
Biden and Zelenskyy spoke by phone for nearly an hour.
The call comes as the White House is expected to announce as early as Wednesday afternoon an additional military assistance package to Ukraine that could be as much as $750 million and include a range of new military hardware.
During his latest national address, Zelenskyy said they spoke about the package, as well as “the prosecution of all Russian servicemen and commanders who committed war crimes” and international cooperation for such prosecution.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Apr 13, 5:01 pm
Russia threatens to strike ‘decision-making centers’ in Kyiv
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is threatening strikes against Ukrainian “decision-making centers,” including those in the capital of Kyiv, if alleged Ukrainian attacks and sabotage on Russian territory do not stop.
“We see attempts of sabotage and strikes by Ukrainian forces against facilities on Russian Federation territory,” the Russian military said in its daily update of its “special military operation” in Ukraine. “If such cases continue, the Russian Armed Forces will strike at decision-making centers, including in Kyiv, from which the Russian army has so far refrained.”
In its statement, the Russian Armed Forces claimed to have destroyed 36 enemy assets on Wednesday, including two repair bases, two missile-artillery weapon depots and the command post for the 15th Separate Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard.
Apr 13, 4:08 pm
Treasury Secretary Yellen presses China to get Russia to end war
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is pressuring China to convince Russia to end its war in Ukraine, citing the “special relationship” between the two countries.
“I fervently hope that China will make something positive of this relationship and help to end this war,” Yellen said Wednesday during remarks to the Atlantic Council.
Despite a virtual meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping back in March to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, China has remained neutral during the Russian invasion and has refused to openly condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.S. officials have said that it does not appear China has assisted with Moscow’s requests for military and economic help.
“Going forward, it will be increasingly difficult to separate economic issues from broader considerations of national interest, including national security,” Yellen said. “The world’s attitude towards China and its willingness to embrace further economic integration may well be affected by China’s reaction to our call for resolute action on Russia.”
Yellen noted that Beijing claims to respect sovereignty and territorial integrity and said now is the time for China to put some weight behind their commitments.
“China cannot expect the global community to respect its appeals to the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity in the future if does not respect these principles now when it counts,” Yellen said.
China and India have continued to do business with Russia despite the international condemnation of Putin’s invasion and severe sanctions by the United States and its Western allies.
Yellen warned that any assistance to help Russia undermine or evade sanctions will not be taken lightly.
“Let me now say a few words to those countries who are currently sitting on the fence, perhaps seeing an opportunity to gain by preserving their relationship with Russia and backfilling the void left by others: Such motivations are short-sighted,” Yellen said. “The future of our international order, both for peaceful security and economic prosperity, is at stake. This is an order that benefits us all. And let’s be clear, the unified coalition of sanctioning countries will not be indifferent to actions that undermine the sanctions we’ve put in place.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Apr 13, 2:36 pm
Biden announces new $800 million in military aid to Ukraine
President Joe Biden officially announced Wednesday that his administration is “authorizing an additional $800 million in weapons, ammunition, and other security assistance to Ukraine.”
Biden made the announcement in a statement released by the White House after he updated Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on the support during a phone call Wednesday morning.
Noting that Russia is preparing to focus its fight in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, Biden said the United States would continue to “provide Ukraine with the capabilities to defend itself.”
“This new package of assistance will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided and new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine. These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery rounds, and armored personnel carriers,” Biden said.
He added, “I have also approved the transfer of additional helicopters. In addition, we continue to facilitate the transfer of significant capabilities from our Allies and partners around the world.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Apr 13, 2:28 pm
Russia shows more signs of gearing up for new offensive
Russia is staging helicopters, artillery systems and troops in preparation for what is expected to be a renewed offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday.
Russian forces have been using the cities of Belgorod and Valuyki in Russia near Ukraine’s northeast border as primary sites to stage equipment and resupply troops, the official said. The United States is now seeing a third Russian town, Rovenki, also near the Ukraine northeast border, being used for that purpose.
The official said there’s already signs that Russian forces are on the move south to the Donbas region.
“We continue to see units flowing into the northern Luhansk Oblast, that north part of the Donbas,” the official said. “They’re flowing in from Valuyki and from that town called Rovenki.”
The long Russian convoy is heading south and, at last check, was near the city of Izium in eastern Ukraine, according to the official.
Other Russian troops to the south of Izium appear to be working to improve their mobility and firepower in the region, the official said.
“We’ve seen them try to erect a temporary bridge over a local river,” the official said. “They’re increasing their artillery in the area.”
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Apr 13, 1:48 pm
Biden updates Zelenskyy on US support
President Joe Biden on Wednesday updated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on ongoing efforts the United States is making to provide Ukraine with additional military support, according to the White House.
