(SEOUL, South Korea) — At least 120 people are dead and 100 are injured after being crushed in a crowd during Halloween festivities in Seoul, officials in South Korea said.
The victims are largely in their 20s, according to the National Fire Agency.
Among the fatalities, 46 victims died on the scene and 74 died after transported to the hospital, the agency said.
More deaths are feared, officials said.
“Of the 100 injured, there is [a] high possibility of more deaths,” a National Fire Agency official told reporters.
Many victims were transferred to local hospitals in cardiac arrest after emergency CPR, the agency said.
The casualties occurred Saturday night in the Itaewon leisure district, when a large crowd pushed forward in the area’s narrow alleys, according to witnesses.
The incident was first reported around 10:20 p.m. local time, officials said. It took time for rescue crews to respond due to the crowds.
More than 100,000 people gathered for Halloween parties in the area, which is known for its nightclubs. The area has bars located along narrow back alleys that flank the main street. People got stuck in these curved, slanted alleys, according to witnesses.
Bystander video from the scene showed a large emergency and police response in the district as a crowd of people, some in costume, were still gathered at the scene. CPR could be seen being performed in the street.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — The war in Ukraine is reshaping the global energy landscape and is expected to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels as countries scramble for alternatives to Russian energy, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.
Russia has been one of the world’s largest exporters of fossil fuels like oil and natural gas, but Russia has cut off supplies of natural gas to Europe since they invaded Ukraine and sanctions on Russian exports have threatened energy supplies and increased prices all over the world.
The IEA report found that government’s responses to this energy crisis like the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. as well as clean energy packages in the European Union, Japan and Korea will bring down global demand from fossil fuels and accelerate the deployment of less emitting forms of energy like wind and solar. China and India have also set new goals to roll out more renewable energy.
“The government responses around the world given to this energy crisis promise to be that we are seeing a turning point in the history of energy and this crisis, indeed, accelerates clean energy transitions,” IEA Director Fatih Birol said at a press conference.
The report found that these policies will contribute to a peak in fossil fuel demand for the first time since the industrial revolution, with demand for natural gas expected to peak this century and increasing use of electric vehicles contributing to a peak in demand for oil in the 2030s.
“In this scenario, coal use falls back within the next few years, natural gas demand reaches a plateau by the end of the decade, and rising sales of electric vehicles (EVs) mean that oil demand levels off in the mid-2030s before ebbing slightly to mid-century,” the report said. “This means that total demand for fossil fuels declines steadily from the mid-2020s to 2050 by an annual average roughly equivalent to the lifetime output of a large oil field.”
United Nations climate reports have found that global greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels need to peak this century to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the target set by the Paris Agreement to prevent more dangerous impacts of climate change.
The report expects that the short-term increases in demand for oil and coal burning to offset the lack of Russian gas are likely temporary and will be replaced by lower emissions sources of energy in the long-term.
“Energy markets and policies have changed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, not just for the time being, but for decades to come,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in the press release. “Even with today’s policy settings, the energy world is shifting dramatically before our eyes. Government responses around the world promise to make this a historic and definitive turning point towards a cleaner, more affordable and more secure energy system.”
(NEW YORK) — In 1937, American explorer Bradford Washburn abandoned a cache of heavy equipment, including cameras, while attempting to climb Mount Lucania in the Saint Elias Mountains of northwestern Canada.
Washburn and his friend Bob Bates had to make their way back to civilization through the harsh Yukon wilderness when the weather made it unsafe for a pilot to pick them up, as chronicled in Escape from Lucania, a book by David Roberts.
Two sentences of that book stuck in the mind of professional skier Griffin Post: According to Roberts, Washburn was heartbroken to leave behind his cameras and always wanted to go back to get them.
So Post set out to do it for him, 15 years after his death — and 85 years after the equipment was abandoned.
He got in touch with Luke Copland, a glaciologist at the University of Ottawa, to help figure out where Washburn’s equipment may have ended up. It had been left on Walsh Glacier, and glaciers move, so Washburn’s notes about where he was were no longer directly useful.
That’s how Dora Medrzycka, who just earned a Ph.D. in physical geography with a specialization in glaciology with Copland as her supervisor, got involved.
Washburn is legendary in the mountaineering community for both his adventures and his research. His documentation of mountains has been used to build maps and routes that climbers still use to this day — so the images he would have gotten in 1937 could prove useful for research almost a century later to see just how much the landscape changed.
Copland and Medrzycka provided an estimate of where the glacier probably moved, and Medrzycka joined Post and a group, including a crew from Teton Gravity Research, to search.
The group adventured out to the mountains in late spring 2022, when the snow would be safer to ski on, but was unsuccessful in locating anything.
“But the information we got helped us kind of reassess the estimation of where the cache had moved to,” Post told ABC News.
They went back out again in August but were getting discouraged, as they weren’t finding the cache where they thought it would be.
“I was not only disappointed, but I pretty much knew that I was letting everybody down,” Medrzycka told ABC News. “Because technically, I was the one that was supposed to have the knowledge to figure out where it was. So I definitely felt like I had failed everyone, and that responsibility was pretty, pretty hard to bear.”
But she had a theory. Looking out at the field, she saw what looked like a break in the medial moraine, a line of debris that forms on a glacier’s surface. Medrzycka looked at a satellite image and could clearly see two places where that happened.
This is where it gets a little technical. Glaciers move, and sometimes they surge, moving very fast. It’s not clear why that happens, but it does, according to Medrzycka. The glaciologists knew the Walsh Glacier had surged twice since the 1930s, and Medrzycka theorized that the breaks in the moraine happened when a surge happened, so she calculated how far the glacier probably moved using the break points she could see as markers.
Following Medrzycka’s theory, they spotted something on the last day of the trip — just where she predicted it would be.
The group found several items sitting on the surface that were obviously Washburn’s, including goggles and fuel canisters, but it was farther down the glacier than they’d expected. Now, Post had a theory: The treasure Washburn left was abandoned at their base camp; were these scattered items just gear Washburn and Bates left at a camp higher up on the mountain?
They traveled a little farther and sure enough, found the full cache. Post, who had been preparing to come home empty-handed, said it was “so surreal.”
“For all the work that went into it and knowing all along that it was just a guess, and all that doubt that you had from others and yourself, to overcome that and be like, ‘Yeah, my gut was right. This was possible. This was here’ — it was just such a special moment to share with the crew and be with those people in that landscape and come back successful after essentially stealing victory from the jaws of defeat,” he said.
“When we did find it, man, that was priceless,” Medrzycka said. “I’ll never forget that moment.”
The equipment is now with Parks Canada, which was also involved in the venture, as they work to preserve it and see if it’s possible to retrieve any of Washburn’s footage.
Finding the location of the cache is already a gain for glaciology research. Before this, there was little data on this glacier movement from before the 1960s, so knowing how far Washburn’s cache moved from 1937 until now adds decades of information, Medrzycka said. That information can also be used to predict possible future movement or changes in the glacier.
Post was struck by how much the area had clearly changed since Washburn was there. There are some images from Washburn’s expedition they were using to try to figure out where things were. But it wasn’t lining up with what they saw, Post said.
“All of a sudden being there, you realize that maybe 100 or 200 vertical feet of ice has essentially disappeared,” he said. “And so the baseline or all the bottom of the photos, it’s just this new terrain that wasn’t visible before because it was under all of this ice.”
Arctic sea ice, as of September, is shrinking by 12.6% each decade, according to NASA, which points to that as evidence of rapid climate change.
“Everything that happens in the south doesn’t just stay in the south,” Medrzycka said. “And whatever happens in the Arctic or in high mountain environments doesn’t just stay there. So whatever activities we have in the south, whatever emissions, the pollution that we’re creating, all that does have an impact on the glaciers even if they are very far from us.”
The Arctic is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the world, according to a 2021 report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and threatens the rest of the world with impacts like rising sea levels.
