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(NEW YORK) — More than 10 months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.

Putin’s forces in November pulled out of key positions, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Jan 05, 10:57 AM EST
Putin calls for Orthodox Christmas truce

Russian President Valdimir Putin has called for a temporary cease-fire in the war with Ukraine to observe Orthodox Christmas, according to the Kremlin.

Putin proposed a cease-fire beginning at noon on Friday and ending at midnight Saturday, according to the Kremlin. Orthodox Christmas Day is on Saturday.

Putin instructed his minister of defense, Sergei Shoigu, to introduce the ceasefire along the entire line of contact between the warring countries in Ukraine during the holiday.

The Kremlin said the truce is being called for with “Christian love, true faith and crystal truthfulness.”

There was no immediate response from Ukraine on whether its forces would abide by the truce.

Jan 05, 4:31 AM EST
Moscow religious leader calls for Christmas truce

On the eve of the Orthodox Christmas, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia called for the establishment of a Christmas truce in the zone of military activities.

“I, Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, appeal to all parties involved in the internecine conflict to cease fire and establish a Christmas truce from 12.00 on January 6 to 24.00 on January 7, so that Orthodox people can attend services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” the patriarch said in a statement, published on Thursday on the website of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Jan 04, 5:29 PM EST
Biden confirms that US considering sending Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine

President Joe Biden told reporters Wednesday the U.S. is considering giving Ukrainian troops Bradley Fighting Vehicles, confirming earlier reports that such a deal was in the works.

A Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle is the U.S. Army’s main armored fighting vehicle for transporting troops into combat.

It is a light armored vehicle equipped with a 25mm gun that can push through enemy lines and can take on tanks.

Ukrainian officials have been asking for the vehicle to bolster their forces.

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Jan 04, 1:21 PM EST
Putin sends new hypersonic cruise missiles into combat service

A Russian frigate armed with new hypersonic Zircon cruise missiles has been sent to active duty.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement during a video meeting on Wednesday with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Igor Krokhmal, commander of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate.

“I’m sure that such a powerful weapon will let Russia defend against potential external threats and will contribute to protect national interests of our country,” Putin said.

Shoigu added: “The focus of this deployment will be to counteract threats facing Russia and to maintain regional peace and stability together with friendly countries.”

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Jan 04, 8:57 AM EST
Ukraine locates Russian outpost via data on soldiers’ cellphones

Russian soldiers using their mobile phones just after midnight on New Year’s provided Ukraine with the data to locate a Russian outpost in the city of Makiivka ahead of Ukraine’s deadly attack, according to Russia.

Six rockets were fired from U.S.-made HIMAR rocket launchers.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said 89 soldiers were killed in the attack but Ukrainian officials claim the death toll is much higher. Russian authorities have not yet compiled lists of the wounded and dead.

During an evening address Monday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is preparing a long-term attack by drones to exhaust Ukrainian air defense.

Just two days into the new year, he said the country’s defense forces shot down more than 80 Shahed drones, which are made by Iran.

“This number may increase in the near future. We have information that Russia is planning a prolonged attack,” Zelenskyy said.

“Its bet may be on exhaustion. To the exhaustion of our people, our air defense, our energy. But we must do — and we will do everything — so that this goal of the terrorists fails, like all the others.”

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 31, 8:14 AM EST

1 dead, 7 injured after Russia launches missile strike against Kyiv

At least one person has been killed and seven people have been injured after Russia launched a barrage of missiles on Kyiv on New Year’s Eve.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported destruction across several districts with a luxury hotel, a bridge and police stations among the locations impacted.

It’s currently unclear how many locations have been destroyed as a result of direct hits and how many were from falling debris from intercepted rockets.

New Year’s Eve is one of Ukraine’s biggest holidays.

Dec 30, 10:28 AM EST
Putin expects China’s Xi to make state visit in spring

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he’s expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit to Russia in the spring of 2023.

Putin said he’s looking to deepen military cooperation between the two nations.

Putin said the visit would “demonstrate to the world the closeness of Russian-Chinese relations.”

Dec 29, 5:08 PM EST
Zelenskyy praises Air Force for ‘repelling’ Russian missile barrage

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is praising his country’s air defense, saying it “successfully repelled” a barrage of Russian missiles fired at Kyiv and other targets early Thursday.

Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian Air Force shot down 54 missiles and 11 attack drones.

“Our warriors all over Ukraine distinguished themselves and I thank all our Air Commands: Center, South, East and West,” Zelenskyy said.

He specifically cited the efforts of the 96th Kyiv, 160th Odesa and the 208th Kherson anti-aircraft missile brigades, saying their “results are the best today.”

Zelenskyy said several Russian missiles evaded Ukraine’s air defense and hit several infrastructure targets.

“Our power engineers and repair crews are doing everything to make Ukrainians feel the consequences of the terrorists’ strike as little as possible,” Zelenskyy said.

As of Thursday evening, he said there were power outages in most regions of Ukraine, including the capital city Kyiv as well as the Lviv, Odesa, Kherson, Vinnytsia and Zakarpattia regions.

“But this is nothing compared to what could have happened, if it was not for our heroic anti-aircraft troops and air defense,” Zelenskyy said.

Dec 29, 11:40 AM EST
Ukrainian missile shot down in Belarus: Defense ministry

Belarus’ defense ministry said its air defenses had downed a Ukrainian S-300 missile in a field on Thursday morning during one of Russia’s largest missile attacks against Ukraine since the start of the war.

The military commissar of the Brest region, Oleg Konovalov, played down the incident in a video message posted on social media by the state-run BelTA news agency, saying local residents had “absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“Unfortunately, these things happen,” Konovalov said.

He compared the incident to one in November when an S-300 believed to have strayed after being fired by Ukrainian air defenses landed in NATO member country Poland, and initial fears of an escalation in the war were rapidly defused.

Konovalov said the Ukrainian missile was shot down by the air defense forces around 10 a.m. local time Thursday. Fragments of the downed missile were found near the village of Gorbakha in the Brest region.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 29, 10:32 AM EST
Russia continues ‘escalating’ missile campaign, US Embassy says

Moscow has been “cruelly” targeting Ukrainian civilians by launching attacks against utilities during the winter, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on Thursday.

The rebuke came as Russia fired missiles at cities throughout the country on Thursday. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army said 69 missiles were launched, fewer than the 100 missiles that officials had estimated earlier in the morning. Officials said 54 missiles were intercepted.

Two civilians were killed as a result of shelling in the Kharkiv area, according to the region’s governor.

“The Kremlin continues its escalating campaign of missile attacks, cruelly wielding cold & dark against” Ukrainians, U.S. Embassy officials said on Twitter. “Families are again hunkering down as critical infrastructure & other targets across the country are attacked.”

Air raid sirens started wailing before 6 a.m. local time across Ukraine, sending residents scrambling into underground shelters in several cities. Missiles landed in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv and Zhtomyr.

Ukraine’s defense systems intercepted some missiles, including 16 that were shot down near Kyiv, the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Two homes in Kyiv were damaged by falling debris and three people were injured, he said.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said Russia had been “saving one of the most massive missile attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion for the last days of the year.”

“They dream that Ukrainians will celebrate the New Year in darkness and cold,” officials said. “But they cannot defeat the Ukrainian people.”

-ABC News’ Britt Clennett and Joe Simonetti

Dec 29, 2:29 AM EST
More than 100 Russian missiles fired at Ukraine

Russian forces early on Thursday launched a missile strike on Ukraine.