Biden and Zelenskyy spoke by phone for nearly an hour, but details of the conversation were not immediately released.
The call comes as the White House is expected to announce as early as Wednesday afternoon an additional military assistance package to Ukraine that could be as much as $750 million and include a range of new military hardware.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Apr 13, 12:29 pm
Bright moment in grim war as puppy pulled from rubble alive
In a brief moment of joy amidst the brutality of war, rescuers in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday pulled a puppy alive from the rubble of a bombed building, authorities said.
The rescue unfolded in Mykhailivka in the Donetsk region, according to the Donetsk Regional Police.
Police released a video showing rescuers digging through the rubble with bare hands to reach the trapped pooch. Rescuers said they heard the puppy whining as they were picking through the rubble.
“Thanks to the boys for doing everything quickly and promptly here,” said the dog’s owner while holding the trembling puppy in his arms
Apr 13, 11:36 am
Finland, Sweden discuss possibility of joining NATO
Finland and Sweden — both traditionally militarily neutral countries — are considering a dramatic pivot in their security policy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Leaders of both countries publicly stated during a joint press conference Wednesday that they are considering taking steps to join the NATO alliance.
“The European security architecture has changed fundamentally after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin said. “The change in the security landscape makes it necessary to analyze how we best secure peace for Finland and in our region in the future.”
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson added, “We have to really think through what is best for Sweden and our security and our peace in this new situation and, of course, what is happening and the discussion in Finland is important for us to follow. Therefore, we need to have a very close contact, but we have to have a process in Sweden to think this through.”
Last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he’s had close contact with political leaders of both countries and has conveyed that it’s up to them whether to decide joining NATO.
“But if they apply, I expect that 30 allies will welcome them and that we will find ways to also address the concerns they may have about this interim period between (when) they have applied and until the last ratifications has taken place,” Stoltenberg said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned that further expansion of NATO to include Finland and Sweden will not contribute to security in Europe.
“In itself, the alliance is rather a tool sharpened for confrontation, this is not an alliance that ensures peace and stability,” Peskov said, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Apr 13, 11:19 am
Water crisis worsens in eastern Ukraine as war devastates infrastructure: UNICEF
About 1.4 million people have been left without clean running water in war-torn eastern Ukraine and an estimated 4.6 million people across the country are at risk of losing their supply, the United Nations Children’s Fund reported Wednesday.
UNICEF officials said heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine, including the widespread use of explosive weapons in populated areas, has decimated a large part of the region’s water systems. The agency tallied 20 separate incidents in which water infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed and warned of a “risk of complete collapse.”
Damaged electrical grids have shut down water pumps and explosion-related damage to pipelines are disrupting the flow of water, according to UNICEF.
“Water is essential for life and a right for everyone,” Osnat Lubrani, the U.N. resident coordinator in Ukraine, said in a statement. “The health risks, particularly for children and the elderly, caused by water stoppages are severe, as people are forced to use dirty water sources, resulting in diarrhoea and other deadly infectious diseases.”
Murat Sahin, a UNICEF Ukraine representative, added that, “Young children who live in conflict zones are 20 times more likely to die from diarrheal diseases linked to unsafe water than from direct violence, as a result of war.”
In hard-hit Mariupol, which has been under siege since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, thousands of residents trapped in the city are seeking any water they can find and resorting to dirty water sources, according to UNICEF. Major cities across the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are also cut off from water supplies.
The water systems in Sumy, Chernihiv and Kharkiv have also been seriously damaged, UNICEF said. An additional 340,000 people are at risk of losing their water supply from a reservoir in Horlivka in the Donetsk region that is inching closer to running dry, according to UNICEF.
Agency officials said that prior to the invasion, much of the water systems in eastern Ukraine were already ailing after eight years of a low-grade conflict in the region.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Apr 13, 6:17 am
Russia says 1,026 Ukrainians surrendered in Mariupol
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed on Wednesday that more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered in besieged Mariupol, which is still held by Ukrainian forces.
“In Mariupol city, near the ‘Illich’ Steelworks, 1,026 Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th Marine Brigade have voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered as a result of a successful offensive by the Russian Armed Forces and Donetsk People’s Republic militia units,” the ministry said in a statement.
Russia said the surrendering troops included 162 officers and 47 women.
“151 wounded Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th Marine Brigade received primary medical care immediately on the spot, after that they were all taken to the Mariupol city hospital for further treatment,” the ministry said.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian troops invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Russian forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.
In recent days, Russian forces have retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, the United States and European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 14, 4:51 am
197 children killed in invasion, Ukraine says
At least 197 children have been killed in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on Thursday.