For Post and Medrzycka, this expedition was significant as an outdoors adventure, a research trove — and a combination of science and athleticism to succeed.
“We don’t usually operate around the same circles, but once we found each other on the ice surface, we all belong there, right?” Medrzycka said. “This is exactly our element, this is where we feel comfortable and really shows we’re all linked by our love of the mountains and of the glaciers.”
(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 27, 11:27 AM EDT
In address Putin calls the West’s policy ‘bloody and dirty’
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a rhetorical attack on the West, claiming it believes its world view is universal.
“The policy of the West is bloody and dirty, it denies the sovereignty of countries and peoples,” Putin said, delivering an address at the Valdai Club, a think tank forum.
Putin said that the “rules-based order” proposed by the West is designed to enable it to live without rules at all. He claimed that the West has no unity, calling it a “conglomerate.”
He described the destruction of the European Gas pipelines as “beyond all reason.”
Oct 27, 7:27 AM EDT
Russia threatens to target US satellites
Russia is threatening to target commercial satellites from the United States and its allies if they become involved in the war in Ukraine.
“Quasi-civilian infrastructure may be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike,” Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the non-proliferation and arms control department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was quoted as saying by state media on Thursday. “We are talking about the involvement of components of civilian space infrastructure, including commercial, by the United States and its allies in armed conflicts.”
Oct 26, 3:23 PM EDT
Body of American killed in Donbas transferred to Ukrainian authorities
The remains of an American killed while fighting in the Donbas region are now in Ukraine’s custody and will soon be returned to family members, the U.S. State Department said in a statement Wednesday.
The U.S. citizen was identified as Joshua Jones, a U.S. Army veteran whose remains were recovered as part of a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine, according to Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Jason Volack
Oct 25, 3:10 PM EDT
Biden warns Russia would be making ‘incredibly serious mistake’ if it uses tactical nuclear weapon
President Joe Biden told reporters he is unsure if disputed Russian claims that Ukraine’s military is planning to use a “dirty bomb” were a “false-flag operation” or if Russia is planning on deploying a dirty bomb itself, warning Russia against using nuclear weapons.
“Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake for it to use a tactical nuclear weapon. I’m not guaranteeing you that it’s a false flag operation yet, I don’t know, but it would be a serious, serious mistake,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Oct 25, 2:50 PM EDT
Ukraine accuses Russia of dirty bomb deception at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy operator, accused Russian forces of performing secret construction work at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant over the last weeks, amid allegations from Russia that Ukraine’s military is preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device.
In calls with his British, French, Turkish and American counterparts over the weekend, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made an unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine was preparing to launch a so-called dirty bomb. Britain, France and the U.S. rejected the claims calling them “transparently false.”
Ukraine also dismissed Moscow’s claim as an attempt to distract attention from the Kremlin’s own alleged plans to detonate a dirty bomb, which uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 25, 12:42 AM EDT
Blinken again speaks with Ukrainian counterpart, second time in as many days
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, on Monday after having a call with him on Sunday, and the “rhetoric surrounding so-called dirty bombs” was again on the agenda.
“The secretary reaffirmed enduring U.S. support for Ukraine in the face of continued Russian aggression, atrocities and rhetoric surrounding so-called ‘dirty bombs’ in Ukraine,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. “He noted our commitment to work with allies and partners to continue meeting Ukraine’s security assistance needs on the battlefield.”
Blinken tweeted: “Connected with @DmytroKuleba again today. It is important to once again emphasize that U.S. support for Ukraine is concrete, comprehensive and enduring.”
Oct 24, 9:16 AM EDT
Russian commander says troops readied in case of ‘radioactive contamination’
A senior commander of the Russian military said Monday that his troops have been readied to operate “in the conditions of radioactive contamination,” amid Moscow’s allegation that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory.
“Work has been organised by the [Russian] Ministry of Defense for combating possible provocations from the side of Ukraine: forces and equipment have been put in readiness for fulfilling tasks in the conditions of radioactive contamination,” Kirillov said during a press briefing, as quoted by Russian state media.
The comments are further worrying signs that Russia is trying to build a false-flag narrative, blaming Ukraine for the possible use of nuclear weapons, which is clearly intended as a threat to both Ukraine and its Western allies.
Oct 24, 9:04 AM EDT
Russia responds to US, UK, France rejecting its ‘dirty bomb’ allegation
Russia responded on Monday to a joint statement from the United States, the United Kingdom and France rejecting Moscow’s “transparently false allegations” that Ukraine is preparing a provocation with the use of a “dirty bomb” on its own territory.
“The thing is that their mistrust toward the information shared by Russia doesn’t mean that the threat of the use of such a dirty bomb ceases to exist,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a press briefing. “The threat is obvious. This information was shared by the defense minister with his counterparts, and now it is up to them to believe or not believe in it.”
Oct 24, 8:39 AM EDT
Top Ukrainian general speaks out in exclusive rare interview
The commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine is real and that the West “should be worried,” but said his country is nonetheless winning the war.
Gen. Col. Oleksander Syrskiy made the comments in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Chief Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday. As the 57-year-old top commander of his country’s land forces, Syrskiy has played a decisive role in turning the war in Ukraine’s favor, first leading the successful defense of the capital, Kyiv, and then — most recently — masterminding the counteroffensive in the northeast that upended the monthslong conflict and threw Russian forces onto the defensive.
The rare interview, airing Monday on ABC News’ Good Morning America, is one of the few times Syrskiy has spoken publicly at length and he described Ukraine’s tactics, the importance of Western support, the threat of renewed attacks from Belarus and his determination that Ukraine will reclaim all of its territory, including the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine’s successes, however, have been shadowed by the recent threats from Putin that Russia might resort to nuclear weapons to reverse the course of his war in Ukraine. Syrskiy told ABC News that he takes the threats seriously.
“We are and should be worried,” Syrskiy said. “I do believe that such a threat really exists and we have to take it into account.”
Oct 24, 8:32 AM EDT
US, UK, France reject Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ allegation
The governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and France released a joint statement on Sunday rejecting “Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.”
“We, the Foreign Ministers of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, reiterate our steadfast support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” they said in the joint statement. “We remain committed to continue supporting Ukraine’s efforts to defend its territory for as long as it takes.”
“Earlier today, the defense ministers of each of our countries spoke to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu at his request,” they continued. “Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory. The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation. We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia.”
They added: “The Foreign Ministers also discussed their shared determination to continue supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people with security, economic, and humanitarian assistance in the face of President Putin’s brutal war of aggression.”
Oct 24, 8:21 AM EDT
Blinken speaks with Ukrainian counterpart about Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ allegation
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke via telephone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Sunday “to reaffirm the United States’ steadfast support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independent, and territorial integrity,” according to a statement from U.S. Department of State spokesperson Ned Price.
“Secretary Blinken expressed to Foreign Minister Kuleba that the United States rejects Russian Defense Minister Shoygu’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory and that the world would see through any attempt by Russia to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” Price said.
“They also discussed the U.S. and international commitment to continue supporting Ukraine with unprecedented security, economic and humanitarian assistance for as long as it takes, as we hold Russia accountable,” he added. “They further noted our ongoing efforts to manage the broader implications of President Putin’s war.”
Oct 23, 4:11 PM EDT
Russian Defense Minister claims Ukrainians planning ‘dirty bomb’ attack
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called the defense ministers of Turkey, France and the United Kingdom on Saturday, claiming Ukraine is preparing a provocation with the use of a “dirty bomb.”
The first mention of a possible Ukrainian “dirty bomb” attack appeared Sunday in a morning message of the RIA Novosti state-owned news agency. The article, citing “credible sources in various countries, including Ukraine,” stated that “the Kiev regime is preparing a provocation on the territory of its country related to the detonation of the so-called ‘dirty bomb’ or low-power nuclear munition.”