More than 100 rockets were fired in several waves, Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Twitter. Some rockets were reportedly fired from carriers in the sea, while others were reportedly fired by at least a dozen fighter aircraft.

Another presidential advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that more than 120 missiles had been launched “by the ‘evil Russian world’ to destroy critical infrastructure & kill civilians en masse.”

At least one loud explosion was heard in Kyiv, where air raid sirens were ringing for several hours on Thursday morning.

Dec 28, 1:58 PM EST
Kremlin rejects Ukraine’s Feburary ‘peace summit’

Russia has rejected a proposal from Ukraine to hold a “peace summit” in February, according to a Kremlin official.

“There is no ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine for now, that’s for starters,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wenderday. “Besides, there can be no ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine, which disregards today’s realities on Russian territory, the entry of new regions, four of them, into Russia.”

Peskov was apparently referring to recent Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia, including one this week at the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia that killed three Russian soldiers.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 27, 1:13 PM EST
Putin bans sending Russian oil to countries imposing a price cap

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Tuesday that not only rejects a price cap on the country’s oil but bans sending crude and other petroleum products to any country that has endorsed the price cap.

The Group of Seven countries, including the United States, agreed on Dec. 3 to impose a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Australia and the European Union also agreed to impose the price cap.

The decree Putin signed goes into effect on Feb. 1 and is valid until July 1, 2023.

The decree bans the supply of oil and oil products from Russia to those countries that place a price ceiling on contracts. The decree also forbids the supply of oil to other foreign buyers whose contracts use a price cap mechanism.

The decree includes a clause allowing Putin to overrule the ban in special cases to be determined by the Russian leader.

The price cap on Russian oil implemented by G-7 nations disallows the world’s second-largest oil exporter from selling crude at a price above $60 per barrel.

Since the outset of its war with Ukraine, Russia has sold its oil at discounted prices. As of Tuesday, Russian Urals crude was trading at $57 per barrel — an amount slightly less than the cap. But the price cap aims to ensure that Russian oil sales remain well below global oil prices, which stand at about $80 per barrel.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 26, 7:40 AM EST
Ukraine strikes bomber base in Russia, killing three

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia killed three, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said.

A spokesman for Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the attack, saying, “If the Russians thought the war would not touch them they were wrong.”

Russian air defence reportedly shot down a Ukrainian drone flying at low altitude, but falling debris caused the casualties in the overnight attack.

The Engels base lies just over 300 miles northeast of Ukraine’s border with Russia. The facility has been repeatedly used by Russia to carry out missile strikes on targets in Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces had attacked another Russian air base on Dec. 5, killing three and damaging two strategic bombers.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ROME) — Pope Francis on Thursday paid homage to his friend and retired predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, by presiding over his funeral mass at the Vatican, an unprecedented event in the modern Catholic Church.

Benedict, who died on Saturday at the age of 95, stunned worshipers in 2013 when he became the first pope to resign in more than 600 years. His funeral marked the first time a supreme pontiff presided over the previous pope’s funeral in modern times, according to church scholars.

Thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday morning. The funeral procession began before the last of the morning fog had burned off the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, where Benedict had lied in state. The mass began at 9:30 a.m. local time, moments after Benedict’s coffin had been carried into the square. Francis arrived in a wheelchair.

Francis opened his homily with Jesus’ last words, which were spoken on the cross, saying, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Francis spoke in Italian of the spirit of life that “quietly inspires us,” adding that the spirit “wishes to shape the heart of every pastor, until it is attuned to the heart of Christ Jesus.”

“Like the Master, a shepherd bears the burden of interceding and the strain of anointing his people, especially in situations where goodness must struggle to prevail and the dignity of our brothers and sisters is threatened,” he said.

He also spoke of friendship, likening it to a sustaining force amid a “shipwreck of the present life,” as Saint Gregory the Great had written in Pastoral Rule, a guide for leaders.

Francis closed his eulogy by saying, “Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!”

The ceremony had been planned to be “roughly similar” to those held for pontiffs who’ve died while still leading the church, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told reporters on Wednesday.

“The missing elements are those most pertinent to a reigning pontiff,” Bruni said, “such as the final supplications, the supplication of the diocese of Rome and the Eastern Churches that are very specific to a sitting pope.”

Heads of state and Catholic dignitaries attended, although the church offered official invitations to only Italian and German dignitaries. The Vatican advised foreign embassies that any other leaders who wish to attend could do so, but only in their “private capacity.”

The United States was represented by Joseph Donnelly, U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, his office said on Thursday. The ambassador represented the U.S. in keeping “with the wishes of both the Vatican, and Pope Emeritus for a simple, solemn funeral,” officials said.

Benedict, who was born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany in 1927, had been elevated to pope when he was 78 in 2005. He retired eight years later, citing declining health.

Thousands of worshipers flocked over the last few days to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the retired pontiff lied in state in red vestments. Members of the Swiss Guard flanked Benedict, standing just outside the red velvet ropes surrounding his remains.

A constant stream of mourners flowed into the church. Many lined up for hours to pay their last respects. More than 65,000 people were said to have filed into the Basilica on Monday alone, with similar crowds on subsequent days.

The bells at St. Peter’s Basilica have not rung since Saturday, the day Benedict died, Vatican officials confirmed. Death tolls are usually rung for the death of a sitting pope.

Benedict’s remains were placed on Wednesday in a triple coffin — lined with cypress, zinc and wood — and were brought on Thursday at about 8:50 a.m. into St. Peter’s Square, where the funeral was to be held.

During the mass, Francis sat and watched as a cardinal anointed and blessed the coffin. Moments earlier, Francis had said in Latin, “May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles and Salus Populi Romani, intercede before the Eternal Father, that he may reveal the face of Jesus his Son to Pope Emeritus Benedict and console the Church on her pilgrimage through history as she awaits the Lord’s return.”

Francis in the days before and after Benedict’s death asked the church’s followers to pray for him. The two popes were reportedly friendly following Benedict’s resignation.

A Vatican press office official told reporters on Sunday that Francis was “the first” to arrive on Saturday at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where Benedict lived within the Vatican walls, after receiving the news of Benedict’s death. Bruni said that the pontiff then stayed at the monastery for a time of prayer.

Francis on New Year’s Day asked followers to invoke “the intercession of Mary Most Holy for Pope emeritus Benedict XVI.”

The pontiff added, “Let us all join together, with one heart and one soul, in thanking God for the gift of this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the Church.”

Benedict’s remains were to be buried immediately after Thursday’s funeral, Vatican officials said.

“In addition,” Bruni said, “the coffin will also contain the rogito,” a written text that describes the Pontificate that is placed in a metal cylinder inside the coffin. The Vatican on Thursday issued a copy of the text, a biographical sketch of a few hundred words written in Italian. It describes Benedict’s parents, his childhood in Germany, his rise to the top of the church and his resignation.

Underneath the text, it reads: “CORPUS BENEDICTI XVI P.M.”

As white-gloved pallbearers picked the coffin up to return it to the Basilica, Francis stepped off the dais with the help of a cane. He blessed the coffin, placed his free hand on it, bowed and closed his eyes for a minute of reflection.

He stood for a moment, until his wheelchair was brought to him.

Benedict was to be interred in St. Peter’s Crypt, where more than 90 popes have found their final resting place.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — More than 10 months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.