Another 351 children have been injured during the invasion, the office said. The actual number of casualties was assumed to be higher, because Ukraine’s official figures didn’t include “full consideration of places with active hostilities,” the office said.
Two children died after being hospitalized for injuries from a rocket attack on a train station in eastern Ukraine last Friday, according to Thursday’s update. Seven children have now died following that Russian attack, the update said.
Apr 13, 9:43 pm
Ukraine claims to have struck Russia’s Black Sea fleet flagship
Several Ukrainian government sources reported Wednesday that armed forces have struck Russia’s Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva.
The governor of Odesa Maksym Marchenko claimed on Telegram that two anti-ship cruise missiles struck the cruiser in the Black Sea, causing “very serious damage.”
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych and Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, reported there was an explosion and that the cruiser is on fire.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said a fire onboard the Moskva caused a subsequent broadside munitions explosion.
“The ship received serious damage, the crew was evacuated,” the ministry said, adding that an investigation is underway.
There was no mention of a missile strike in the ministry’s statement, which was carried by Russia’s state-run news agency TASS.
(NEW YORK) — Countries around the world will need to do more than make lofty climate promises — they will need to keep them to actually keep them to prevent global temperatures from getting to catastrophic levels.
Scientists are now painting a clearer picture on the likelihood of keeping global warming below the 2-degree Celsius mark since the Industrial Revolution, the “worst-case scenario” outlined in the Paris Agreement. A study published in Nature on Wednesday suggests that, while the climate pledges have the potential to mitigate warming, current trajectories based on how they are implemented show otherwise.
In the five years preceding COP26, 153 parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement submitted new or updated climate mitigation goals for 2030, and 75 parties provided longer-term targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But analyses of updated pledges made before COP26 suggest there was still a higher than 50% chance of temperatures exceeding 2 degrees Celsius, which would push global temperatures past the point that any human civilization in history has experienced.
When the researchers took into account the updated climate pledges made in October, they argued that there is still a chance to limit warming to just below 2 degrees Celsius, according to the study. The net-zero pledges are “big news,” because it is the first time governments have come forward with specific targets that hold temperatures below that 2-degree threshold, Christophe McGlade, head of the energy supply unit at the International Energy Agency and another one of the study’s authors, said during a news briefing on Tuesday.
The authors estimated that if all pledges are implemented in full and on time, peak warming could be limited to 1.9 to 2 degrees Celsius — still above the conservative figure established by the Paris Agreement at 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, chances are still low, experts say.
“Unfortunately, the revised pledges hold only a 6–10% chance of meeting the Paris Agreement’s more ambitious goal of limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 °C, unless substantially more mitigation action happens this decade,” the researchers said.
Long-term targets should be treated with “skepticism” if they are not supported by short-term commitments to put countries on a pathway to meet those targets in the next decade, the researchers said. Otherwise, the world is going to “blast through the remaining admission carbon budget for 1.5 degrees just this decade,” Malte Meinshausen, a climate scientist at the University of Melbourne and one of the authors of the study, said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
“It’s not a good news story, because our study clearly shows that increased action this decade is necessary for us to have a chance of not shooting past 1.5 degrees by a wide margin,” Meinshausen said.
In addition, based on the policies that governments currently have in place, the researchers estimate that it could lead to a whopping 2.6 degrees Celsius in warming by the end of the century if the climate goals are not implemented drastically in the upcoming years, said Christophe McGlade, head of the energy supply unit at the International Energy Agency and another one of the study’s authors, said during the briefing.
“This is clearly far too high, and will lead to massive climate damages around the world,” McGlade said.
(HONG KONG) — China’s largest city is buckling under its biggest COVID-19 outbreak of the pandemic, with infections continuing to rise, despite a strict lockdown of more than 25 million Shanghai residents.
Cases in Shanghai surged on Wednesday to another record high of 26,330, of which just 1,190 were symptomatic. There is no end in sight to the lockdown, despite there being no official deaths reported.
Yet the Chinese government continues to relentlessly pursue its no-tolerance ‘Zero-COVID’ strategy as the costs on the economy and social stability are mounting.
China has hit back at the United States for ordering its non-emergency consulate staff and diplomats’ families to leave the locked-down city, saying it was “weaponizing” the issue.
The U.S. State Department announced the decision on Monday, saying it was “due to a surge in COVID-19 cases and the impact of restrictions.”
The U.S. pointed to the risk of children and parents being separated by a policy that has now been partially relaxed.
In March, as Omicron snuck into the financial, commercial and shipping capital, Shanghai had vowed not to impose a lockdown. They reversed course as cases climbed. Two weeks later, the normally lively streets of Shanghai are eerily quiet, as its millions of residents underwent several rounds of mass testing.
Under the “Zero-COVID” policy, all infected people are sent to hospitals or isolation centers.