“The purpose of the provocation is to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction in the Ukrainian theater of operations and thereby launch a powerful anti-Russian campaign in the world aimed at undermining confidence in Moscow,” RIA Novosti reported.
Shoigu also had a telephone conversation with the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Sunday, during which they discussed the situation in Ukraine, according to a Pentagon official.
“Secretary Austin rejected any pretext for Russian escalation and reaffirmed the value of continued communication amid Russia’s unlawful and unjustified war against Ukraine,” said Pentagon press secretary, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.
Oct 23, 1:20 PM EDT
Russian military jet crashes into a residential building, 2nd time in a week
A Russian Sukhoi Su fighter jet crashed into a residential building in southern Siberia on Sunday during a an apparent test flight just six days after another Russian Sukhoi Su jet slammed into an apartment block in Yeysk, Russia, near the Ukrainian border.
Two pilots were killed in Sunday’s crash in the southern Siberia town of Irkutsk, Russian officials said. The crash ignited a giant fireball when the aircraft nosedived into a two-story house, Igor Kobzev, the regional governor, said in a post on Telegram.
Kobzev confirmed two pilots were killed and said no civilian residents were injured.
The Sukhoi Su-30 jet was on a test flight when the crash occurred, according to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The crash came about a week after a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 crashed into an apartment block in the southern Russian city of Yeysk, near Ukraine, killing at least 15 people.
Authorities said the initial investigation indicated a technical malfunction of the aircraft caused the crash and that the pilots eject from the jet and survived.
Oct 22, 4:39 PM EDT
33 missiles have been fired at Ukraine, air force says
Thirty-three missiles were fired at Ukraine on Saturday morning, 18 of which were shot down, the country’s air force claimed. Local officials in regions across Ukraine are reporting that the strikes were aimed at energy facilities.
More than a million people were without power as of Saturday afternoon, according to presidential adviser Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
In the southeastern city of Nikopol, local authorities warned that air raid sirens would be switched off as a result of power cuts. Instead, emergency vehicles driving around the city will warn resident of incoming aerial threats.
Oct 22, 1:45 PM EDT
Russian authorities tell civilians in annexed Kherson to leave immediately
Russian authorities in the Ukrainian city of Kherson told civilians to leave immediately on Saturday because of what they called a tense military situation as Ukrainian forces advance. Kherson was illegally annexed by Russia earlier this month.
“Take care of the safety of your family and friends! Do not forget documents, money, valuables and clothes,” Russian authorities said.
At Oleshky on the opposite bank of the Dnipro, the agencies caught up with people arriving by river boat from Kherson, loaded with boxes, bags and pets, according to an article in Russian News Agency Interfax.
One woman carried a toddler under one arm and a dog under the other. Some boats were loaded with vegetables and pallets of food. Staff from Russia’s emergency ministry carried elderly people and children in prams from the vessels. Families then waited to board buses to the Russian-annexed city of Crimea, according to Interfax.
Meanwhile, in a briefing on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had repelled a Ukrainian attempt to break through its line of control in the Kherson region.
Oct 21, 3:36 PM EDT
Ukraine accuses Russia of delaying passage of 150 grain ships
Russia is deliberately delaying the passage of ships carrying grain exports under a U.N.-brokered deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alleged in his evening address Friday.
Zelenskyy said the delay meant that Ukraine grain exports were short 3 million tons, which he said is enough to feed 10 million people.
“The enemy is doing everything to slow down our food exports … as of today, more than 150 ships are queuing to fulfill contractual obligations on the delivery of our agricultural products,” Zelenskyy said.
“This is an artificial queue. It only arose because Russia is deliberately delaying the passage of the ships,” he said.
-ABC News’ Jason Volack
Oct 21, 1:24 PM EDT
Russia has hit 30% to 40% of Ukraine’s overall power infrastructure, Ukrainian official tells Reuters
Russian attacks have hit 30% to 40% of Ukraine’s overall national power infrastructure, Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko told Reuters in an interview.
“We see that they targeted a number of new [facilities], but also they shelled [facilities] which had been already shelled before to destroy them absolutely,” Halushchenko said.
Asked about the scale of the damage, Halushchenko said Russian attacks have hit at least half of Ukraine’s thermal generation capacity and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.
Halushchenko said electricity imports could be one of the options Ukraine pursues to get through the crisis.
-ABC News’ Jason Volack
Oct 21, 11:03 AM EDT
Austin speaks with Russian defense minister about Ukraine
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Russian counterpart, Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu, for the second time since the invasion of Ukraine on Friday.
“Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine,” the Pentagon said in a brief statement.
The first call between the two was in May and lasted an hour. Officials did not say how long the Friday call was.
Oct 20, 4:33 PM EDT
US believes Iranians are on the ground assisting Russian drone attacks in Ukraine
The U.S. believes Iranians are “on the ground” in Ukraine to assist Russia with its drone operations, White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.
“We can confirm that Russian military personnel that are based in Crimea have been piloting Iranian [drones] and using them to conduct strikes across Ukraine, including strikes against Kiev in just recent days. We assess that Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations,” Kirby told reporters.
Kirby did not know how many Iranians are in Crimea, but said the U.S. knows it is “a relatively small number.”
Kirby specified that the Iranians “have put trainers and tech support in Crimea, but it’s the Russians who are doing the piloting.”
“We’re going to continue to vigorously enforce all U.S. sanctions on both the Russian and Iranian arms trade. We’re going to make it harder for Iran to sell these weapons to Russia. We’re going to help the Ukrainians have what they need to defend themselves against these threats.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Oct 20, 2:53 PM EDT
DOJ says it will continue to be “relentless” in efforts to hold people responsible for war crimes accountable
The Justice Department will “continue” to be “relentless” in its pursuit to hold those responsible for war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine accountable, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday, while sitting next to his German counterpart, Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht.
“We are committed to finding ways to expand our cooperation with our German partners in these efforts,” Garland said.
Garland also thanked Germany for its help in apprehending a suspect accused of getting sensitive technologies to Russia as part of an indictment announced Wednesday.
The Justice Department charged five individuals including Yury Orekhov, the alleged mastermind behind the plot. Orekhov was arrested in Germany as part of the Justice Department’s task force KleptoCapture, which is cracking down on Russian-related crimes as the war in Ukraine continues.
Asked if any U.S. intelligence was compromised after Germany replaced its head of cybersecurity over alleged ties to Russia, Garland didn’t answer, saying intelligence sharing is what makes the relationship with Germany so strong.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
Oct 20, 6:56 AM EDT
US will ‘not hesitate’ to sanction Iran over drone sales, official says
The United States is committed to stopping Russia from obtaining foreign weapons, including Iran-made drones, a State Department official said.
Officials from the United States, United Kingdom and France on Thursday raised the issue during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
“The United States began warning in July that Iran was planning to transfer UAVs to Russia for use in Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, and we now have abundant evidence that these UAVs are being used to strike Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure,” Price said. “As Iran continues to lie and deny providing weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, we are committed to working with allies and partners to prevent the transfer of dangerous weaponry to Russia.”
He added, “We will not hesitate to use our sanctions and other appropriate tools on all involved in these transfers.”
Oct 19, 8:08 PM EDT
Putin’s martial law declaration ‘speaks to his desperation’: Blinken
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News’ Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulos in a new interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of martial law in illegally annexed parts of Ukraine “speaks to his desperation” as Ukrainian forces continue to make progress in rebuffing the invasion.
“Just in the last few weeks, he’s tried to mobilize more forces. He’s gone through with this sham annexation of Ukrainian territory,” Blinken said in a preview from the sit-down, which will air Thursday on Good Morning America.
Oct 19, 3:34 PM EDT
Ukraine to restrict electrical supply after Russia knocks out power plants
Ukraine will start restricting electricity supplies across the country on Thursday after Russia knocked out more power plants, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said on Wednesday.
“From 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., it is necessary to minimize the use of electricity … if this is not done, you should prepare for temporary blackouts,” Tymoshenko wrote in a Telegram post.