Putin’s forces in November pulled out of key positions, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Jan 04, 8:57 AM EST
Ukraine locates Russian outpost via data on soldiers’ cellphones

Russian soldiers using their mobile phones just after midnight on New Year’s provided Ukraine with the data to locate a Russian outpost in the city of Makiivka ahead of Ukraine’s deadly attack, according to Russia.

Six rockets were fired from U.S.-made HIMAR rocket launchers.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said 89 soldiers were killed in the attack but Ukrainian officials claim the death toll is much higher. Russian authorities have not yet compiled lists of the wounded and dead.

During an evening address Monday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is preparing a long-term attack by drones to exhaust Ukrainian air defense.

Just two days into the new year, he said the country’s defense forces shot down more than 80 Shahed drones, which are made by Iran.

“This number may increase in the near future. We have information that Russia is planning a prolonged attack,” Zelenskyy said.

“Its bet may be on exhaustion. To the exhaustion of our people, our air defense, our energy. But we must do — and we will do everything — so that this goal of the terrorists fails, like all the others.”

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 31, 8:14 AM EST

1 dead, 7 injured after Russia launches missile strike against Kyiv

At least one person has been killed and seven people have been injured after Russia launched a barrage of missiles on Kyiv on New Year’s Eve.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported destruction across several districts with a luxury hotel, a bridge and police stations among the locations impacted.

It’s currently unclear how many locations have been destroyed as a result of direct hits and how many were from falling debris from intercepted rockets.

New Year’s Eve is one of Ukraine’s biggest holidays.

Dec 30, 10:28 AM EST
Putin expects China’s Xi to make state visit in spring

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he’s expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit to Russia in the spring of 2023.

Putin said he’s looking to deepen military cooperation between the two nations.

Putin said the visit would “demonstrate to the world the closeness of Russian-Chinese relations.”

Dec 29, 5:08 PM EST
Zelenskyy praises Air Force for ‘repelling’ Russian missile barrage

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is praising his country’s air defense, saying it “successfully repelled” a barrage of Russian missiles fired at Kyiv and other targets early Thursday.

Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian Air Force shot down 54 missiles and 11 attack drones.

“Our warriors all over Ukraine distinguished themselves and I thank all our Air Commands: Center, South, East and West,” Zelenskyy said.

He specifically cited the efforts of the 96th Kyiv, 160th Odesa and the 208th Kherson anti-aircraft missile brigades, saying their “results are the best today.”

Zelenskyy said several Russian missiles evaded Ukraine’s air defense and hit several infrastructure targets.

“Our power engineers and repair crews are doing everything to make Ukrainians feel the consequences of the terrorists’ strike as little as possible,” Zelenskyy said.

As of Thursday evening, he said there were power outages in most regions of Ukraine, including the capital city Kyiv as well as the Lviv, Odesa, Kherson, Vinnytsia and Zakarpattia regions.

“But this is nothing compared to what could have happened, if it was not for our heroic anti-aircraft troops and air defense,” Zelenskyy said.

Dec 29, 11:40 AM EST
Ukrainian missile shot down in Belarus: Defense ministry

Belarus’ defense ministry said its air defenses had downed a Ukrainian S-300 missile in a field on Thursday morning during one of Russia’s largest missile attacks against Ukraine since the start of the war.

The military commissar of the Brest region, Oleg Konovalov, played down the incident in a video message posted on social media by the state-run BelTA news agency, saying local residents had “absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“Unfortunately, these things happen,” Konovalov said.

He compared the incident to one in November when an S-300 believed to have strayed after being fired by Ukrainian air defenses landed in NATO member country Poland, and initial fears of an escalation in the war were rapidly defused.

Konovalov said the Ukrainian missile was shot down by the air defense forces around 10 a.m. local time Thursday. Fragments of the downed missile were found near the village of Gorbakha in the Brest region.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 29, 10:32 AM EST
Russia continues ‘escalating’ missile campaign, US Embassy says

Moscow has been “cruelly” targeting Ukrainian civilians by launching attacks against utilities during the winter, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on Thursday.

The rebuke came as Russia fired missiles at cities throughout the country on Thursday. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army said 69 missiles were launched, fewer than the 100 missiles that officials had estimated earlier in the morning. Officials said 54 missiles were intercepted.

Two civilians were killed as a result of shelling in the Kharkiv area, according to the region’s governor.

“The Kremlin continues its escalating campaign of missile attacks, cruelly wielding cold & dark against” Ukrainians, U.S. Embassy officials said on Twitter. “Families are again hunkering down as critical infrastructure & other targets across the country are attacked.”

Air raid sirens started wailing before 6 a.m. local time across Ukraine, sending residents scrambling into underground shelters in several cities. Missiles landed in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv and Zhtomyr.

Ukraine’s defense systems intercepted some missiles, including 16 that were shot down near Kyiv, the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Two homes in Kyiv were damaged by falling debris and three people were injured, he said.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said Russia had been “saving one of the most massive missile attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion for the last days of the year.”

“They dream that Ukrainians will celebrate the New Year in darkness and cold,” officials said. “But they cannot defeat the Ukrainian people.”

-ABC News’ Britt Clennett and Joe Simonetti

Dec 29, 2:29 AM EST
More than 100 Russian missiles fired at Ukraine

Russian forces early on Thursday launched a missile strike on Ukraine.

More than 100 rockets were fired in several waves, Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Twitter. Some rockets were reportedly fired from carriers in the sea, while others were reportedly fired by at least a dozen fighter aircraft.

Another presidential advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that more than 120 missiles had been launched “by the ‘evil Russian world’ to destroy critical infrastructure & kill civilians en masse.”

At least one loud explosion was heard in Kyiv, where air raid sirens were ringing for several hours on Thursday morning.

Dec 28, 1:58 PM EST
Kremlin rejects Ukraine’s Feburary ‘peace summit’

Russia has rejected a proposal from Ukraine to hold a “peace summit” in February, according to a Kremlin official.

“There is no ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine for now, that’s for starters,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wenderday. “Besides, there can be no ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine, which disregards today’s realities on Russian territory, the entry of new regions, four of them, into Russia.”

Peskov was apparently referring to recent Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia, including one this week at the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia that killed three Russian soldiers.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 27, 1:13 PM EST
Putin bans sending Russian oil to countries imposing a price cap

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Tuesday that not only rejects a price cap on the country’s oil but bans sending crude and other petroleum products to any country that has endorsed the price cap.

The Group of Seven countries, including the United States, agreed on Dec. 3 to impose a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Australia and the European Union also agreed to impose the price cap.

The decree Putin signed goes into effect on Feb. 1 and is valid until July 1, 2023.

The decree bans the supply of oil and oil products from Russia to those countries that place a price ceiling on contracts. The decree also forbids the supply of oil to other foreign buyers whose contracts use a price cap mechanism.

The decree includes a clause allowing Putin to overrule the ban in special cases to be determined by the Russian leader.

The price cap on Russian oil implemented by G-7 nations disallows the world’s second-largest oil exporter from selling crude at a price above $60 per barrel.

Since the outset of its war with Ukraine, Russia has sold its oil at discounted prices. As of Tuesday, Russian Urals crude was trading at $57 per barrel — an amount slightly less than the cap. But the price cap aims to ensure that Russian oil sales remain well below global oil prices, which stand at about $80 per barrel.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 26, 7:40 AM EST
Ukraine strikes bomber base in Russia, killing three

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia killed three, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said.

