(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 29, 3:22 am
Talks between Russia, Ukraine begin in Turkey
The latest round of in-person peace negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations kicked off in Istanbul on Tuesday morning, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in attendance.
Erdogan addressed both sides with a brief speech before the talks began.
“Establishing a cease-fire and peace as soon as possible will be to everyone’s benefit. We think that we’ve entered a period where we need to achieve concrete results from negotiations,” Erdogan said. “As members of the delegations, you’ve taken on a historic responsibility. The whole world is awaiting the good news that will come from you.”
Footage showing the start of the meeting was broadcast by Russian state-backed television channel RT.
Tuesday’s negotiations are taking place in Dolmabahce Palace in the Besiktas district of Turkey’s capital, according to Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu Agency. It’s the first face-to-face talks to take place between Russia and Ukraine in more than two weeks.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 28, 6:44 pm
Russian troops ‘pushed away from Kyiv’: Zelenskyy
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his evening address Monday that Irpin was liberated and Russian forces have been “pushed away from Kyiv.”
“The occupiers are pushed away from Irpin. Pushed away from Kyiv,” he said.
However, he said Russian troops still control the north of Kyiv.
“They are trying to restore the destroyed units. The level of their losses, even at 90%, is not an argument for them to stop. Hundreds and hundreds of units of burned and abandoned enemy equipment do not convince them that this will happen to everyone,” he said.
Zelenskyy also said the situation in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv regions, along with Donbas and southern Ukraine, remains tense.
“This is a ruthless war against our nation, against our people, against our children.
As of today, 143 children are known to have died,” Zelenskyy said Monday.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Mar 28, 4:00 pm
Biden says he ‘was expressing moral outrage’ with comment that Putin ‘cannot remain in power’
President Joe Biden told reporters Monday that when he said in Poland this weekend that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” he “was expressing moral outrage that I feel,” adding, “I make no apologies for it.”
Biden did not dispute when a questioner noted the line had not been in his prepared remarks.
“The last part of the speech was talking to the Russian people, telling them what we thought. I was communicating this to not only the Russian people but the whole world. This is — this is just stating a simple fact that this kind of behavior is totally unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. And the way to deal with it is to strengthen and put — keep NATO completely united and help Ukraine where we can,” Biden said.
“I want to make it clear, I wasn’t then, nor am I now, articulating a policy change,” Biden said.
“The last thing I want to do is engage in a land war or a nuclear war with Russia,” he said. “That’s not part of it. I was expressing my outrage at the behavior of this man.”
Biden said that if Putin “continues on this course that he’s on, he is going to become a pariah worldwide.”
He said he didn’t think his comments complicated diplomatic efforts, but that it is Putin’s actions that are complicating the situation.
“He shouldn’t remain in power. Just like, you know, bad people shouldn’t continue to do bad things. But it doesn’t mean we have a fundamental policy to do anything to take Putin down in any way,” Biden said.
The president said “it’s ridiculous” to think his remark was a statement of U.S. policy.
“People like this shouldn’t be ruling countries, but they do. The fact they do doesn’t mean I can’t express my outrage about it,” he said.
Biden told ABC News that he’s confident Putin won’t view his remarks as an excuse for escalation.
“The idea that he is going to do something outrageous because I called him for what he was and what he’s doing, I think is just not rational,” Biden said.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Mar 28, 1:50 pm
UN Secretary-General appeals for a humanitarian ceasefire
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine.
“Since the beginning of the Russian invasion one months ago, the war has led to the senseless loss of thousands of lives, the displacement of 10 million people, mainly women and children, the systematic destruction of essential infrastructure and skyrocketing food and energy prices worldwide. This must stop,” Guterres said.
U.N. humanitarian agencies and partners in the last month have reached nearly 900,000 people, mainly in eastern Ukraine, providing food, shelter, blankets, medicine, bottled water and hygiene supplies, he said.