-ABC News’ Jason Volack
Oct 19, 2:26 PM EDT
Biden says Putin imposing martial law may be ‘his only tool available’ to brutalize Ukrainians
President Joe Biden reacted to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to impose martial law in illegally annexed Ukrainian areas, telling reporters it may be his only tool available.
“I think that Vladimir Putin finds himself in an incredibly difficult position. And what it reflects to me is it seems his only tool available to him is to brutalize individual citizens, in Ukraine, Ukrainian citizens to try to intimidate them into capitulating,” Biden said Wednesday.
“They’re not gonna do that,” he added
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Oct 19, 8:31 AM EDT
Putin announces he is imposing martial law in four occupied Ukrainian territories
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he will impose martial law in four Ukrainian territories occupied by Russian forces — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye. All four regions were illegally annexed by Putin last month.
Marital law grants Russia’s authorities huge powers over the civilian population in the regions it is imposed. Martial law is set to go into effect on Thursday.
The decree, which Putin announced during a televised meeting with his security council, will now be sent to be rubber stamped by Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, the Federation Council.
Putin has also granted new powers to governors in several regions bordering Ukraine.
Putin’s decree includes other points ordering the rest of Russia itself put into various levels of “readiness.”
The decree puts eight regions bordering Ukraine into a state of “moderate level of response,” but also imposes a “level of heightened readiness” in the southern and central regions that include Moscow. All other Russians regions are put on a “basic level of readiness.”
The decree says these statuses grant special powers to local authorities that are similar to martial law and includes points imposing increased security at key facilities, puts transport and communications into a special regime and also envisages the creation of “territorial defense headquarters” in some regions.
Oct 19, 7:35 AM EDT
Russian civilians to evacuate Kherson
Russia has announced the mass evacuation of civilians from the key city of Kherson, as well as all of its civilian occupation administration there.
Russia’s newly appointed overall commander for its war in Ukraine, Gen. Sergey Surovikin, said on Tuesday that “difficult decisions” may have to be made in the near future regarding Russia’s position in Kherson. In his first public remarks since his appointment, he said the situation around Kherson was already “extremely difficult.”
The evacuation combined with Surovikin’s comments has fueled speculation that Russia may be preparing to retreat from the city in the face of a Ukrainian offensive, in what would be a major defeat for President Vladimir Putin.
Other Russian officials though have suggested the evacuation is in preparation of Russian defense of the city. Kherson’s Russian-appointed governor on Wednesday denied Russia was planning to “give up” the city.
Another senior occupation official has said the battle for Kherson will begin in the “very near future.”
Kherson is the only regional capital Russia managed to seize in its invasion and is a capital of one of the regions Putin annexed last month.
The city is located on the western side of the Dnieper river and Russian forces’ position there has become increasingly difficult, after Ukraine succeeded in destroying the bridges needed to supply it.
With the bridges destroyed, thousands of Russian troops risk becoming surrounded in Kherson city and cut off from any supplies.
Russia has already begun evacuating civilians to the eastern side of the Dneipr river. Independent military researchers said Russia has quickly built a pontoon bridge near Kherson that could be used for evacuation or re-supplies.
The Russian-appointed governor said around 60,000 civilians will be evacuated, over the course of seven days.
Oct 18, 5:14 PM EDT
Russia trying to make Ukrainians ‘suffer,’ US officials say
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian power stations shows Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to make Ukrainians “suffer” with deliberate attacks, speaking of attacks on Ukrainian power stations.
“He is trying to make sure that the Ukrainian people suffer,” Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing on Tuesday. “He’s making it very difficult for them.”
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder echoed those comments, saying Russia is trying to “inflict pain” on Ukrainian civilians with its strikes on population centers and infrastructure.
“We do continue to see them target, among other things, civilian infrastructure, to include energy related targets — power grids, for example,” Ryder said.
He added, “In terms of why we think they’re targeting those areas, I think obviously trying to inflict pain on the civilian society as well as try to have an impact on Ukrainian forces.”
ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Matt Seyler
Oct 18, 4:59 PM EDT
UN commission releases detailed report on war crimes in Ukraine
The United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has released its first in-depth, written report on what it calls “an array of war crimes, violations of human rights and international humanitarian law” committed in the country during the first weeks of Russia’s brutal invasion.
The report outlines what investigators say are “documented patterns of summary executions, unlawful confinement, torture, ill-treatment, rape and other sexual violence.”
The inquiry zeroed in on four regions of Ukraine– Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy–and focused on incidents that took place following Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24 through the end of March.
Investigators traveled to 27 cities and towns, conducted nearly 200 interviews and “inspected sites of destruction, graves, places of detention and torture, as well as weapon remnants, and consulted a large number of documents and reports.”
Due to the sheer number of allegations, the commission could not investigate all the claims it received. The commission said it intends to “gradually devote more of its resources” to a broader investigation within the country, according to the report.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 18, 2:25 PM EDT
NATO to send Ukraine anti-drone systems: NATO Secretary General
Ukraine will receive anti-drone systems from NATO in the coming days according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“The most important thing we can do is deliver on what allies have promised, to step up and deliver even more air defense systems,” Stoltenberg said, according to Reuters.
He added, “NATO will in the coming days deliver counter-drone systems to counter the specific threat of drones, including those from Iran.”
ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 18, 7:00 AM EDT
30% of Ukraine’s power stations destroyed
About a third of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed by Russian attacks in the last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
“Since Oct. 10, 30% of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed, causing massive blackouts across the country,” he said on Twitter. “No space left for negotiations with Putin’s regime.”
(NEW YORK) — Prince Harry’s memoir will hit bookstores Jan. 10, 2023, Penguin Random House says.
The news, which leaked earlier on Wednesday by publishing insiders, was confirmed by Random House, who said “readers everywhere will be part of a landmark publication: the story of Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex,” in a tweet. “Personal and emotionally powerful, ‘SPARE’ will be published by @transworldbooks, supporting two special charities. Details at http://princeharrymemoir.com.”
On 10 January 2023, readers everywhere will be part of a landmark publication: the story of Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex. Personal and emotionally powerful, SPARE will be published by @transworldbooks, supporting two special charities. Details at https://t.co/3y6Vh4WRbx. pic.twitter.com/r3yXdWdt6K
Last year, Penguin Random House released a statement from Harry, the duke of Sussex, who announced his plans to release a memoir about his “firsthand account of my life that’s accurate and wholly truthful.”
“I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become,” Harry said in the 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.”
He added that he is “deeply grateful for the opportunity” to share what he’s learned over the course of his life so far.
Harry is the youngest son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana and is the husband of Meghan Markle, the duchess of Sussex. In 2020, he and Meghan stepped down from their senior roles with the royal family and now live in California with their two children, Archie, 2, and Lilibet, 1.
(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 25, 12:42 AM EDT
Blinken again speaks with Ukrainian counterpart, second time in as many days
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, on Monday after having a call with him on Sunday, and the “rhetoric surrounding so-called dirty bombs” was again on the agenda.
“The secretary reaffirmed enduring U.S. support for Ukraine in the face of continued Russian aggression, atrocities and rhetoric surrounding so-called ‘dirty bombs’ in Ukraine,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. “He noted our commitment to work with allies and partners to continue meeting Ukraine’s security assistance needs on the battlefield.”
Blinken tweeted: “Connected with @DmytroKuleba again today. It is important to once again emphasize that U.S. support for Ukraine is concrete, comprehensive and enduring.”
Oct 24, 9:16 AM EDT
Russian commander says troops readied in case of ‘radioactive contamination’
A senior commander of the Russian military said Monday that his troops have been readied to operate “in the conditions of radioactive contamination,” amid Moscow’s allegation that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory.
“Work has been organised by the [Russian] Ministry of Defense for combating possible provocations from the side of Ukraine: forces and equipment have been put in readiness for fulfilling tasks in the conditions of radioactive contamination,” Kirillov said during a press briefing, as quoted by Russian state media.