A spokesman for Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the attack, saying, “If the Russians thought the war would not touch them they were wrong.”

Russian air defence reportedly shot down a Ukrainian drone flying at low altitude, but falling debris caused the casualties in the overnight attack.

The Engels base lies just over 300 miles northeast of Ukraine’s border with Russia. The facility has been repeatedly used by Russia to carry out missile strikes on targets in Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces had attacked another Russian air base on Dec. 5, killing three and damaging two strategic bombers.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KYIV, Ukraine) — There will likely be further strikes into Russian territory, Ukraine’s military intelligence head, Kyrylo Budanov, told ABC News in an interview from Kyiv, without specifically saying whether Ukraine would be behind them.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the Dec. 26 attack on Russia’s Engels Air Force Base, which is located more than 800 miles from the Ukrainian border, but Budanov admitted he was “glad to see it.”

He added the attacks would come “deeper and deeper” inside of Russia, but would only be able to comment on his country’s responsibility for the attacks after the war was over.

And when asked about attacks on Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, Budanov said, “Crimea is Ukrainian territory, we can use any weapon on our territory.”

In late December, Budanov made a public appearance in Bakhmut in Donetsk, the hottest point of the 800-mile front line. What he saw shocked him.

“Soldiers showed me a section where dead bodies are piled up like something you would see in a movie,” he said.

“There are hundreds of dead bodies just rotting away in the open field, in places they are piled on top of other bodies like makeshift walls, when Russian troops attack on that field they use those bodies for cover, like a shield,” he continued. “But it’s not working. There are actual fields of dead bodies there.”

Budanov said Russia’s weaponry is depleting, forcing it to resort to “cheaper,” more “plentiful” solutions, like the Iranian-made, self-destroying Shahed drones, which have sowed fear and panic in the population.

Tehran denies supplying drones to Russia, though the U.S. Department of Defense said Russia has bought hundreds of them.

Russia fired 84 drones at Ukraine in the first two days of 2023, all of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.

The U.S. announced it would supply a Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine in late December, bringing the Biden administration’s total military aid for Ukraine close to $22 billion. President Joe Biden recently signed a $1.7 trillion government funding bill that includes $47 billion of additional aid for Ukraine.

“I want to express gratitude for all the help we had, and ask to continue to support Ukraine,” said Budanov, telling U.S citizens, “I promise it will not take too long now, and every taxpayer in the U.S. will be able to see where every cent went. We will change this world together.”

Budanov also said they are expecting U.S. Bradley Armored Fighting vehicles to be sent to Ukraine soon: “We are waiting for them. We’re looking forward to them very much. This will significantly improve the combat ability of our units.”

Budanov said he expects fighting to be the “hottest” in March, adding that Ukraine is planning a major push in the spring.

“This is [when we will see more] liberation of territories and dealing the final defeats to the Russian Federation,” he said. “This will happen throughout Ukraine, from Crimea to the Donbas.”

The Ukrainian leadership has repeatedly said it will not give up an inch of territory.

“Our goal, and we will achieve it, is returning to the borders of 1991, like Ukraine is recognized by all subjects of international law,” said Budanov.

As for the future of Russia, Budanov said there are several scenarios in play, but the message is clear: “You should not be afraid of the transformation of Russia. It will only benefit the whole world.”

Putin’s regime “is a laughingstock for everyone,” Budanov said, adding the Russian troops are all but reduced to defending territories they still occupy within Ukraine — “and not for much longer.”

“Russia is not a military threat to the world anymore, just a tall tale,” he added.

The only issue remaining, Budanov said, is Russia’s nuclear arsenal “and the uncontrollable regime” that will lead “the whole world to realize the necessity of Russia’s denuclearization or at least an international overseeing of its nuclear arsenal.”

“A terrorist country swinging a nuclear bat at everyone and spewing threats is not a regime that has an ethical or political right to be in control of weapons of mass destruction,” Budanov added.

Moments after the interview ended, Budanov warned our team that rockets had been fired at Kyiv from the Black Sea. Hours later, Russia unleashed another massive aerial attack against Ukraine — ringing in 2023 with terror.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Iranian women were banned from the national soccer stadium and all live soccer games for more than 40 years, but that didn’t stop some women from defying the mandate.

A new ESPN 30 for 30 podcast called “Pink Card” follows three generations of women defying the ban.

Peabody Award-winning host and executive producer Shima Oliaee sat down with ABC News Live’s Phil Lipof to talk about bringing the fight toward freedom to life, her own personal identity as the daughter of her soccer-loving Iranian mom and how it all connects to the ongoing protests in Iran for women’s rights.

LIPOF: Shima, thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate it. Iranian women have been banned from watching soccer inside that stadium, we’re told, to allegedly prevent them from temptation of men’s bare legs. How did Iran’s national soccer stadium turn into a battleground for women’s rights?

OLIAEE: As soon as [former Supreme Leader Ruhollah] Khomeini came into power, basically, all of their legal rights started being stripped one by one. And by 1981, every woman was fully veiled. They went from very Parisian-like outfits, short miniskirts. My mom said she was protesting in a miniskirt in ‘79 as a freshman in college. And it went from that to full, thick black pants, long-sleeved shirts and a full hijab or chador by the time we get to 1981.

And women were still allowed in the stadium at the time, which they’d never been banned from. They go to the national soccer stadium, Azadi Stadium. At the time it was called Aryamehr. And the guards at the gate tell them they are no longer allowed inside the stadium, that they’ve been banned from all live soccer games. The guards laughed and said, ‘Actually, on top of this, this national stadium has been renamed. It’s called Azadi Stadium. That means Freedom Stadium, and you will never be allowed inside again.’ And for 40 years that remained true.

LIPOF: I find it interesting the podcast follows four decades of experiences of different women impacted by the ban. Why four decades?

OLIAEE: What I noticed was, in the ’80s, there was a certain way that women kept hope alive, and that was also during the Iraq-Iran war, and that was in secret spaces. It wasn’t in public spaces.

But by the ’90s, and this critical game that actually happens that we describe in the series, it’s a World Cup qualifying match between Australia and Iran. The entire country explodes with joy and women are part of it. So it’s the first time in the ’90s that you see women do things that are illegal for them to do and they break into Azadi Stadium and rip off their hijabs.

LIPOF: You also choose to showcase your personal experiences, being an Iranian-American. Let’s take a look.

OLIAEE, speaking on podcast: “I often felt like that — split in two. At school, I was ashamed of telling people where my family was from. It’s not like I was fully aware of what was happening in the world — what the Gulf War was, the Iranian hostage crisis. But growing up in the ’90s in Reno, Nevada, I knew being from the Middle East wasn’t something to be excited about.”

LIPOF: There are so many ways to tell a story. You know this. Why did you feel it was important to share your own personal experience?

OLIAEE: All the Iranian women in my family were the most intimidating people in my family. So I kind of didn’t understand why, in Western media, I was seeing a lot of repressed images of women in the Middle East. And also what I would see —

[Old footage plays on screen]

Yeah, that’s my mom coming back from a coed match. Look at her! Oh my gosh, she’s so funny. Look at her! She’s like, ‘I just scored a goal.’ She’s bragging about her great — Oh my gosh. Yeah, she was MVP on her team. She let me know that.

LIPOF: Something to be proud of.

OLIAEE: She’s very sporty.