Mar 28, 1:18 pm
US sending six Navy electronic warfare aircraft to Germany
The Pentagon said it’s sending six U.S. Navy EA-18 “Growlers” (Navy fighter aircraft equipped with electronic warfare jamming equipment) and 240 personnel to Germany to boost NATO’s defenses because of the aircraft’s electronic warfare jamming capability.
“They are not being deployed to be used against Russian forces in Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stressed. “They are being deployed completely in keeping with our efforts to bolster NATO’s deterrence and defense capabilities along that Eastern flank. They are not being sent because of some sort of acute threat that was perceived or some specific incident that happened.”
“This is in order to bolster readiness, enhance NATO’s collective defense posture and further increase air integration capabilities with our Allied and partner nations,” Kirby said.
Mar 28, 12:50 pm
Russians prioritizing Donbas, Ukrainians ‘slugging it out’ in Mariupol: US official
The Russians appear to be prioritizing the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters on Monday.
“We’re not exactly sure what’s behind this reprioritization,” the official said.
This could be Russia refocusing its strategic goals or trying to gain leverage for talks, the official said.
Meanwhile, in the hard-hit city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, “the Ukrainians are slugging it out” and “keeping the Russians at bay,” the official said.
In Kyiv, the situation is static, the official said. Russian troops have stopped making advances toward the capital city, though they continue using their long-range missile fires, the official said.
“We continue to see Ukrainians defend the city and try to push Russians back,” the official said.
Mar 28, 11:41 am
Russia says radiation levels remain stable despite fires in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Radiation levels remain stable in Russia despite fires in the occupied Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Russian public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said Monday.
Rospotrebnadzor said it was continuing to monitor the situation.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is a 1,000-square-mile restricted area of deserted, contaminated land around the shuttered Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986. Russian forces seized the defunct plant and surrounding exclusion zone just hours after launching an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management has warned that the radiation hazard is growing due to the blazes in the area, which it said have the potential to spread. The fires observed at more than 30 spots in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone over the past two weeks have exceeded 8,700 hectares in total, according to the agency.
However, Vadym Denysenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on Monday that the situation was currently “more or less stable.”
Mar 28, 11:32 am
Kremlin expresses concern over Biden’s remark in Poland
Russia is concerned by U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent remark seemingly regarding the need for a change of administration in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.
In an address on Saturday from Poland’s capital, Warsaw, Biden made a comment that appeared to be directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.
“For god’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said.
After the speech, the White House released a statement clarifying that Biden wasn’t calling for a regime change.
“The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” a White House official said.
When asked by reporters on Monday about Biden’s remark, Peskov replied: “Indeed, this statement makes us worry.”
“We will continue to closely monitor statements made by the U.S. president,” he added. “We are thoroughly recording them and will be continuing to do so.”
Mar 28, 11:20 am
Cost of damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure estimated at $63 billion
The cost of direct damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure amid Russia’s ongoing invasion has already reached almost an estimated $63 billion, according to an analysis by the Kyiv School of Economics.
As of March 24, at least 4,431 residential buildings, 92 factories and warehouses, 378 institutions of secondary and higher education, 138 health care institutions, 12 airports, seven thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants have been damaged, destroyed or seized in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s overall economic losses due to the war range from $543 billion to $600 billion, the Kyiv School of Economics said.
Mar 28, 11:15 am
Russia dubs German broadcaster DW a ‘foreign agent’
The Russian Ministry of Justice on Monday added German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) to a list of media organizations it has labeled as “foreign agents.”
The justice ministry said in a statement that it made the decision “based on the documents received from the authorized state authorities,” without providing further details. The designation requires media outlets to publish a disclaimer on all its publications.
“This latest, arbitrary decision by the Russian authorities was unfortunately to be expected,” DW director Peter Limbourg said in a statement. “It is a further attack on press freedom and a fresh attempt to cut the Russian population off from free, independent media.”