Shanghai resident and expat Alessandro Pavanello told ABC News that he was moved from his home to an isolation facility on April 9 after testing positive. He showed ABC the partitioned mass hall where he sleeps. He was given a bucket and cloth to wash himself at the sink, as there are no showers.
“Everyone is in close contact with each other, and, as you can imagine, there is absolutely no privacy,” Pavanello said.
Other Shanghai residents’ experiences have been less intensive. Jamie Peñaloza compared it to memories of summer camp: “Announcements, call to duty, chores, and rest time.”
Peñaloza, who lives in Shanghai’s affluent Former French Concession, told ABC News that the most “surreal” part of the lockdown is being told to go for testing at short notice.
Peñaloza described loudspeakers blaring, giving updates and the “get tested now” orders, over birdsong in her eerily quiet neighbourhood. She said the empty and off-limit roads are now populated only by blue and white protective gowns gliding along by foot, bicycle or ambulance.
“While the communication is unpredictable,” she said, “The procedures are very organised. At the blink of an eye, the streets were cordoned off and testing sites pitched up, with queues that moved fast and registration requiring no more than a few taps of a button on an app and a gowned attendant scanning the resulting QR on your phone screen.”
While some residents complained of food shortage, Peñaloza said the recent government rations to her compound have been plentiful: “Millions of individual grocery packages were bagged and distributed within two days, for each and every single household of each and every single building; imagine!”
Shanghai this week begin easing some movement for residents in low risk zones, but the restrictions could be tightened as soon as cases are detected in their areas again.
“One person can test positive and that just sets the score back to zero,” Peñaloza said.
Japanese bank Nomura estimates there are now almost 200 million people subject to partial or full lockdown across 23 Chinese cities, including Shanghai. The large southern port city of Guangzhou immediately ordered testing of its 18 million residents after detecting just three positive cases last Friday.
Truck drivers have been prevented from taking goods to major shipping ports in Shanghai, which may cause further disruptions to global supply chains. American companies operating in China, from Apple to Tesla, have also been impacted by their factories being unmanned.
“There are signs that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to implement this policy as the social economic cost is rising rapidly and exponentially in a way,” said Yanzhong Huang, a public health expert at the Council on Foreign Relations in the U.S.
Huang said that prolonged lockdowns in Shanghai could hurt the competitiveness of China’s export economy in the longer term, especially as the city contributes to about a third of China’s total GDP.
“When other countries now are learning to coexist with the virus and their economy and the manufacturing capacity recovered by China’s, the export sector will be affected,” Huang said.
But, for now, China is doubling down.
Liang Wannian, head of China’s National Health Commission COVID-19 response expert panel and one of the principal architects of the “Zero-COVID” strategy, said earlier this week that China “doesn’t believe in ‘laissez-faire’.
”Dynamic Zero COVID is a scientific policy that, if implemented properly and correctly, will yield the most benefits at a minimal cost,” Liang said, “China will stick to this policy under the guideline of putting people and their lives first.”
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian troops invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Russian forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.
In recent days, Russian forces have retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, the United States and European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 13, 6:17 am
Russia says 1,026 Ukrainians surrendered in Mariupol
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed on Wednesday that more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered in besieged Mariupol, which is still held by Ukrainian forces.
“In Mariupol city, near the ‘Illich’ Steelworks, 1,026 Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th Marine Brigade have voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered as a result of a successful offensive by the Russian Armed Forces and Donetsk People’s Republic militia units,” the ministry said in a statement.
Russia said the surrendering troops included 162 officers and 47 women.
“151 wounded Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th Marine Brigade received primary medical care immediately on the spot, after that they were all taken to the Mariupol city hospital for further treatment,” the ministry said.
Maximilian Clarke/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Tens of thousands of civilians could be dead in Mariupol, the city’s mayor said, as analysts warn that Russia is regrouping for a renewed assault on eastern Ukraine.
While there is no confirmed number of casualties, Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of Mariupol, suggested in an interview that the number of dead could be well over 10,000 in the coastal town, the site of some of the worst bombardment since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.
Russian airstrikes have battered the southeastern city over the past few weeks targeting all kinds of buildings, including a theatre housing those seeking refuge, a maternity hospital and an art school. Officials say that over 80 percent of the city is destroyed.
With the city almost completely cut off from the outside world, it has been difficult for the authorities to verify atrocities alleged to have been committed on the ground, including claims made Monday by the Azov battalion, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian National Guard, that Russia may have used chemical weapons against the Ukrainian forces in the city.
The claims could not be independently verified by ABC News.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office and the country’s ministry of defense said they are investigating the claims.