But yeah, she loved soccer. She wouldn’t talk about the trauma from Iran. She would talk about soccer. And I saw all these strong Iranian women in my family. And when I would look to Western media to understand where I came from, I would see a lot of screaming men with beards and really bad eyebrows.

There was an image that had seeped into me as an American. I had misconceptions, and I actually wanted to replace the sounds of screaming men that were kind of seared into our brain through the hostage crisis with —

LIPOF: Pictures of your mom in her uniform.

OLIAEE: With my mom freaking out about her soccer game. I mean, in the last episode, she literally cannot focus on the revolution that’s happening right now, because she’s about to win her match.

So with that, the sound of joy. And all three generations of women that I interviewed who basically defied the regime, defied death in order to even speak about what had been happening the last 20 years. They shared their joy.

LIPOF: Just before we go, you talked about executions. And right now, there are people being executed. There are people who are going to be executed. How do you think the world should be reacting to what’s happening in Iran?

OLIAEE: I mean, this is what’s so hard. It’s so easy to turn away and distract ourselves from what’s happening. I think this is what I really want people to get from the podcast. When you hear this series, what you see is that the same tactics of the regime have been used for 40 years.

They lie, too. They say, ‘Oh, we’re not executing. Oh, we’ve banned the moral police.’ All of these other stories have come out in the last several weeks as these protests have taken over Iran.

And I think the lessons that the women learned are crucial lessons for women in every country. There’s so many ways that we can learn about what not to do and also what we need to do. And I hope that that’s what this series brings, is a little bit of clarity and wisdom for today — and courage.

LIPOF: Thank you so much for joining us. You can listen to the ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast series. It is called “Pink Card” and it’s available now.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — More than 10 months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.

Putin’s forces in November pulled out of key positions, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Jan 03, 7:24 PM EST
Russia says 89 killed in missile strike by Ukraine

Russia’s Defense Ministry has said 89 people were killed by a Ukrainian missile strike in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region.

According to the ministry, Ukraine launched launched six HIMARS missiles, provided by the U.S., at a building in the town of Makiivka, four of which hit the target.

“Families and friends of these servicemen will be fully assisted and supported,” the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine claimed hundreds of Russians were killed in the attack.

Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

During an evening address Monday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is preparing a long-term attack by drones to exhaust Ukrainian air defense.

Just two days into the new year, he said the country’s defense forces shot down more than 80 Shahed drones, which are made by Iran.

“This number may increase in the near future. We have information that Russia is planning a prolonged attack,” Zelenskyy said.

“Its bet may be on exhaustion. To the exhaustion of our people, our air defense, our energy. But we must do — and we will do everything — so that this goal of the terrorists fails, like all the others.”

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 31, 8:14 AM EST

1 dead, 7 injured after Russia launches missile strike against Kyiv

At least one person has been killed and seven people have been injured after Russia launched a barrage of missiles on Kyiv on New Year’s Eve.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported destruction across several districts with a luxury hotel, a bridge and police stations among the locations impacted.

It’s currently unclear how many locations have been destroyed as a result of direct hits and how many were from falling debris from intercepted rockets.

New Year’s Eve is one of Ukraine’s biggest holidays.

Dec 30, 10:28 AM EST
Putin expects China’s Xi to make state visit in spring

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he’s expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit to Russia in the spring of 2023.

Putin said he’s looking to deepen military cooperation between the two nations.

Putin said the visit would “demonstrate to the world the closeness of Russian-Chinese relations.”

Dec 29, 5:08 PM EST
Zelenskyy praises Air Force for ‘repelling’ Russian missile barrage

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is praising his country’s air defense, saying it “successfully repelled” a barrage of Russian missiles fired at Kyiv and other targets early Thursday.

Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian Air Force shot down 54 missiles and 11 attack drones.

“Our warriors all over Ukraine distinguished themselves and I thank all our Air Commands: Center, South, East and West,” Zelenskyy said.

He specifically cited the efforts of the 96th Kyiv, 160th Odesa and the 208th Kherson anti-aircraft missile brigades, saying their “results are the best today.”

Zelenskyy said several Russian missiles evaded Ukraine’s air defense and hit several infrastructure targets.

“Our power engineers and repair crews are doing everything to make Ukrainians feel the consequences of the terrorists’ strike as little as possible,” Zelenskyy said.

As of Thursday evening, he said there were power outages in most regions of Ukraine, including the capital city Kyiv as well as the Lviv, Odesa, Kherson, Vinnytsia and Zakarpattia regions.

“But this is nothing compared to what could have happened, if it was not for our heroic anti-aircraft troops and air defense,” Zelenskyy said.

Dec 29, 11:40 AM EST
Ukrainian missile shot down in Belarus: Defense ministry

Belarus’ defense ministry said its air defenses had downed a Ukrainian S-300 missile in a field on Thursday morning during one of Russia’s largest missile attacks against Ukraine since the start of the war.

The military commissar of the Brest region, Oleg Konovalov, played down the incident in a video message posted on social media by the state-run BelTA news agency, saying local residents had “absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“Unfortunately, these things happen,” Konovalov said.

He compared the incident to one in November when an S-300 believed to have strayed after being fired by Ukrainian air defenses landed in NATO member country Poland, and initial fears of an escalation in the war were rapidly defused.

Konovalov said the Ukrainian missile was shot down by the air defense forces around 10 a.m. local time Thursday. Fragments of the downed missile were found near the village of Gorbakha in the Brest region.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 29, 10:32 AM EST
Russia continues ‘escalating’ missile campaign, US Embassy says

Moscow has been “cruelly” targeting Ukrainian civilians by launching attacks against utilities during the winter, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on Thursday.

The rebuke came as Russia fired missiles at cities throughout the country on Thursday. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army said 69 missiles were launched, fewer than the 100 missiles that officials had estimated earlier in the morning. Officials said 54 missiles were intercepted.

Two civilians were killed as a result of shelling in the Kharkiv area, according to the region’s governor.

“The Kremlin continues its escalating campaign of missile attacks, cruelly wielding cold & dark against” Ukrainians, U.S. Embassy officials said on Twitter. “Families are again hunkering down as critical infrastructure & other targets across the country are attacked.”

Air raid sirens started wailing before 6 a.m. local time across Ukraine, sending residents scrambling into underground shelters in several cities. Missiles landed in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv and Zhtomyr.

Ukraine’s defense systems intercepted some missiles, including 16 that were shot down near Kyiv, the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Two homes in Kyiv were damaged by falling debris and three people were injured, he said.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said Russia had been “saving one of the most massive missile attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion for the last days of the year.”

“They dream that Ukrainians will celebrate the New Year in darkness and cold,” officials said. “But they cannot defeat the Ukrainian people.”

-ABC News’ Britt Clennett and Joe Simonetti

Dec 29, 2:29 AM EST
More than 100 Russian missiles fired at Ukraine

Russian forces early on Thursday launched a missile strike on Ukraine.

More than 100 rockets were fired in several waves, Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Twitter. Some rockets were reportedly fired from carriers in the sea, while others were reportedly fired by at least a dozen fighter aircraft.

Another presidential advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that more than 120 missiles had been launched “by the ‘evil Russian world’ to destroy critical infrastructure & kill civilians en masse.”

At least one loud explosion was heard in Kyiv, where air raid sirens were ringing for several hours on Thursday morning.