“It started with the forced closure of our studio in Moscow at the beginning of February, then our website in all languages was blocked in Russia. There then followed the gradual restriction of social media services and now DW has been labeled a ‘foreign agent,'” he added. “This will not stop us from continuing to provide comprehensive and independent coverage of Russia and the region from our new studio in Latvia and from Germany. We will have to put a lot more effort into censorship circumvention tools in the future. This includes VPN clients like Psiphon or the Tor browser, which we already use.”
Mar 28, 11:00 am
Russia’s Nobel-winning Novaya Gazeta newspaper suspends publication
Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose editor was a co-winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, announced Monday that it is suspending publication until the war ends in neighboring Ukraine.
Novaya Gazeta was the last remaining established independent media outlet still operating in Russia and trying to cover the invasion of Ukraine, despite strict censorship. Its decision to halt operations is another watershed moment in the silencing of free media across Russia.
The Moscow-based paper, famous for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime, said it made the decision after receiving a second warning from Russia’s state communications and media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, for allegedly violating the country’s repressive “foreign agent” law. Another alleged violation could allow a court to shut Novaya Gazeta down completely.
Novaya Gazeta is best-known by Western countries for the fact that six of its journalists have been murdered since 2000, including most famously Anna Politkovskaya. Last October, the paper’s editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, was jointly awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Rosa, one of the Philippines’ most prominent journalists, for “their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
Before Russian forces attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24, there was still a very small number of popular, influential media outlets able to operate in Russia — albeit under permanent pressure from the government. But since the war began, austerities have moved to crush all of them, and dozens — likely hundreds — of independent journalists have fled abroad. Most are now publishing articles from outside the country. Novaya Gazeta is arguably the most symbolic closure. The paper was co-founded in 1993 by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who still sits on its board.
Novaya Gazeta said in a statement Monday that it is suspending publication until the end of Russia’s so-called “special military operation in Ukraine,” the term the Russian government is using instead of war or invasion. Russia has banned media from using those words to describe the situation. But Novaya Gazeta had been getting around that ban with some symbolic gestures, including blank pages, and replacing the word “war” in its articles with phrases like “word forbidden by Russian government.”
Mar 28, 9:28 am
Ukrainian-American pastor abducted in Ukraine has been freed
Dmitry Bodyu, a Ukrainian-American pastor who was allegedly abducted in Ukraine earlier this month, has been freed, local church officials told ABC News on Monday.
It was unclear where he was released or in what condition.
Bodyu, 50, was taken by a group of about eight to 10 Russian soldiers from his home in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol on March 19, his family told NBC News. He is a pastor of Word of Life Church in Melitopol.
-ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic
Mar 28, 8:05 am
At least 1,119 civilians killed, 1,790 injured in Ukraine: OHCHR
At least 1,119 civilians have been killed and 1,790 others have been injured in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
At least 99 children were among the dead, according to the OHCHR, which noted that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine had reported at least 139 children were killed as of Sunday.
“Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes,” the agency said in a statement Sunday.
The agency noted that the actual number of casualties are believed to be “considerably higher” because the receipt of information from some areas with intense hostilities, like the southeastern port city of Mariupol, have been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.
Other areas where the number of casualties are still being corroborated include Volnovakha in the Donetsk Oblast, Izium in the Kharkiv Oblast, Popasna and Rubizhne in the Luhansk Oblast, and Trostianets in the Sumy Oblast, where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties, according to the OHCHR. Casualty numbers from these regions are not included.
From 24 Feb—26 March, we recorded 2,909 civilian casualties in context of Russia’s armed attack against #Ukraine: 1,119 killed, incl 99 children; 1,790 injured, incl 126 children, mostly caused by shelling & airstrikes. Actual toll is much higher. Update https://t.co/LlMm7iUqsrpic.twitter.com/OcyhxSUrj3
— UNHumanRightsUkraine (@UNHumanRightsUA) March 27, 2022
Mar 28, 7:33 am
Nightly curfew in Kyiv shifts back, shortens an hour
The nightly citywide curfew in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, has been shifted back and shortened by an hour.