“We are currently confirming this information, trying to understand what it was. According to preliminary information, we can say that it is possible– that it was, rather, a phosphorous munition. Official information will be finalized later,” Deputy Minister of Defence Hanna Maliar said during a national news broadcast.
A spokesman for Russian-backed separatists, Eduard Basurin, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying Tuesday that they “haven’t used any chemical weapons in Mariupol.”
But on the eve of the alleged attack, Basurin made the case on Russian TV that his forces should use chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops to “smoke them out.”
Late on Monday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby issued a statement saying that the use of a substance cannot be confirmed, but expressed concerns about Russia’s potential use of “riot control agents including tear gas mixed with chemical agents.”
“We are aware of social media reports which claim Russian forces deployed a potential chemical munition in Mariupol, Ukraine. We cannot confirm at this time and will continue to monitor the situation closely. These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine,” the statement reads.
Britain’s armed forces minister said on Tuesday that should Russia resort to the use of chemical weapons in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, “all possible options are on the table in terms of how the West might respond” in response to the speculation, saying the reports had not been verified.
Whether or not phosphorous is considered a chemical weapon is a topic of debate among militaries and governments.
Although phosphorus is not classified as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Geneva Convention forbids its use as an incendiary weapon in civilian areas.
Amidst the reports of Russia regrouping behind its own borders, the British Ministry of Defense warned today that the fighting is set to intensify over the next two-three weeks with a renewed assault.
“Fighting in eastern Ukraine will intensify over the next two to three weeks as Russia continues to refocus its efforts there,” the U.K.’s ministry of defense stated in a tweet.
“Russian attacks remain focused on Ukrainian positions near Donetsk and Luhansk with further fighting around Kherson and Mykolaiv and a renewed push towards Kramatorsk. Russian forces continue to withdraw from Belarus in order to redeploy in support of operations in eastern Ukraine,” the post added.
(LONDON) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was fined in connection with the police investigation into illegal parties and gatherings held at his residence and other government premises during coronavirus-induced lockdowns, Downing Street confirmed Tuesday.
Johnson is the first sitting prime minister in U.K.’s history to have broken the law while in office.
Johnson, his wife, Carrie, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak have all been handed fines in connection with a host of lockdown breaches reported last year. Details as to how much the fines were worth, or which gatherings they were issued in connection with, were scant.
“The Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer have today received notification that the Metropolitan Police intend to issue them with fixed penalty notices,” a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement. “We have no further details, but we will update you again when we do.”
The investigation into a number of events held at Downing Street by the prime minister’s staff while the country was under lockdown conditions dominated headlines earlier this year. U.K.’s Metropolitan Police Service announced it was investigating at least eight gatherings, and they were currently examining over 500 documents and 300 images provided to them by a separate, internal investigation led by top civil servant, Sue Gray.
A number of gatherings during lockdown took place at government residences, including a Christmas event, two leaving parties for departing staff and a summer gathering in the Downing Street garden, where up to 100 staffers were invited to bring their own alcoholic drinks. The Prime Minister has previously denied any wrongdoing, though recieved backlash for saying he believed that one of the gatherings, where pictures were leaked to the press of staff drinking alcohol, was a “work event.”
The announcement that Johnson and Sunak are to be issued with fixed penalty notices — fines which must be paid to avert criminal proceedings — came a day after the Metropolitan Police announced an update to their investigation, saying at least 50 people have been fined so far.
Though media attention soon turned to the prime minister’s handling of the crisis in Ukraine, where he has taken a strong line against Russia and was recently pictured with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, the announcement of the fines has led to fresh calls for his resignation.
While Parliament is in recess, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, has already called for both Johnson and Sunak to resign.
“Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have broken the law and repeatedly lied to the British public,” he posted on Twitter. “They must both resign. The Conservatives are totally unfit to govern. Britain deserves better.”
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian troops invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Russian forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.
In recent days, Russian forces have retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, the United States and European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 12, 9:28 pm
White House could announce up to $750M in new Ukrainian military aid, official says
The Biden administration could announce as early as Wednesday upward of $750 million in additional military assistance to Ukraine, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The new assistance could possibly include a range of military hardware — including howitzers, artillery and Humvees — though the full package still needs to be finalized, the official said.
Apr 12, 6:48 pm
Biden uses ‘genocide’ for first time regarding Ukraine
President Joe Biden used the word “genocide” for the first time to describe Russia’s actions in Ukraine during remarks on Tuesday.
“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank — none of it should on hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away,” Biden said in Menlo, Iowa, during remarks primarily about the U.S. economy.
Biden was asked by reporters on April 4 if he thought the atrocities in Bucha were a genocide, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had claimed. “No, I think it is a war crime,” Biden responded then.
That same day, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the administration had not yet seen the “systematic deprivation of life” necessary to meet the definition of genocide.