Dec 28, 1:58 PM EST
Kremlin rejects Ukraine’s Feburary ‘peace summit’

Russia has rejected a proposal from Ukraine to hold a “peace summit” in February, according to a Kremlin official.

“There is no ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine for now, that’s for starters,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wenderday. “Besides, there can be no ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine, which disregards today’s realities on Russian territory, the entry of new regions, four of them, into Russia.”

Peskov was apparently referring to recent Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia, including one this week at the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia that killed three Russian soldiers.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 27, 1:13 PM EST
Putin bans sending Russian oil to countries imposing a price cap

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Tuesday that not only rejects a price cap on the country’s oil but bans sending crude and other petroleum products to any country that has endorsed the price cap.

The Group of Seven countries, including the United States, agreed on Dec. 3 to impose a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Australia and the European Union also agreed to impose the price cap.

The decree Putin signed goes into effect on Feb. 1 and is valid until July 1, 2023.

The decree bans the supply of oil and oil products from Russia to those countries that place a price ceiling on contracts. The decree also forbids the supply of oil to other foreign buyers whose contracts use a price cap mechanism.

The decree includes a clause allowing Putin to overrule the ban in special cases to be determined by the Russian leader.

The price cap on Russian oil implemented by G-7 nations disallows the world’s second-largest oil exporter from selling crude at a price above $60 per barrel.

Since the outset of its war with Ukraine, Russia has sold its oil at discounted prices. As of Tuesday, Russian Urals crude was trading at $57 per barrel — an amount slightly less than the cap. But the price cap aims to ensure that Russian oil sales remain well below global oil prices, which stand at about $80 per barrel.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 26, 7:40 AM EST
Ukraine strikes bomber base in Russia, killing three

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia killed three, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said.

A spokesman for Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the attack, saying, “If the Russians thought the war would not touch them they were wrong.”

Russian air defence reportedly shot down a Ukrainian drone flying at low altitude, but falling debris caused the casualties in the overnight attack.

The Engels base lies just over 300 miles northeast of Ukraine’s border with Russia. The facility has been repeatedly used by Russia to carry out missile strikes on targets in Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces had attacked another Russian air base on Dec. 5, killing three and damaging two strategic bombers.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KYIV, Ukraine) — More than a million Russians have called, texted or visited the website of a Ukrainian hotline that allows them to surrender, with many seeking a way to avoid going to war, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, according to the hotline.

The hotline, which is run by the “I Want to Live” project, has received about 200 to 300 daily calls since September, said Vitaliy Matvienko, the project’s spokesperson. Instead of calling, some Russians choose to send encrypted messages via Telegram. Altogether, more than 4,000 people have submitted requests to surrender, he said.

“We saw that there are many Russians who do not want to fight,” Matvienko said. “Their numbers skyrocketed after Putin announced mobilization in Russia, while Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated vast territories in the Kharkiv region in a fulminant counteroffensive.”

Matvienko’s has a face that’s well-known to many Russians, because he acted in a few Russian TV series before the war. That’s why he was offered the role of spokesman of the “I Want to Live” project. Ukrainian officials said Russians who are considering crossing the frontline might want to see someone familiar they can trust on the other side.

The hotline is now functioning in a secure secret facility which many officials and military staffers aren’t allowed to enter. The operators use only computers, headphones and special software to accept and record the calls.

“Many of those who call are scared, they want to know whether this project is real and how it is possible for a Russian soldier to escape from the army. There were some prank calls, but most are real” said Oksana, one of the employees receiving calls on the hotline, whose name has been changed for security reasons.

ABC News reviewed a recording of one of Oksana’s calls, which came from a woman in occupied Crimea.

The woman sounds like she’s almost in tears as she says her son received a summons to the army at a police checkpoint. The woman asks what she could do. The operator’s advice was to call the hotline once her son was in Ukraine controlled territory. Then they could assess whether he might be able to surrender.

Ukrainian authorities have not fully disclosed the details of the surrender procedure, as well as the number of Russians who have actually surrendered, but some offered ABC News a glimpse of how it works.

People first call the numbers mentioned on the project’s website or text a chatbot. The operators record people’s personal info, then pass it to the relevant state bodies and special military units. Later, the operator gives instructions to a potential defector — where he or she should come and what to do upon arrival.

At the agreed-upon time, the soldier has to come to the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ positions and establish visual contact with a drone, which will show the safe passage route.

The Russians who follow the surrender rules are legally considered prisoners of war, Ukrainian authorities said. That status guarantees they are treated according to the Geneva conventions and they can receive necessary medical treatment and food. They can also call their relatives.

“Now it’s just a routine job for me, but the first hundred of calls were tough for me, because as a patriot of Ukraine I hate those who reached out,” Oksana said.

Among those callers were Ukrainian citizens who betrayed their country and fought on the Russian side, she said.

The hotline has also fielded calls from people with “passports” from the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, ordinary Russians who were recently called up to fight and senior commanders who do not see their future in Russia, Matvienko said.

High-level military personnel are treated as a priority, as they may possess valuable intelligence.

Sergiy Kuzan, head of the Ukrainian center for security and cooperation, said each case is evaluated differently, taking into account the individual’s age, origin and military experience. The project also evaluates people based on the region where they’re surrendering, on their education level and how the person was captured, if they were.

“There were cases when a person was really so ‘zombified’ by Russian television that they really believed in the junta, in Nazism in Kyiv,” Kuzan said. “That is, there are clinical cases I would say. For such people we turn on our television, let them read our newspapers, and then people need a little time to realize what is actually going on.”

Leaders of the project said they expect to continue expanding, with plans for a separate program in Ukraine and abroad for members of Russia’s officer corps who are seeking to surrender.

Ukrainian officials said they’re busy putting together a new program for high-level defectors, some of whom will be given new identifies and backgrounds. That programs will be implemented on a case-by-case basis, officials said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — Prince Harry says he wants “a family, not an institution” and wants to get his father and brother back in a new interview ahead of the release of his memoir titled Spare.

In a promo clip for Harry’s interview with Britian’s ITV News network, the duke of Sussex, 38, said “it never needed to be this way,” “I want a family, not an institution,” and “I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back.” Only Harry’s answers, and no questions, are heard.

The memoir’s title, Spare, appears to be a nod to Harry’s birth order. Harry is fifth in line to the throne, behind his brother, Prince William, and William’s three children.

In the same edited ITV clip, Harry also said, “they feel as though it’s better to keep us somehow as the villains,” and “they’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile.”

The highly anticipated memoir will be released on Jan. 10, just weeks after Prince Harry and Meghan’s closely followed docuseries aired and broke records as Netflix’s biggest documentary debut ever, according to the streaming service.

The six-part series, titled Harry & Meghan, made headlines about Harry and Meghan’s decision to step down from their senior royal roles in 2020, with Harry alleging “institutional gaslighting” and Meghan saying she was “being fed to the wolves.”

“To see this institutional gaslighting that happens, it is extraordinary,” Harry said in the docuseries. “And that’s why everything that’s happened to us was always going to happen to us, because if you speak truth to power, that’s how they respond.”

Following their exit, Harry and Meghan settled in California, where they now live with their two young children and run a foundation and a production company, which helped produce the Netflix series.

What we know about Harry’s memoir so far

When Harry’s book was first announced, the duke of Sussex said it would be a “firsthand account of my life that’s accurate and wholly truthful.”

The publisher said the book contains “raw, unflinching honesty” and described it as a “landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.”