Starting Monday night, the curfew will be from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time.
There has been a curfew in Kyiv every day since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24. The previous time frame was from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. local time.
-ABC News’ Julia Drozd and Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 7:00 am
Russian forces attempt to seize key highways, settlements
Russian forces on Monday morning were attempting to breach defenses from the northwest and east of Ukraine to seize key highways and settlements, which are held by Ukrainian troops, according to Ukrainian officials.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said that hypersonic missiles for the Russian military’s Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile system were being delivered to the Belarusian town of Kalinkovichi. Two of the latest strikes to hit Lutsk, a city in northwestern Ukraine, were launched from neighboring Belarus, according to Ukrainian officials.
Mar 28, 6:20 am
New round of talks could start Monday in Turkey
Ukraine and Russia have both said that a new round of peace negotiations with be held in person in Turkey at the start of this week, but it remains unclear whether the talks begin Monday or Tuesday.
One of the Ukrainian negotiators, David Arakhamia, has said the talks would be held Monday through Wednesday.
Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, has said the talks would start Tuesday.
Arakhamia said the decision to hold the negotiations in person was reached during the latest round of talks via video link, which are taking place everyday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Russian journalists that his country is ready to compromise on Moscow’s demand for neutral status, but wants meaningful security guarantees from Western countries. He said any peace deal is only possible if Russia withdraws all of its troops to areas occupied before the war began.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 6:16 am
Ukraine intel chief says Russia plans a ‘Korean scenario’
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking to split Ukraine in two after failing to seize the capital, Kyiv, according to the head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency.
Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said in a statement Sunday that Putin may now be pursuing a “Korean scenario” that would see Russian forces try to occupy the east and south of Ukraine since they no longer have the strength to “swallow the whole state.”
“After the failures near Kyiv and the impossibility to overthrow the central government in Ukraine, Putin is already changing his main direction of operations — to the south and east,” Budanov said. “There are grounds to suggest that he is considering the Korean scenario for Ukraine. That is to attempt to lay down a new line of contact between the non-occupied and occupied regions of our country. In fact, it’s an attempt to create in Ukraine a North and South Korea. Indeed, he definitely doesn’t have the strength to swallow the whole state.”
Budanov said he believes Putin still wants to open a land corridor between the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula and the other Russian-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine, which would mean the occupation of besieged Mariupol, a strategic port city in the southeast that has been under heavy Russian bombardment. But he said Ukraine’s continued counterattacks as well as resistance by local people in the occupied areas were disrupting Putin’s plans.
Budanov also predicted the start of guerrilla warfare that would make it impossible for Russia to hold territory.
“Soon the season of the total Ukrainian partisan safari will start,” he said. “Then for the Russians will remain only one relevant scenario — how to survive.”
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 5:07 am
Ukraine says no humanitarian corridors for Monday
Ukraine’s government announced for the first time in nearly three weeks that no humanitarian corridors for evacuating civilians will be open on Monday due to concerns about possible “provocations” from Russian forces.
“Our intelligence has informed us of possible provocations from the side of the occupiers on the routes of the humanitarian corridors,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on her official Telegram channel. “And so in interest of citizens’ safety today we are not opening humanitarian corridors.”
The Ukrainian government has been evacuating hundreds of thousands of civilians from cities and towns in the north, east and south of the country through established corridors. Officials have previously accused Russian forces of shelling some of the evacuation routes, despite agreeing to cease-fires.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 27, 5:17 pm
Zelenskyy outlines goals for peace agreement to Russian journalists
In his first interview with Russian journalists since his country was invaded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described some of Ukraine’s positions for ending the war.
During an interview with popular Russian independent news sites TV Rain and Meduza, Zelenskyy said any peace deal is only possible if Russia withdraws its troops to the territory occupied before the start of the invasion, meaning Crimea and the separatist-held areas of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said his main goals are “to maximally reduce the number of casualties (and) to shorten the length of this war.”