Biden confirmed his word choice to the White House pool Tuesday evening before boarding Air Force One, saying that since last week the “evidence is mounting.”
“Yes, I called it genocide,” Biden said. “Because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a Ukrainian.”
He then qualified that the determination of genocide is officially up to legal experts, but that “it sure seems that way to me.”
-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky
Apr 12, 6:42 pm
White House could announce up to $750M in new Ukrainian military aid, official says
The Biden administration could announce as early as Wednesday upward of $750 million in additional military assistance to Ukraine, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The new assistance could possibly include a range of military hardware — including howitzers, artillery, Humvees and Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters originally intended for Afghanistan’s military — though the full package still needs to be finalized, the official said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Apr 12, 5:56 pm
Biden uses ‘genocide’ for first time regarding Ukraine
President Joe Biden used the word “genocide” for the first time to describe Russia’s actions in Ukraine during remarks on Tuesday.
“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank — none of it should on hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away,” Biden said in Menlo, Iowa, during remarks primarily about the U.S. economy.
Biden was asked by reporters on April 4 if he thought the atrocities in Bucha were a genocide, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had claimed. “No, I think it is a war crime,” Biden responded then.
That same day, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the administration had not yet seen the “systematic deprivation of life” necessary to meet the definition of genocide.
It is unclear if Biden’s latest remarks were an ad-lib or represent an intentional shift in the White House’s position.
-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky
Apr 12, 5:34 pm
US State Department condemns arrest of Russian opposition activist
The U.S. State Department is condemning the arrest in Russia of Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition activist and critic of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Kara-Murza’s arrest on Monday is another example of a Russian government “that is more aggressive beyond its borders and more oppressive within its borders.”
He condemned Kara-Murza’s arrest, noting that the activist has previously been arrested by Russian authorities and that he has survived two poisoning incidents.
“The Russian people — and this is the key point — like people everywhere, have the right to speak freely, to form peaceful associations, to exercise their freedom of expression and to have their voices heard through free and fair elections,” Price said.
Kara-Murza, a Washington Post columnist who has testified before Congress, survived poisoning incidents in 2015 and in 2017. At the time of his second poisoning, Kara-Murza’s wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, gave an exclusive interview to ABC News in which she pleaded for then-President Donald Trump to support her husband and warned that Putin “cannot be dealt with on friendly terms.”
Following her husband’s arrest this week, Evgenia Kara-Murza posted a message on Twitter calling attention to her husband’s arrest.
“Twice have the Russian authorities tried to kill my husband for advocating for sanctions against thieves and murderers, and now they want to throw him in prison for calling their bloody war a WAR. I demand my husband’s immediate release!” Evgenia Kara-Murza, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area, tweeted.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Apr 12, 4:04 pm
Pro-Russian oligarch captured in Ukraine: Zelenskyy
Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian oligarch and personal friend of Vladimir Putin, has been captured in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy posted a photo on his official Telegram account of the captured Medvedchuk in handcuffs and wearing military fatigues.
The photo was accompanied by a caption praising the Security Service of Ukraine’s “special operation” that led to Medvedchuk’s capture. “Well done! Details later. Glory to Ukraine,” the caption reads.
Medvedchuk is a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and leader of Ukraine’s Opposition Platform.
In May 2021, Ukraine indicted Medvedchuk on charges of treason and attempting to steal natural resources from Russia-annexed Crimea. He was initially placed under house arrest in Ukraine but escaped just days after the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24.
Medvedchuk’s detention was also confirmed by Ukraine’s Security Service on their official Facebook page. The agency said Medvedchuk was wearing a uniform from the Ukrainian armed forces to disguise himself.
Medvedchuk is a business oligarch in Ukraine with very close ties to Putin. The Ukrainian National News Agency reported that Putin is the godfather of one of Medvedchuk’s daughters.
Apr 12, 2:34 pm
Biden, British prime minister discuss more Ukraine assistance
President Joe Biden spoke with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson by phone Tuesday about the need to accelerate military and economic assistance to Ukraine, according to a spokesperson for Johnson.
“The Prime Minister updated President Biden on his recent visit to Kyiv, and said he had been humbled by President Zelenskyy’s strength and resolve,” the spokesperson said.
The leaders discussed the need to accelerate assistance to Ukraine, including bolstering military and economic support as Ukrainian forces prepare for another Russian onslaught in the east of the country.
“The prime minister paid tribute to the U.S.’ colossal military contribution to Ukraine, and updated on the U.K.’s new package of support, including anti-ship missiles and military vehicles, which would arrive in the coming days and weeks,” the spokesperson said. “Both leaders were clear that Putin would never be able to hold down the spirit of the Ukrainian people, despite his monstrous attempts.”