The comments are further worrying signs that Russia is trying to build a false-flag narrative, blaming Ukraine for the possible use of nuclear weapons, which is clearly intended as a threat to both Ukraine and its Western allies.
Oct 24, 9:04 AM EDT
Russia responds to US, UK, France rejecting its ‘dirty bomb’ allegation
Russia responded on Monday to a joint statement from the United States, the United Kingdom and France rejecting Moscow’s “transparently false allegations” that Ukraine is preparing a provocation with the use of a “dirty bomb” on its own territory.
“The thing is that their mistrust toward the information shared by Russia doesn’t mean that the threat of the use of such a dirty bomb ceases to exist,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a press briefing. “The threat is obvious. This information was shared by the defense minister with his counterparts, and now it is up to them to believe or not believe in it.”
Oct 24, 8:39 AM EDT
Top Ukrainian general speaks out in exclusive rare interview
The commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine is real and that the West “should be worried,” but said his country is nonetheless winning the war.
Gen. Col. Oleksander Syrskiy made the comments in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Chief Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday. As the 57-year-old top commander of his country’s land forces, Syrskiy has played a decisive role in turning the war in Ukraine’s favor, first leading the successful defense of the capital, Kyiv, and then — most recently — masterminding the counteroffensive in the northeast that upended the monthslong conflict and threw Russian forces onto the defensive.
The rare interview, airing Monday on ABC News’ Good Morning America, is one of the few times Syrskiy has spoken publicly at length and he described Ukraine’s tactics, the importance of Western support, the threat of renewed attacks from Belarus and his determination that Ukraine will reclaim all of its territory, including the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine’s successes, however, have been shadowed by the recent threats from Putin that Russia might resort to nuclear weapons to reverse the course of his war in Ukraine. Syrskiy told ABC News that he takes the threats seriously.
“We are and should be worried,” Syrskiy said. “I do believe that such a threat really exists and we have to take it into account.”
Oct 24, 8:32 AM EDT
US, UK, France reject Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ allegation
The governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and France released a joint statement on Sunday rejecting “Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.”
“We, the Foreign Ministers of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, reiterate our steadfast support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” they said in the joint statement. “We remain committed to continue supporting Ukraine’s efforts to defend its territory for as long as it takes.”
“Earlier today, the defense ministers of each of our countries spoke to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu at his request,” they continued. “Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory. The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation. We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia.”
They added: “The Foreign Ministers also discussed their shared determination to continue supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people with security, economic, and humanitarian assistance in the face of President Putin’s brutal war of aggression.”
Oct 24, 8:21 AM EDT
Blinken speaks with Ukrainian counterpart about Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ allegation
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke via telephone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Sunday “to reaffirm the United States’ steadfast support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independent, and territorial integrity,” according to a statement from U.S. Department of State spokesperson Ned Price.
“Secretary Blinken expressed to Foreign Minister Kuleba that the United States rejects Russian Defense Minister Shoygu’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory and that the world would see through any attempt by Russia to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” Price said.
“They also discussed the U.S. and international commitment to continue supporting Ukraine with unprecedented security, economic and humanitarian assistance for as long as it takes, as we hold Russia accountable,” he added. “They further noted our ongoing efforts to manage the broader implications of President Putin’s war.”
Oct 23, 4:11 PM EDT
Russian Defense Minister claims Ukrainians planning ‘dirty bomb’ attack
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called the defense ministers of Turkey, France and the United Kingdom on Saturday, claiming Ukraine is preparing a provocation with the use of a “dirty bomb.”
The first mention of a possible Ukrainian “dirty bomb” attack appeared Sunday in a morning message of the RIA Novosti state-owned news agency. The article, citing “credible sources in various countries, including Ukraine,” stated that “the Kiev regime is preparing a provocation on the territory of its country related to the detonation of the so-called ‘dirty bomb’ or low-power nuclear munition.”
“The purpose of the provocation is to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction in the Ukrainian theater of operations and thereby launch a powerful anti-Russian campaign in the world aimed at undermining confidence in Moscow,” RIA Novosti reported.
Shoigu also had a telephone conversation with the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Sunday, during which they discussed the situation in Ukraine, according to a Pentagon official.
“Secretary Austin rejected any pretext for Russian escalation and reaffirmed the value of continued communication amid Russia’s unlawful and unjustified war against Ukraine,” said Pentagon press secretary, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.
Oct 23, 1:20 PM EDT
Russian military jet crashes into a residential building, 2nd time in a week
A Russian Sukhoi Su fighter jet crashed into a residential building in southern Siberia on Sunday during a an apparent test flight just six days after another Russian Sukhoi Su jet slammed into an apartment block in Yeysk, Russia, near the Ukrainian border.
Two pilots were killed in Sunday’s crash in the southern Siberia town of Irkutsk, Russian officials said. The crash ignited a giant fireball when the aircraft nosedived into a two-story house, Igor Kobzev, the regional governor, said in a post on Telegram.
Kobzev confirmed two pilots were killed and said no civilian residents were injured.
The Sukhoi Su-30 jet was on a test flight when the crash occurred, according to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The crash came about a week after a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 crashed into an apartment block in the southern Russian city of Yeysk, near Ukraine, killing at least 15 people.
Authorities said the initial investigation indicated a technical malfunction of the aircraft caused the crash and that the pilots eject from the jet and survived.
Oct 22, 4:39 PM EDT
33 missiles have been fired at Ukraine, air force says
Thirty-three missiles were fired at Ukraine on Saturday morning, 18 of which were shot down, the country’s air force claimed. Local officials in regions across Ukraine are reporting that the strikes were aimed at energy facilities.
More than a million people were without power as of Saturday afternoon, according to presidential adviser Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
In the southeastern city of Nikopol, local authorities warned that air raid sirens would be switched off as a result of power cuts. Instead, emergency vehicles driving around the city will warn resident of incoming aerial threats.
Oct 22, 1:45 PM EDT
Russian authorities tell civilians in annexed Kherson to leave immediately
Russian authorities in the Ukrainian city of Kherson told civilians to leave immediately on Saturday because of what they called a tense military situation as Ukrainian forces advance. Kherson was illegally annexed by Russia earlier this month.
“Take care of the safety of your family and friends! Do not forget documents, money, valuables and clothes,” Russian authorities said.
At Oleshky on the opposite bank of the Dnipro, the agencies caught up with people arriving by river boat from Kherson, loaded with boxes, bags and pets, according to an article in Russian News Agency Interfax.
One woman carried a toddler under one arm and a dog under the other. Some boats were loaded with vegetables and pallets of food. Staff from Russia’s emergency ministry carried elderly people and children in prams from the vessels. Families then waited to board buses to the Russian-annexed city of Crimea, according to Interfax.
Meanwhile, in a briefing on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had repelled a Ukrainian attempt to break through its line of control in the Kherson region.
Oct 21, 3:36 PM EDT
Ukraine accuses Russia of delaying passage of 150 grain ships
Russia is deliberately delaying the passage of ships carrying grain exports under a U.N.-brokered deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alleged in his evening address Friday.
Zelenskyy said the delay meant that Ukraine grain exports were short 3 million tons, which he said is enough to feed 10 million people.
“The enemy is doing everything to slow down our food exports … as of today, more than 150 ships are queuing to fulfill contractual obligations on the delivery of our agricultural products,” Zelenskyy said.
“This is an artificial queue. It only arose because Russia is deliberately delaying the passage of the ships,” he said.
-ABC News’ Jason Volack
Oct 21, 1:24 PM EDT
Russia has hit 30% to 40% of Ukraine’s overall power infrastructure, Ukrainian official tells Reuters
Russian attacks have hit 30% to 40% of Ukraine’s overall national power infrastructure, Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko told Reuters in an interview.