“The withdrawal of Russia to compromise territories — but that is everything (that) was before 24 February, before the assault. Let them return there,” Zelenskyy said. “I understand that to force Russia to completely liberate territory is impossible. That will lead to a third world war. I totally understand all that. And I say it: compromise. Return to where all this started and there we will try to resolve the question of Donbas, the difficult question of Donbas.”
Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine is ready to discuss taking a position of “neutrality” and “non-nuclear status” with Russia, but wants security guarantees for his country in return.
He again said he would put the issue to a referendum in Ukraine and that any treaty would need to be ratified by “guarantor countries” — which other officials have suggested must include the United States.
Zelenskyy reiterated that no guarantor countries, such as the United Kingdom and Turkey, will sign any agreement while Russian troops remain on Ukrainian soil.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 28, 12:50 pm
Russians prioritizing Donbas, Ukrainians ‘slugging it out’ in Mariupol: US official
The Russians appear to be prioritizing the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters on Monday.
“We’re not exactly sure what’s behind this reprioritization,” the official said.
This could be Russia refocusing its strategic goals or trying to gain leverage for talks, the official said.
Meanwhile, in the hard-hit city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, “the Ukrainians are slugging it out” and “keeping the Russians at bay,” the official said.
In Kyiv, the situation is static, the official said. Russian troops have stopped making advances toward the capital city, though they continue using their long-range missile fires, the official said.
“We continue to see Ukrainians defend the city and try to push Russians back,” the official said.
Mar 28, 11:41 am
Russia says radiation levels remain stable despite fires in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Radiation levels remain stable in Russia despite fires in the occupied Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Russian public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said Monday.
Rospotrebnadzor said it was continuing to monitor the situation.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is a 1,000-square-mile restricted area of deserted, contaminated land around the shuttered Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986. Russian forces seized the defunct plant and surrounding exclusion zone just hours after launching an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management has warned that the radiation hazard is growing due to the blazes in the area, which it said have the potential to spread. The fires observed at more than 30 spots in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone over the past two weeks have exceeded 8,700 hectares in total, according to the agency.
However, Vadym Denysenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on Monday that the situation was currently “more or less stable.”
Mar 28, 11:32 am
Kremlin expresses concern over Biden’s remark in Poland
Russia is concerned by U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent remark seemingly regarding the need for a change of administration in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.
In an address on Saturday from Poland’s capital, Warsaw, Biden made a comment that appeared to be directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.
“For god’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said.
After the speech, the White House released a statement clarifying that Biden wasn’t calling for a regime change.
“The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” a White House official said.
When asked by reporters on Monday about Biden’s remark, Peskov replied: “Indeed, this statement makes us worry.”
“We will continue to closely monitor statements made by the U.S. president,” he added. “We are thoroughly recording them and will be continuing to do so.”
Mar 28, 11:20 am
Cost of damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure estimated at $63 billion
The cost of direct damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure amid Russia’s ongoing invasion has already reached almost an estimated $63 billion, according to an analysis by the Kyiv School of Economics.
As of March 24, at least 4,431 residential buildings, 92 factories and warehouses, 378 institutions of secondary and higher education, 138 health care institutions, 12 airports, seven thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants have been damaged, destroyed or seized in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s overall economic losses due to the war range from $543 billion to $600 billion, the Kyiv School of Economics said.
Mar 28, 11:15 am
Russia dubs German broadcaster DW a ‘foreign agent’
The Russian Ministry of Justice on Monday added German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) to a list of media organizations it has labeled as “foreign agents.”
The justice ministry said in a statement that it made the decision “based on the documents received from the authorized state authorities,” without providing further details. The designation requires media outlets to publish a disclaimer on all its publications.