The most recent $800 million U.S. military aid package for Ukraine has mostly been delivered and will be completed in the coming days, a U.S. defense official said Tuesday.
“Yesterday, two U.S. flights arrived in the region with everything from small-arms ammunition, machine guns, body armor, grenades and other explosives,” the official said.
So far, the United States has sent 19 out of an expected 20 flights needed to deliver the $800 million package.
Johnson, according to his spokesperson, told Biden that a long-term commitment to Ukraine was needed from the international community to ensure the Ukrainian people’s vision for their country’s freedom can be realized.
“The pair also agreed to continue joint efforts to ratchet up the economic pressure on Putin and decisively end Western reliance on Russian oil and gas,” Johnson’s spokesperson said.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Apr 12, 1:44 pm
403 bodies recovered in Bucha: Mayor
In a televised announcement on Tuesday, Anatoliy Fedoruk, the mayor of Bucha, Ukraine, said that the bodies of 403 people presumably killed by Russian forces have been recovered in his city and that he expects the number to rise.
Fedoruk said 16 residents of Bucha remain unaccounted for and are presumed dead.
He said 163 of the 403 bodies recovered have been identified.
Fedoruk alleged last week that nearly all of those killed in Bucha are civilians.
Surviving residents of the besieged town told an ABC News crew in Bucha last week that Russian troops allegedly tortured people before killing them and executed many men under the age of 50.
When ABC News arrived in Bucha on Tuesday, bodies still lay in the streets.
Russia has denied committing atrocities in Ukraine and said it is not targeting civilians.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Apr 12, 1:10 pm
US concerned Russia could disguise chemical weapons: Official
A senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday that the United States cannot confirm whether Russia used chemical agents in Mariupol or elsewhere in Ukraine but that the Pentagon is concerned Russian forces could disguise such attacks.
The Department of Defense has seen evidence Russia has considered disguising the use of chemical weapons by making them appear to be more benign riot control agents, the official said.
“In the past we’ve had indications that that could be one thing that the Russians look at is the potential mixing of agents with the idea that they could disguise a more serious attack by using the vehicle and the techniques of riot control agents,” the official said.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby released a similar statement Monday night to address social media reports claiming Russia used a chemical weapon in Mariupol.
“These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Apr 12, 12:42 pm
Blinken meets with UN refugee chief amid Ukraine crisis
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was meeting Tuesday morning with U.N. refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi amid the crisis in Ukraine and other upheavals that have displaced people around the globe.
“We’ve only seen that challenge increase and, of course, Ukraine is now added to the mix with Russian aggression displacing, within Ukraine or outside of Ukraine, two-thirds of the children in that country, as well as, of course, many, many adults,” Blinken said while sitting across the table from Grandi.
There are some 95 million people displaced across the globe, with the number of refugees alone larger than the populations of Spain or South Korea, Blinken said.
Blinken added the United States is “grateful” for the work the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is doing to meet the needs of refugees. He said the United States is working with the agency to both resettle refugees in the United States and care for refugee populations overseas.
Grandi praised the United States for being the largest donor and the largest resettlement country for refugees.
But weeks after the Biden administration said it would admit up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, Grandi said the White House has released no details about how the United States will do that.
“This figure that he (Blinken) mentioned — 95 million — maybe 96 million by today, who knows?” Grandi said, adding that the number of refugees had gone up by 12 million in less than two months with the crisis in Ukraine.
Grandi noted other crises from Afghanistan to Africa and Venezuela that have displaced people and said of Russia’s war in Ukraine, “That crisis should not make us forget everything else.”
-ABC News Conor Finnegan
Apr 12, 8:59 am
Putin calls Russia’s objectives in Ukraine ‘noble’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his country’s “special military operation” in Ukraine would undoubtedly achieve its “noble” objectives.”
“On the one hand, we are helping and saving people, and on the other, we are simply taking measures to ensure the security of Russia itself,” Putin said, according to Russian news agencies. “It’s clear that we didn’t have a choice. It was the right decision.”
Putin made the comments while visiting the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport in the Amur Oblast in the Russian Far East, to mark Russia’s annual Cosmonautics Day.
He was joined by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The two leaders held talks on bilateral relations and the situation in Ukraine, without the participation of Russian or Ukrainian delegations.
Apr 12, 8:07 am
Nine humanitarian corridors to open in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday
Nine humanitarian corridors are expected to open in eastern Ukraine again on Tuesday to allow civilians escape heavy fighting, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
She said in a statement via social media Tuesday that evacuation routes were agreed upon for those traveling by private cars from besieged Mariupol in the Donetsk Oblast, as well as from Berdyansk, Tokmak and Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast — all of which lead to the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
In the Luhansk Oblast, Vereshchuk said routes were established from the cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Hirske and Rubizhne, leading to the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk Oblast.