Harry last appeared publicly with his brother and family members in England in September, when he and Meghan attended funeral services for Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The Sussexes’ time in England during the mourning period for the queen marked the first time they both publicly appeared with members of the royal family in more than two years.

It is not known whether the tone or contents of Harry’s memoir changed after the death of the queen, with whom Harry had appeared to maintain a close relationship with despite tensions with his father, King Charles, and brother.

When the book was announced, Harry said he would be writing his memoir as “the man I have become.”

“I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become,” he said in a statement at the time. “I’ve worn many hats over the years, both literally and figuratively, and my hope is that in telling my story — the highs and lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned — I can help show that no matter where we come from, we have more in common than we think.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — More than 10 months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.

Putin’s forces in November pulled out of key positions, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Jan 02, 10:32 AM EST
Russia says 63 killed in missile strike by Ukraine

Russia’s Defense Ministry has said 63 people were killed by a Ukrainian missile strike in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region.

According to the ministry, Ukraine launched launched six HIMARS missiles, provided by the U.S., at a building in the town of Makiivka, four of which hit the target.

“Families and friends of these servicemen will be fully assisted and supported,” the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine claimed hundreds of Russians were killed in the attack.

Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.

Dec 31, 8:14 AM EST
1 dead, 7 injured after Russia launches missile strike against Kyiv

At least one person has been killed and seven people have been injured after Russia launched a barrage of missiles on Kyiv on New Year’s Eve.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported destruction across several districts with a luxury hotel, a bridge and police stations among the locations impacted.

It’s currently unclear how many locations have been destroyed as a result of direct hits and how many were from falling debris from intercepted rockets.

New Year’s Eve is one of Ukraine’s biggest holidays.

Dec 30, 10:28 AM EST
Putin expects China’s Xi to make state visit in spring

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he’s expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit to Russia in the spring of 2023.

Putin said he’s looking to deepen military cooperation between the two nations.

Putin said the visit would “demonstrate to the world the closeness of Russian-Chinese relations.”

Dec 29, 5:08 PM EST
Zelenskyy praises Air Force for ‘repelling’ Russian missile barrage

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is praising his country’s air defense, saying it “successfully repelled” a barrage of Russian missiles fired at Kyiv and other targets early Thursday.

Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian Air Force shot down 54 missiles and 11 attack drones.

“Our warriors all over Ukraine distinguished themselves and I thank all our Air Commands: Center, South, East and West,” Zelenskyy said.

He specifically cited the efforts of the 96th Kyiv, 160th Odesa and the 208th Kherson anti-aircraft missile brigades, saying their “results are the best today.”

Zelenskyy said several Russian missiles evaded Ukraine’s air defense and hit several infrastructure targets.

“Our power engineers and repair crews are doing everything to make Ukrainians feel the consequences of the terrorists’ strike as little as possible,” Zelenskyy said.

As of Thursday evening, he said there were power outages in most regions of Ukraine, including the capital city Kyiv as well as the Lviv, Odesa, Kherson, Vinnytsia and Zakarpattia regions.

“But this is nothing compared to what could have happened, if it was not for our heroic anti-aircraft troops and air defense,” Zelenskyy said.

Dec 29, 11:40 AM EST
Ukrainian missile shot down in Belarus: Defense ministry

Belarus’ defense ministry said its air defenses had downed a Ukrainian S-300 missile in a field on Thursday morning during one of Russia’s largest missile attacks against Ukraine since the start of the war.

The military commissar of the Brest region, Oleg Konovalov, played down the incident in a video message posted on social media by the state-run BelTA news agency, saying local residents had “absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“Unfortunately, these things happen,” Konovalov said.

He compared the incident to one in November when an S-300 believed to have strayed after being fired by Ukrainian air defenses landed in NATO member country Poland, and initial fears of an escalation in the war were rapidly defused.

Konovalov said the Ukrainian missile was shot down by the air defense forces around 10 a.m. local time Thursday. Fragments of the downed missile were found near the village of Gorbakha in the Brest region.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 29, 10:32 AM EST
Russia continues ‘escalating’ missile campaign, US Embassy says

Moscow has been “cruelly” targeting Ukrainian civilians by launching attacks against utilities during the winter, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on Thursday.

The rebuke came as Russia fired missiles at cities throughout the country on Thursday. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army said 69 missiles were launched, fewer than the 100 missiles that officials had estimated earlier in the morning. Officials said 54 missiles were intercepted.

Two civilians were killed as a result of shelling in the Kharkiv area, according to the region’s governor.

“The Kremlin continues its escalating campaign of missile attacks, cruelly wielding cold & dark against” Ukrainians, U.S. Embassy officials said on Twitter. “Families are again hunkering down as critical infrastructure & other targets across the country are attacked.”

Air raid sirens started wailing before 6 a.m. local time across Ukraine, sending residents scrambling into underground shelters in several cities. Missiles landed in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv and Zhtomyr.

Ukraine’s defense systems intercepted some missiles, including 16 that were shot down near Kyiv, the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Two homes in Kyiv were damaged by falling debris and three people were injured, he said.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said Russia had been “saving one of the most massive missile attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion for the last days of the year.”

“They dream that Ukrainians will celebrate the New Year in darkness and cold,” officials said. “But they cannot defeat the Ukrainian people.”

-ABC News’ Britt Clennett and Joe Simonetti

Dec 29, 2:29 AM EST
More than 100 Russian missiles fired at Ukraine

Russian forces early on Thursday launched a missile strike on Ukraine.

More than 100 rockets were fired in several waves, Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Twitter. Some rockets were reportedly fired from carriers in the sea, while others were reportedly fired by at least a dozen fighter aircraft.

Another presidential advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that more than 120 missiles had been launched “by the ‘evil Russian world’ to destroy critical infrastructure & kill civilians en masse.”

At least one loud explosion was heard in Kyiv, where air raid sirens were ringing for several hours on Thursday morning.

Dec 28, 1:58 PM EST
Kremlin rejects Ukraine’s Feburary ‘peace summit’

Russia has rejected a proposal from Ukraine to hold a “peace summit” in February, according to a Kremlin official.

“There is no ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine for now, that’s for starters,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wenderday. “Besides, there can be no ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine, which disregards today’s realities on Russian territory, the entry of new regions, four of them, into Russia.”

Peskov was apparently referring to recent Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia, including one this week at the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia that killed three Russian soldiers.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 27, 1:13 PM EST
Putin bans sending Russian oil to countries imposing a price cap

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Tuesday that not only rejects a price cap on the country’s oil but bans sending crude and other petroleum products to any country that has endorsed the price cap.

The Group of Seven countries, including the United States, agreed on Dec. 3 to impose a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Australia and the European Union also agreed to impose the price cap.

The decree Putin signed goes into effect on Feb. 1 and is valid until July 1, 2023.

The decree bans the supply of oil and oil products from Russia to those countries that place a price ceiling on contracts. The decree also forbids the supply of oil to other foreign buyers whose contracts use a price cap mechanism.

The decree includes a clause allowing Putin to overrule the ban in special cases to be determined by the Russian leader.

The price cap on Russian oil implemented by G-7 nations disallows the world’s second-largest oil exporter from selling crude at a price above $60 per barrel.