“We see that they targeted a number of new [facilities], but also they shelled [facilities] which had been already shelled before to destroy them absolutely,” Halushchenko said.
Asked about the scale of the damage, Halushchenko said Russian attacks have hit at least half of Ukraine’s thermal generation capacity and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.
Halushchenko said electricity imports could be one of the options Ukraine pursues to get through the crisis.
-ABC News’ Jason Volack
Oct 21, 11:03 AM EDT
Austin speaks with Russian defense minister about Ukraine
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Russian counterpart, Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu, for the second time since the invasion of Ukraine on Friday.
“Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine,” the Pentagon said in a brief statement.
The first call between the two was in May and lasted an hour. Officials did not say how long the Friday call was.
Oct 20, 4:33 PM EDT
US believes Iranians are on the ground assisting Russian drone attacks in Ukraine
The U.S. believes Iranians are “on the ground” in Ukraine to assist Russia with its drone operations, White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.
“We can confirm that Russian military personnel that are based in Crimea have been piloting Iranian [drones] and using them to conduct strikes across Ukraine, including strikes against Kiev in just recent days. We assess that Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations,” Kirby told reporters.
Kirby did not know how many Iranians are in Crimea, but said the U.S. knows it is “a relatively small number.”
Kirby specified that the Iranians “have put trainers and tech support in Crimea, but it’s the Russians who are doing the piloting.”
“We’re going to continue to vigorously enforce all U.S. sanctions on both the Russian and Iranian arms trade. We’re going to make it harder for Iran to sell these weapons to Russia. We’re going to help the Ukrainians have what they need to defend themselves against these threats.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Oct 20, 2:53 PM EDT
DOJ says it will continue to be “relentless” in efforts to hold people responsible for war crimes accountable
The Justice Department will “continue” to be “relentless” in its pursuit to hold those responsible for war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine accountable, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday, while sitting next to his German counterpart, Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht.
“We are committed to finding ways to expand our cooperation with our German partners in these efforts,” Garland said.
Garland also thanked Germany for its help in apprehending a suspect accused of getting sensitive technologies to Russia as part of an indictment announced Wednesday.
The Justice Department charged five individuals including Yury Orekhov, the alleged mastermind behind the plot. Orekhov was arrested in Germany as part of the Justice Department’s task force KleptoCapture, which is cracking down on Russian-related crimes as the war in Ukraine continues.
Asked if any U.S. intelligence was compromised after Germany replaced its head of cybersecurity over alleged ties to Russia, Garland didn’t answer, saying intelligence sharing is what makes the relationship with Germany so strong.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
Oct 20, 6:56 AM EDT
US will ‘not hesitate’ to sanction Iran over drone sales, official says
The United States is committed to stopping Russia from obtaining foreign weapons, including Iran-made drones, a State Department official said.
Officials from the United States, United Kingdom and France on Thursday raised the issue during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
“The United States began warning in July that Iran was planning to transfer UAVs to Russia for use in Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, and we now have abundant evidence that these UAVs are being used to strike Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure,” Price said. “As Iran continues to lie and deny providing weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, we are committed to working with allies and partners to prevent the transfer of dangerous weaponry to Russia.”
He added, “We will not hesitate to use our sanctions and other appropriate tools on all involved in these transfers.”
Oct 19, 8:08 PM EDT
Putin’s martial law declaration ‘speaks to his desperation’: Blinken
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News’ Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulos in a new interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of martial law in illegally annexed parts of Ukraine “speaks to his desperation” as Ukrainian forces continue to make progress in rebuffing the invasion.
“Just in the last few weeks, he’s tried to mobilize more forces. He’s gone through with this sham annexation of Ukrainian territory,” Blinken said in a preview from the sit-down, which will air Thursday on Good Morning America.
Oct 19, 3:34 PM EDT
Ukraine to restrict electrical supply after Russia knocks out power plants
Ukraine will start restricting electricity supplies across the country on Thursday after Russia knocked out more power plants, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said on Wednesday.
“From 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., it is necessary to minimize the use of electricity … if this is not done, you should prepare for temporary blackouts,” Tymoshenko wrote in a Telegram post.
-ABC News’ Jason Volack
Oct 19, 2:26 PM EDT
Biden says Putin imposing martial law may be ‘his only tool available’ to brutalize Ukrainians
President Joe Biden reacted to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to impose martial law in illegally annexed Ukrainian areas, telling reporters it may be his only tool available.
“I think that Vladimir Putin finds himself in an incredibly difficult position. And what it reflects to me is it seems his only tool available to him is to brutalize individual citizens, in Ukraine, Ukrainian citizens to try to intimidate them into capitulating,” Biden said Wednesday.
“They’re not gonna do that,” he added
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Oct 19, 8:31 AM EDT
Putin announces he is imposing martial law in four occupied Ukrainian territories
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he will impose martial law in four Ukrainian territories occupied by Russian forces — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye. All four regions were illegally annexed by Putin last month.
Marital law grants Russia’s authorities huge powers over the civilian population in the regions it is imposed. Martial law is set to go into effect on Thursday.
The decree, which Putin announced during a televised meeting with his security council, will now be sent to be rubber stamped by Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, the Federation Council.
Putin has also granted new powers to governors in several regions bordering Ukraine.
Putin’s decree includes other points ordering the rest of Russia itself put into various levels of “readiness.”
The decree puts eight regions bordering Ukraine into a state of “moderate level of response,” but also imposes a “level of heightened readiness” in the southern and central regions that include Moscow. All other Russians regions are put on a “basic level of readiness.”
The decree says these statuses grant special powers to local authorities that are similar to martial law and includes points imposing increased security at key facilities, puts transport and communications into a special regime and also envisages the creation of “territorial defense headquarters” in some regions.
Oct 19, 7:35 AM EDT
Russian civilians to evacuate Kherson
Russia has announced the mass evacuation of civilians from the key city of Kherson, as well as all of its civilian occupation administration there.
Russia’s newly appointed overall commander for its war in Ukraine, Gen. Sergey Surovikin, said on Tuesday that “difficult decisions” may have to be made in the near future regarding Russia’s position in Kherson. In his first public remarks since his appointment, he said the situation around Kherson was already “extremely difficult.”
The evacuation combined with Surovikin’s comments has fueled speculation that Russia may be preparing to retreat from the city in the face of a Ukrainian offensive, in what would be a major defeat for President Vladimir Putin.
Other Russian officials though have suggested the evacuation is in preparation of Russian defense of the city. Kherson’s Russian-appointed governor on Wednesday denied Russia was planning to “give up” the city.
Another senior occupation official has said the battle for Kherson will begin in the “very near future.”
Kherson is the only regional capital Russia managed to seize in its invasion and is a capital of one of the regions Putin annexed last month.
The city is located on the western side of the Dnieper river and Russian forces’ position there has become increasingly difficult, after Ukraine succeeded in destroying the bridges needed to supply it.
With the bridges destroyed, thousands of Russian troops risk becoming surrounded in Kherson city and cut off from any supplies.
Russia has already begun evacuating civilians to the eastern side of the Dneipr river. Independent military researchers said Russia has quickly built a pontoon bridge near Kherson that could be used for evacuation or re-supplies.
The Russian-appointed governor said around 60,000 civilians will be evacuated, over the course of seven days.
Oct 18, 5:14 PM EDT
Russia trying to make Ukrainians ‘suffer,’ US officials say
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian power stations shows Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to make Ukrainians “suffer” with deliberate attacks, speaking of attacks on Ukrainian power stations.
“He is trying to make sure that the Ukrainian people suffer,” Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing on Tuesday. “He’s making it very difficult for them.”
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder echoed those comments, saying Russia is trying to “inflict pain” on Ukrainian civilians with its strikes on population centers and infrastructure.
“We do continue to see them target, among other things, civilian infrastructure, to include energy related targets — power grids, for example,” Ryder said.