“This latest, arbitrary decision by the Russian authorities was unfortunately to be expected,” DW director Peter Limbourg said in a statement. “It is a further attack on press freedom and a fresh attempt to cut the Russian population off from free, independent media.”
“It started with the forced closure of our studio in Moscow at the beginning of February, then our website in all languages was blocked in Russia. There then followed the gradual restriction of social media services and now DW has been labeled a ‘foreign agent,'” he added. “This will not stop us from continuing to provide comprehensive and independent coverage of Russia and the region from our new studio in Latvia and from Germany. We will have to put a lot more effort into censorship circumvention tools in the future. This includes VPN clients like Psiphon or the Tor browser, which we already use.”
Mar 28, 11:00 am
Russia’s Nobel-winning Novaya Gazeta newspaper suspends publication
Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose editor was a co-winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, announced Monday that it is suspending publication until the war ends in neighboring Ukraine.
Novaya Gazeta was the last remaining established independent media outlet still operating in Russia and trying to cover the invasion of Ukraine, despite strict censorship. Its decision to halt operations is another watershed moment in the silencing of free media across Russia.
The Moscow-based paper, famous for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime, said it made the decision after receiving a second warning from Russia’s state communications and media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, for allegedly violating the country’s repressive “foreign agent” law. Another alleged violation could allow a court to shut Novaya Gazeta down completely.
Novaya Gazeta is best-known by Western countries for the fact that six of its journalists have been murdered since 2000, including most famously Anna Politkovskaya. Last October, the paper’s editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, was jointly awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Rosa, one of the Philippines’ most prominent journalists, for “their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
Before Russian forces attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24, there was still a very small number of popular, influential media outlets able to operate in Russia — albeit under permanent pressure from the government. But since the war began, austerities have moved to crush all of them, and dozens — likely hundreds — of independent journalists have fled abroad. Most are now publishing articles from outside the country. Novaya Gazeta is arguably the most symbolic closure. The paper was co-founded in 1993 by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who still sits on its board.
Novaya Gazeta said in a statement Monday that it is suspending publication until the end of Russia’s so-called “special military operation in Ukraine,” the term the Russian government is using instead of war or invasion. Russia has banned media from using those words to describe the situation. But Novaya Gazeta had been getting around that ban with some symbolic gestures, including blank pages, and replacing the word “war” in its articles with phrases like “word forbidden by Russian government.”
Mar 28, 9:28 am
Ukrainian-American pastor abducted in Ukraine has been freed
Dmitry Bodyu, a Ukrainian-American pastor who was allegedly abducted in Ukraine earlier this month, has been freed, local church officials told ABC News on Monday.
It was unclear where he was released or in what condition.
Bodyu, 50, was taken by a group of about eight to 10 Russian soldiers from his home in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol on March 19, his family told NBC News. He is a pastor of Word of Life Church in Melitopol.
-ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic
Mar 28, 8:05 am
At least 1,119 civilians killed, 1,790 injured in Ukraine: OHCHR
At least 1,119 civilians have been killed and 1,790 others have been injured in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
At least 99 children were among the dead, according to the OHCHR, which noted that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine had reported at least 139 children were killed as of Sunday.
“Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes,” the agency said in a statement Sunday.
The agency noted that the actual number of casualties are believed to be “considerably higher” because the receipt of information from some areas with intense hostilities, like the southeastern port city of Mariupol, have been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.
Other areas where the number of casualties are still being corroborated include Volnovakha in the Donetsk Oblast, Izium in the Kharkiv Oblast, Popasna and Rubizhne in the Luhansk Oblast, and Trostianets in the Sumy Oblast, where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties, according to the OHCHR. Casualty numbers from these regions are not included.