The same routes were opened Monday, allowing a total of 4,354 people to evacuate via buses and private cars, according to Vereshchuk. However, Vereshchuk said buses carrying people from Berdyansk, Tokmak and Enerhodar to Zaporizhzhia city were being held up by Russian forces at a checkpoint in Vasylivka for a third day in a row.
Apr 12, 7:26 am
Ukraine investigating alleged chemical attack in Mariupol
Ukraine announced Tuesday it is investigating claims that chemical weapons were used in an attack against Ukrainian soldiers in besieged Mariupol.
The Azov Regiment, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian National Guard, alleged in a statement via Telegram on Monday that a Russian drone had dropped “a poisonous substance of unknown origin” on its fighters defending a giant metals plant in Mariupol, a southeastern port city in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast that has been subjected to heavy bombardment since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24. The Azov, which did not provide evidence of the alleged attack, said its fighters had suffered minor injuries.
The claims could not be independently verified by ABC News.
Eduard Basurin, a spokesperson for Russia-backed separatist forces in Donetsk Oblast, denied the allegations, telling Russian news agency Interfax that separatist forces “haven’t used any chemical weapons in Mariupol.” However, on the eve of the alleged attack, Basurin appeared to urge their use, telling Russian state media that Russia-backed forces should seize the Mariupol metals plant from Ukrainian soldiers by blocking all the exits and using “chemical troops to smoke them out.”
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Tuesday the government is investigating the claims, adding that preliminary information suggested phosphorous munition had been used.
When deployed as a weapon, phosphorus can inflict excruciating burns and lead to infection, shock and organ failure. Although phosphorus is not classified as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention, its use as an incendiary weapon in civilian areas is forbidden under the Geneva Conventions.
The United Kingdom is “working urgently” to investigate the reports, according to U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who noted that any confirmed use of chemical weapons in Mariupol would be a “callous escalation” of the war.
U.K. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey told Sky News on Tuesday that “all options are on the table in terms of how the West might respond.”
Meanwhile, the United States said it was “aware” of the reports.
“We cannot confirm at this time and will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement Monday. “These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine.”
(NEW YORK) — An American family living in Poland is doing what it can to help Ukrainian refugees in need amid the war.
In February, OT and Julie Benson and five of their eight kids moved from the Detroit suburbs to Krakow, Poland, looking for an adventure. But nearly a month after arriving in Poland, their lives changed instantly when Russia invaded Ukraine.
The couple told ABC News’ Good Morning America that they couldn’t turn a blind eye.
“When you’re staring [at] refugees who have been traveling for many days, and they have nothing but the clothes on their backs, you don’t really make a plan, you just say yes, and I’ll figure it out,” OT Benson said.
It was at a church during those first few days of the war when OT decided to heed the Bishop’s call to house Ukrainian refugees in his own home.
Over the past four weeks, the Benson’s house has been a home for at least nine families — some staying the night, others for weeks. At one point, OT and Julie packed the house with 21 people.
“Our job is trying to make them feel safe,” Julie Benson said. “Make them feel like they’re with us, that they are like at their home. So that’s what we’re trying to do. And every day see them happy, smiling — I think that is the best reward.”
The couple’s daughter, Leo, said she was nervous at first living in a full house, but she said welcoming their home to those in need was humbling.
“We had our first group of people stay with us, and they were so amazing and so kind and genuine,” Leo Benson said. “It was really humbling to see them. I don’t even know how I can express it into better words. I just love them so much.”
“This family is great,” Oksana Tymchenko told GMA of the Bensons. Oksana is staying with the family with her three daughters, but her husband had to stay and fight in Ukraine. She said her daughters miss their dad, but living with the Bensons has helped keep their spirits up.
“I’d never expected they’d receive us like that,” Tymchenko said. “Like their own children. We don’t even have a language barrier — they understand us, we understand them.”
The Bensons said hosting refugees has shown how the war has impacted families like Oksana’s.
“We had boys that would be here like in the backyard playing and they would see a plane fly over and react in very scary ways screaming,” OT Benson said. “The other kids would say, ‘Rocket, rocket’ — it looks like something they saw a few weeks ago.”
While the Bensons and the families who stay with them are still learning to adapt, the Bensons said they are also learning from their own kids, who they said are also changing from the experience too.
“I would say certainly when living in the U.S., you feel disconnected with this kind of thing. Think they come quickly to the realization that this is a different place, a different time, and it makes you grow up a lot faster,” OT Benson said. “Which for me as a dad I’m glad that they can do that, that they can see that and I want them to understand what it means to serve others and help others.”