He added, “In terms of why we think they’re targeting those areas, I think obviously trying to inflict pain on the civilian society as well as try to have an impact on Ukrainian forces.”
ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Matt Seyler
Oct 18, 4:59 PM EDT
UN commission releases detailed report on war crimes in Ukraine
The United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has released its first in-depth, written report on what it calls “an array of war crimes, violations of human rights and international humanitarian law” committed in the country during the first weeks of Russia’s brutal invasion.
The report outlines what investigators say are “documented patterns of summary executions, unlawful confinement, torture, ill-treatment, rape and other sexual violence.”
The inquiry zeroed in on four regions of Ukraine– Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy–and focused on incidents that took place following Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24 through the end of March.
Investigators traveled to 27 cities and towns, conducted nearly 200 interviews and “inspected sites of destruction, graves, places of detention and torture, as well as weapon remnants, and consulted a large number of documents and reports.”
Due to the sheer number of allegations, the commission could not investigate all the claims it received. The commission said it intends to “gradually devote more of its resources” to a broader investigation within the country, according to the report.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 18, 2:25 PM EDT
NATO to send Ukraine anti-drone systems: NATO Secretary General
Ukraine will receive anti-drone systems from NATO in the coming days according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“The most important thing we can do is deliver on what allies have promised, to step up and deliver even more air defense systems,” Stoltenberg said, according to Reuters.
He added, “NATO will in the coming days deliver counter-drone systems to counter the specific threat of drones, including those from Iran.”
ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 18, 7:00 AM EDT
30% of Ukraine’s power stations destroyed
About a third of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed by Russian attacks in the last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
“Since Oct. 10, 30% of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed, causing massive blackouts across the country,” he said on Twitter. “No space left for negotiations with Putin’s regime.”
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. officials are flatly rejecting as false repeated Russian claims being made to senior western officials that Ukraine is preparing to use a radioactive “dirty bomb” in Ukraine, saying at the same time they are not seeing any indications that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons.
In this weekend’s phone calls to top officials at the Pentagon, Russian military leaders indicated that the alleged Ukrainian use of a dirty bomb would be a justification for an escalation in the conflict, a U.S. official told ABC News.
Over the weekend, in an unprecedented series of phone calls to senior defense officials in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Turkey, senior Russian defense officials repeatedly claimed that Ukraine was possibly preparing to use a dirty bomb.
A dirty bomb is an explosive device paired with radioactive material that is intended to widely disperse radiation over a wide area while a nuclear weapon is a device that uses nuclear fission to produce a massive atomic or thermonuclear explosion.
“Obviously, we’re concerned about these allegations that the Russians raised, them, not us,” John Kirby, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications told reporters on Monday. “They’re the ones that made a public issue of this.”
“We reject the false allegation that the Russians made in the phone call that they placed at their request to (Defense) Secretary Austin, that the Ukrainians were planning to use a dirty bomb,” said Kirby. “We just reject that allegation. It’s just not true.”
On Sunday and Monday, in a rare move, Russian defense minister Sergey Shoygu and Russia’s top military commander Gen. Valery Gerasimov initiated phone calls to their American counterparts and, according to Russia’s defense ministry, raised their concerns that Ukraine was preparing to use a dirty bomb.
Those calls, and similar calls to other western leaders, resulted in a joint statement by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France rejecting the Russian claim as a pretext to escalate tensions in Ukraine.
“Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory,” said the statement. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation. We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia.”
A U.S. official said that, in this weekend’s calls to top officials at the Pentagon, Russian military leaders described any alleged Ukrainian use of a dirty bomb as a justification for an escalation in the conflict, presumably a reference to the use of nuclear or chemical-biological weapons.
However, U.S. officials pointed out repeatedly on Monday that they are not seeing any indications that Russia’s military is making preparations for the use of nuclear weapons.
“We continue to see nothing in the way of preparations by the Russian side for the use of nuclear weapons and nothing with respect to the potential use for a dirty bomb at this point,” said Kirby. “We’re watching this as closely as we can.”
“We have seen in the past that the Russians have, on occasion, blamed others for things that that they were planning to do,” said Kirby.
Meanwhile in Moscow, the Russian government continued to say that Ukraine was preparing to use a dirty bomb.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that Russia was in possession of information alleging that Ukraine was preparing dirty bombs at locations in Kyiv and central Ukraine.
Earlier, the Russian defense ministry had published a map indicating that Ukraine was preparing a dirty bomb at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that has seen constant shelling for weeks.
(LONDON) — Rishi Sunak has been chosen as the new British prime minister less than a week after Liz Truss stepped down from the position after just six weeks in office.
(KHARKIV, Ukraine) — The commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine is real and that the West “should be worried,” but said his country is nonetheless winning the war.
Gen. Col. Oleksander Syrskiy made the comments in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Chief Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday. As the 57-year-old top commander of his country’s land forces, Syrskiy has played a decisive role in turning the war in Ukraine’s favor, first leading the successful defense of the capital, Kyiv, and then — most recently — masterminding the counteroffensive in the northeast that upended the monthslong conflict and threw Russian forces onto the defensive.
The rare interview, airing Monday on ABC News’ Good Morning America, is one of the few times Syrskiy has spoken publicly at length and he described Ukraine’s tactics, the importance of Western support, the threat of renewed attacks from Belarus and his determination that Ukraine will reclaim all of its territory, including the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine’s successes, however, have been shadowed by the recent threats from Putin that Russia might resort to nuclear weapons to reverse the course of his war in Ukraine. Syrskiy told ABC News that he takes the threats seriously.
“We are and should be worried,” Syrskiy said. “I do believe that such a threat really exists and we have to take it into account.”
The urgency of those worries was underlined on Sunday when Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu made telephone calls to his counterparts in France, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, alleging that Ukraine was preparing to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory. Shoigu’s claim sparked fears that Russia might be laying the groundwork to use a nuclear weapon and blame Ukraine for it.
Following Shoigu’s call with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson dismissed the allegations as “transparently false.”
“The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” Watson said.
Russia’s nuclear threats have grown louder as its position in Ukraine has become increasingly desperate, and Ukrainian troops now threaten to force the Russians to retreat from the key port city of Kherson — yet another potential turning point in the war.
Syrskiy is one of the minds behind the two crucial victories so far that have enabled Ukraine’s stunning success in pushing back Russian forces.
When Russian troops advanced on Kyiv in late February, shortly after launching the invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Syrskiy directed the defense that shattered Putin’s initial objectives. Then in September, Syrskiy led the counteroffensive in northeastern Ukraine that liberated thousands of miles of Russian-occupied territory — a disaster for Moscow that forced Putin to order a military draft and, for the first time, raised the prospect that Russian forces might suffer a full defeat in Ukraine.
“Of course I think we are winning,” Syrskiy told ABC News. “Because, first and foremost, we are winning the psychological battle.”
But the commander warned against complacency, noting the heavy sacrifices that success has required of Ukrainians.
“We have success on the battleground, but war is difficult,” he added. “There hasn’t been any wars at that scale in Europe, or elsewhere in the world, since the Second World War. And we understand that this war is about survival of our people and our state, and this is why we have no other option but to win.”
Syrskiy was given the Hero of Ukraine award in April for his efforts defending the capital city. But the victory in Kharkiv, his hometown, was especially personal. Cerebral and reflective, Syrskiy is also a military leader who prefers to see the frontlines himself, regularly visiting positions to personally meet some of the soldiers he is sending into battle. He told ABC News he feels that responsibility and has a “spiritual connection” with his troops.
Although he was appointed to his current post in 2019, Syrskiy has helped lead Ukraine’s defense against Russia since 2014, when Russian troops and separatist proxies seized parts of the disputed Donbas region, the predominately Russian-speaking industrial heartland of Ukraine’s east.
Syrskiy has a deep familiarity with the tactics of his enemy, having been trained in the same Soviet school of warfare. In the 1980s, he studied at the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School. Now, he’s exploiting that knowledge on the battlefield.