From 24 Feb—26 March, we recorded 2,909 civilian casualties in context of Russia’s armed attack against #Ukraine: 1,119 killed, incl 99 children; 1,790 injured, incl 126 children, mostly caused by shelling & airstrikes. Actual toll is much higher. Update https://t.co/LlMm7iUqsrpic.twitter.com/OcyhxSUrj3
— UNHumanRightsUkraine (@UNHumanRightsUA) March 27, 2022
Mar 28, 7:33 am
Nightly curfew in Kyiv shifts back, shortens an hour
The nightly citywide curfew in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, has been shifted back and shortened by an hour.
Starting Monday night, the curfew will be from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time.
There has been a curfew in Kyiv every day since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24. The previous time frame was from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. local time.
-ABC News’ Julia Drozd and Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 7:00 am
Russian forces attempt to seize key highways, settlements
Russian forces on Monday morning were attempting to breach defenses from the northwest and east of Ukraine to seize key highways and settlements, which are held by Ukrainian troops, according to Ukrainian officials.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said that hypersonic missiles for the Russian military’s Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile system were being delivered to the Belarusian town of Kalinkovichi. Two of the latest strikes to hit Lutsk, a city in northwestern Ukraine, were launched from neighboring Belarus, according to Ukrainian officials.
Mar 28, 6:20 am
New round of talks could start Monday in Turkey
Ukraine and Russia have both said that a new round of peace negotiations with be held in person in Turkey at the start of this week, but it remains unclear whether the talks begin Monday or Tuesday.
One of the Ukrainian negotiators, David Arakhamia, has said the talks would be held Monday through Wednesday.
Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, has said the talks would start Tuesday.
Arakhamia said the decision to hold the negotiations in person was reached during the latest round of talks via video link, which are taking place everyday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Russian journalists that his country is ready to compromise on Moscow’s demand for neutral status, but wants meaningful security guarantees from Western countries. He said any peace deal is only possible if Russia withdraws all of its troops to areas occupied before the war began.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 6:16 am
Ukraine intel chief says Russia plans a ‘Korean scenario’
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking to split Ukraine in two after failing to seize the capital, Kyiv, according to the head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency.
Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said in a statement Sunday that Putin may now be pursuing a “Korean scenario” that would see Russian forces try to occupy the east and south of Ukraine since they no longer have the strength to “swallow the whole state.”
“After the failures near Kyiv and the impossibility to overthrow the central government in Ukraine, Putin is already changing his main direction of operations — to the south and east,” Budanov said. “There are grounds to suggest that he is considering the Korean scenario for Ukraine. That is to attempt to lay down a new line of contact between the non-occupied and occupied regions of our country. In fact, it’s an attempt to create in Ukraine a North and South Korea. Indeed, he definitely doesn’t have the strength to swallow the whole state.”
Budanov said he believes Putin still wants to open a land corridor between the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula and the other Russian-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine, which would mean the occupation of besieged Mariupol, a strategic port city in the southeast that has been under heavy Russian bombardment. But he said Ukraine’s continued counterattacks as well as resistance by local people in the occupied areas were disrupting Putin’s plans.
Budanov also predicted the start of guerrilla warfare that would make it impossible for Russia to hold territory.
“Soon the season of the total Ukrainian partisan safari will start,” he said. “Then for the Russians will remain only one relevant scenario — how to survive.”
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 5:07 am
Ukraine says no humanitarian corridors for Monday
Ukraine’s government announced for the first time in nearly three weeks that no humanitarian corridors for evacuating civilians will be open on Monday due to concerns about possible “provocations” from Russian forces.
“Our intelligence has informed us of possible provocations from the side of the occupiers on the routes of the humanitarian corridors,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on her official Telegram channel. “And so in interest of citizens’ safety today we are not opening humanitarian corridors.”
The Ukrainian government has been evacuating hundreds of thousands of civilians from cities and towns in the north, east and south of the country through established corridors. Officials have previously accused Russian forces of shelling some of the evacuation routes, despite agreeing to cease-fires.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 27, 5:17 pm
Zelenskyy outlines goals for peace agreement to Russian journalists
In his first interview with Russian journalists since his country was invaded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described some of Ukraine’s positions for ending the war.