Since the outset of its war with Ukraine, Russia has sold its oil at discounted prices. As of Tuesday, Russian Urals crude was trading at $57 per barrel — an amount slightly less than the cap. But the price cap aims to ensure that Russian oil sales remain well below global oil prices, which stand at about $80 per barrel.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Dec 26, 7:40 AM EST
Ukraine strikes bomber base in Russia, killing three

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia killed three, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said.

A spokesman for Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the attack, saying, “If the Russians thought the war would not touch them they were wrong.”

Russian air defence reportedly shot down a Ukrainian drone flying at low altitude, but falling debris caused the casualties in the overnight attack.

The Engels base lies just over 300 miles northeast of Ukraine’s border with Russia. The facility has been repeatedly used by Russia to carry out missile strikes on targets in Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces had attacked another Russian air base on Dec. 5, killing three and damaging two strategic bombers.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ROME) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died at his home in the Vatican at 95, Vatican officials announced.

“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible,” said the Director of the Holy See press office Matteo Bruni’s statement.

The Vatican press office has said that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s body will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican from Monday through Wednesday for the faithful to pay their respects.

His funeral is scheduled for Thursday at 9:30 a.m. local time in St. Peter’s Square on the parvis of St. Peter’s Basilica and will be presided over by Pope Francis, the Vatican press office said. Following the funeral mass, his coffin will be taken to the Vatican Grottoes, located below St. Peter’s Basilica, for burial.

After his surprise resignation in February 2013 at the age of 85, Benedict was only known to have left the tiny sovereign state briefly and was rarely seen in public.

Election and papacy

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was named the 265th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on April 19, 2005, at the age of 78, and chose the name of Benedict XVI. He was the first German pope in several centuries, the second consecutive non-Italian pope and the oldest pope elected since Clement XII in 1730, according to church records.

He was elected in four ballots, which is considered relatively quick for the Church.

During his nearly eight years as pope, the Catholic Church was the subject of several major scandals. A growing number of sexual abuse cases involving the clergy was perhaps the most damaging and revealed a repeat-pattern of how the church had dealt with these cases in the past; leaving the abusers and their superiors, who covered up for them, to go unpunished by law enforcement.

Some Vatican watchers considered the revelations to be the greatest crisis the church has faced since the Reformation. First as cardinal in his doctrinal post in the Vatican and later as Pope, Benedict acted to develop a unified church response to stop this increasingly public clerical sex abuse crisis.

Benedict reiterated the Church’s traditional conservative positions on important doctrinal issues like abortion, contraception, homosexuality, euthanasia and the priesthood.

He angered some Muslims with his 2006 speech in Regensburg, Germany, which was interpreted by some as anti-Islam. Afterwards, he worked to build more bridges between the two faiths.

Many Catholics loved and respected him until his death. His successor, Pope Francis, frequently spoke fondly of him and during his trip to Malta in April 2022 described him as a “prophet” for predicting that the Catholic church of the future would become “smaller” but more “spiritual, poorer and less political.”

Benedict’s snow-white hair, soft-spoken manner and love for cats and classical music — especially piano — helped endear him to many.

Although his papacy was relatively brief, Pope Benedict XVI made 24 foreign trips visiting every habitable continent. His first visit was in August 2005 to Cologne, in his native Germany, for the Church’s 20th World Youth Day. He made a trip to the U.S. in 2008, during which he delivered a speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

A prolific writer throughout his life, he penned speeches, encyclicals, exhortations and a three-book biography, “Jesus of Nazareth,” while pope.

He beatified 322 people and canonized 45, including two Americans: Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint, and Marianne Cope, who spent the last 30 years of her life ministering to the sick on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.

Bavarian boyhood and WWII

Joseph Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, part of Germany’s southern region, on April 16, 1927. His father was a policeman and his mother was a former cook. He had a brother and sister.

He followed his older brother, Georg, into the seminary in 1939 at the age of 12, per his autobiography. When he was 14, Ratzinger was enrolled in Hitler’s Nazi youth movement; at the time, membership was compulsory. In 1943 he was drafted into a Nazi anti-aircraft unit, but his unit never saw combat.

At the end of WWII, in April 1945, he deserted and returned home. He was sent to a U.S. prisoner of war camp in May 1945, as a former soldier, but was released after a few months.

Following the war, which ended when he was 18, the two brothers returned to the seminary. Joseph and Georg were ordained priests and celebrated their first mass on June 29, 1951.

Before becoming pope

After being ordained, Ratzinger pursued a successful university career teaching a dogmatic and fundamental theology at a number of German universities. In 1977, Ratzinger was appointed archbishop of Munich and Freising. Three months later, he was elevated to cardinal by Pope Paul VI.

Three years after his election, Pope John Paul II called Cardinal Ratzinger to Rome to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, in charge of all the Church’s doctrinal matters.

As John Paul II’s health declined, Ratzinger took on a more important role at the Vatican and in 2002, he became dean of the College of Cardinals. As dean, he had an important role in the period between the death of John Paul II and the election of the new pope, which included summoning the conclave to elect the new pope.

His long service to Pope John Paul II in the Vatican meant he was known and respected by most of the cardinals who elected him. His stature grew after he presided over John Paul’s funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square.

Electing Benedict, the cardinals hoped he would clean up the church — which was still in the throes of the clerical sex abuse scandals — because of his deep knowledge of its workings after twenty-four years at his job at the Vatican, alongside his predecessor.

Retirement

Pope Benedict’s surprise retirement announcement was delivered in Latin to a roomful of cardinals in the Vatican on Feb. 11, 2013. With his retirement, many Vatican watchers suddenly saw him in a modern and revolutionary light, no longer a “conservative,” which is how he had been mostly labeled throughout his pontificate.

He was succeeded by Pope Francis, from Argentina, who was elected on March 13, 2013.

Only six other popes are believed to have resigned in 2,000 years of church history; the more recent was Gregory XII in 1415. Some speculated that scandals had led Benedict to resign, but he said in a 2016 interview it was his “duty” because his health was declining and he couldn’t keep up with the travel demanded in the job.

Although frail in his later years, Benedict continued to write, read, pray and take walks in the Vatican gardens, according to Vatican officials. He also had occasional visits from Pope Francis, cardinals, his brother and friends.

In 2020, at the age of 93, when already frail, Benedict returned to Bavaria, Germany for four days to visit Georg, who was seriously ill, and with whom he had been very close throughout his life. It was the first time since his resignation, more than seven years earlier, that Benedict was known to have left his residence at the Vatican — and Italy.

In 2022, the infirm, retired pope asked forgiveness in a written statement for any “grievous faults” in his past handling of sex abuse cases in the church but denied any personal or specific wrongdoing. He was responding to a German independent report on clerical sex abuse, issued in January of the same year, which had criticized how Benedict had dealt with four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany from 1977 to 1982.

Victim groups and some experts said the report’s findings had tarnished the former pope’s legacy as one of the most renowned Catholic theologians, while other conservative supporters, critical of the present pope’s style, defended his actions.

Giovanna Chirri, the Vatican reporter, who scored a worldwide scoop as she immediately understood the Latin of Benedict’s surprise announcement, told ABC News “he was not very understood as pope and was a victim of rather radicalized prejudices which made him disliked by many.”

However, she added, “people’s perception of him changed with his resignation and his symbolic and dramatic temporary departure by helicopter from the Vatican on Feb. 28, 2013, the day of his resignation.”

The scene was broadcast live to millions around the world.

ABC News’ Bianca Seidman and Alexandra Svokos contributed to this report.

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