“It’s easier to understand your enemy’s actions,” he told ABC News. “You can foresee what he might do in different situations.”
But as a commander, like the rest of Ukraine’s military leadership, Syrskiy has embraced a different mode of military thinking since even before 2014 — adopting NATO doctrines that grant greater initiative to more junior officers on the ground and moving away from the top-down Soviet approach.
“Of course there was a change in mentality,” he said. “Understanding that victory is achieved not by increasing the number of troops, but by using them smartly.”
Despite his familiarity with Russia, Syrskiy said he had not believed Moscow would go through with a full-scale invasion. Even as Russian forces massed near the border, he said he believed an attack would be limited to the east, though he still prepared for the worst.
“To be honest, I did not expect that scale and level of invasion from the enemy,” he told ABC News.
Now fighting in Donbas, Syrskiy said Ukraine’s strategy was to avoid full-frontal clashes that favored Russia’s massed artillery and instead, steadily degrade Russia’s firepower by hitting supply hubs while launching constant mobile attacks. The goal, he said, was to achieve objectives with minimal losses.
“We achieve this by reliably hitting the firepower of the enemy, their artillery, avoiding frontal assaults, emphasizing raids and manoeuvers, attacking from the flanks and from the back,” he added. “We create the conditions under which we can make the enemy nervous, start taking losses and abandon their positions.”
The successful counteroffensive in the northeast led by Syrskiy has been hailed by military experts as a masterstroke that will go down in the history of warfare, alongside other victorious operations like the D-Day landings during World War II or the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War.
Ukraine’s success relied on patience and misdirection, declaring a counteroffensive in its south over the summer which lured Russia into pulling some of its best troops from the northeastern frontline. Once Russia had thinned its defenses in the northeast, Ukraine struck, rapidly breaking through and causing Russia’s lines to collapse.
Initially, the northeastern counteroffensive had itself been planned as a feint to tie up Russian units, according to Syrskiy. But he said he realized while planning the operation that Russian forces there were weaker than expected, opening up an opportunity to deliver a blow that would have a much wider effect.
“When we were planning it, it became obvious to me that an advance in Kharkiv as an operation will benefit us most and will have the most negative impact on the enemy,” Syrskiy told ABC News.
“I noticed it first in May during the first offensive operation around Kharkiv, when we managed to liberate 10 to 30 kilometers of areas surrounding the city,” he added, before noting that it was only in the summer that the change in the balance in forces made the counteroffensive possible.
A similar Ukrainian success now looks possible in Kherson. Russia has ordered all civilians to leave the southern city amid reports it has already pulled back some veteran troops. But there are also concerns Russia might blow up the nearby Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which Ukrainian officials allege Russian troops have rigged with explosives, threatening to flood Kherson.
Syrskiy declined to comment on the battle for Kherson, saying only that he believes “in the success of our armed forces.” He said the threat Russia might also blow up the Kakhovka dam should also not be underestimated.
There is also renewed concern around neighboring Belarus, from where Russia launched its failed assault on Kyiv and where it has recently again begun moving in more troops and equipment. Western and Ukrainian officials have said that, for now, the new build up in Belarus is small and more likely a feint aimed at drawing Ukrainian troops away from the south.
But Syrksiy said he believes the Russian moves in Belarus do reflect preparations to try to move the fighting into new areas once again.
“Of course they are getting ready for escalation of the battle and switching the conflict to other combat zones,” he told ABC News. “They are getting ready for action aimed at weakening our groupings and, to my mind, the possible purpose of that would be to cut or degrade our lines of communication and supplies.”
But he said by doing so, Russia again risks stretching itself too thin in the north.
“They risk stepping on the same rake twice and hitting themselves in the face,” he added.
Most experts believe Putin is preparing for a long war, hoping his military mobilization and the arrival of winter weather will allow Russia to stablize its frontlines and then outlast Western determination to support Ukraine.
The possibility of Republicans taking control of the U.S. Congress in the midterm elections next month is also raising questions whether American aid will continue as strongly for Ukraine. Republicans are divided on the issue and some party leaders have suggested they might scale aid back.
When asked if he was worried that U.S. support could dry up if Republicans win more seats in Congress, Syrskiy said he doesn’t get involved in politics.
“I trust the government. I trust the people of the United States of America. I trust that our strategic partner will continue to help us overcome our enemy come what may,” he said.
Syrskiy said he was grateful to the American people for the aid, which he said played a key role in Ukraine’s victories. Without U.S. weapons and ammunition, he said he couldn’t even imagine how much harder the task would be.
When asked whether he believes Putin would stop if Ukraine succeeded in liberating all its territory, Syrskiy said it doesn’t matter and that the fastest way to end the war was for Ukraine to push Russia out as quickly as possible.
“We have no other option, we have to go forward, move straight to our state borders,” he said, adding that victory would only be when Ukrainian flags were flying over all Ukraine’s borders, “including Ukrainian Crimea.”
Syrskiy recalled seeing razed villages last week as he drove near the recently liberated city of Lyman in northeastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
“You can’t look at these scenes without getting emotional,” he told ABC News. “You literally feel pain in my heart, in my soul, so certainly you want to deliver such a blow to the enemy that they can never get back to Ukraine.”
(NEW YORK) — President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of martial law on Wednesday officially imposed it only in four occupied regions of Ukraine. But many experts said in reality Putin appeared to have laid the groundwork to apply a form of martial law across the whole of Russia, just under another name.
In his public address, Putin portrayed the martial law declaration as a technicality, limited to the Ukrainian regions he illegally annexed last month. But a second decree, published at the same time, also placed all of Russia’s other regions into various levels of increased “readiness.”
Under those readiness levels, powers were granted to local authorities that closely resemble some of those under martial law. It was still unclear how the powers will be applied in practice, but some experts said it meant Putin had imposed a form of martial law across all Russia.
“It creates legal basis to impose martial law across the country or parts of the country without actually declaring it,” Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Institute for International Peace, told ABC News.
The most severe form outside the Ukrainian regions is in eight Russian regions neighboring Ukraine, where local administrations are granted powers to impose curfews, restrict movement, take over factories and transport, potentially apply censorship as well as order the temporary resettlement of people.
The regions are under a “form of martial lite,” Mark Galeotti, a veteran Russia analyst, wrote in the Spectator Magazine. “Vladimir Putin has just moved Russia one step closer to totalitarianism.”
Russia’s southern and central regions, including Moscow, have slightly fewer powers and the rest of the country marginally less.
The decrees grant governors the power to take any measures directed toward supporting Russia’s war effort, in theory giving them almost unlimited authority.
“What’s been declared is the right of the government to take any decision that seems to them necessary. Wherever, for whatever reason,” Gleb Pavlovsky, a former political advisor to Putin and now a political analyst, said in a recent interview.
For now, many regions have sought to reassure citizens the measures will not affect daily life. And most experts said it remained to be seen how they would be applied in practice.
But the move appeared to be an attempt by Putin to rescue his invasion in Ukraine after presenting it as a limited “Special Military Operation.”
The decrees’ primary goal, experts said, was to allow Russian authorities to mobilize resources needed to support the mass troop mobilization.
“I was waiting for this announcement. Their system can’t mobilize this many people without mobilizing state resources too. The state needs more resources directed to the military,” Dara Massicot, a senior policy researcher at RAND Corporation, wrote on Twitter.
The move also appeared to re-direct Russia’s economy toward supporting the war effort. It suggested the Kremlin is trying to ready Russia for a long war while also bracing for possible shocks to the political system coming from the battlefield, such as the likely loss of Kherson, Gabuev said.
“It looks like the Kremlin sees serious sources of worry,” he said. “Here the government really wants to be prepared.”
He added, “It’s significant and it shows the change in the estimate of how the war is going and what kind of mobilization internally first and foremost will be needed to kind of toughen it out and then ultimately win this war by the Kremlin’s definition.”