During an interview with popular Russian independent news sites TV Rain and Meduza, Zelenskyy said any peace deal is only possible if Russia withdraws its troops to the territory occupied before the start of the invasion, meaning Crimea and the separatist-held areas of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said his main goals are “to maximally reduce the number of casualties (and) to shorten the length of this war.”
“The withdrawal of Russia to compromise territories — but that is everything (that) was before 24 February, before the assault. Let them return there,” Zelenskyy said. “I understand that to force Russia to completely liberate territory is impossible. That will lead to a third world war. I totally understand all that. And I say it: compromise. Return to where all this started and there we will try to resolve the question of Donbas, the difficult question of Donbas.”
Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine is ready to discuss taking a position of “neutrality” and “non-nuclear status” with Russia, but wants security guarantees for his country in return.
He again said he would put the issue to a referendum in Ukraine and that any treaty would need to be ratified by “guarantor countries” — which other officials have suggested must include the United States.
Zelenskyy reiterated that no guarantor countries, such as the United Kingdom and Turkey, will sign any agreement while Russian troops remain on Ukrainian soil.
Alex Chan Tsz Yuk/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(LONDON) — The cost of direct damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure amid Russia’s ongoing invasion has reached almost an estimated $63 billion, according to an analysis by the Kyiv School of Economics.
Shocking images and videos have emerged in recent weeks showing just some of the devastation across Ukraine since Russian forces attacked on Feb. 24. Where businesses, homes, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure once stood, there are now massive piles of unrecognizable rubble and crumbling shells of concrete.
The KSE Institute, an analytical unit of the Kyiv School of Economics in Ukraine’s capital, has been collecting and analyzing data from the “Russia Will Pay” project, launched in collaboration with the Ukrainian president’s office and the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy.
Through the resource, Ukrainian citizens, government officials and local authorities can confidentially submit reports on the loss of or damage to physical infrastructure across the country as a result of the war, including roads, residential buildings, businesses and other facilities. Analysts at the KSE Institute then assess those reported damages and estimate the financial value.
“It is aimed at collecting information about all the facilities destroyed as a result of the war that Russia waged against Ukraine,” the KSE Institute said in a recent statement about the “Russia Will Pay” resource. “The Ukrainian government will use this data as evidence in international courts for Russia to compensate for the intended damages.”
The latest analysis shows that, as of March 24, at least 4,431 residential buildings, 92 factories and warehouses, 378 institutions of secondary and higher education, 138 health care institutions, 12 airports, seven thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants have been damaged, destroyed or seized in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24 — totaling an estimated $62,889,000. Compared to the previous estimate published on March 17, net growth amounted to $3.5 billion, according to the KSE Institute.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s overall economic losses due to the war — taking into account both direct losses calculated from the project as well as indirect losses, like GDP decline — range from $543 billion to $600 billion, according to an estimate by the KSE Institute and the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy.
Before updating its calculations, the KSE Institute said it received “detailed data” from the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure on the destruction of its facilities, which allowed analysts to clarify and, in some cases, reduce the assessment of losses.
The KSE Institute said it has improved the methodology of assessing losses from the destruction of residential real estate “based on the World Bank’s experience in analyzing losses in Syria and Iraq, as well as the recommendations of the leading Ukrainian investment company Dragon Capital.”
“These calculations are based on the analysis of several thousands of public notifications from Ukrainian citizens, the government, local authorities about losses and damages throughout the country, as well as indirect assessment methods such as calculating the estimated area of the war-damaged property in the most affected cities,” the KSE Institute said. “These estimates are not exhaustive: information on numerous damages and destruction may be missing due to the inability of citizens, local and state authorities to promptly record the damage in each city and town.”
(NEW YORK) — The silence of the Polish countryside is shattered by the piercing rattle of heavy artillery fire.
A smokescreen obscures the horizon, and suddenly, the soldiers swarm. Moving in on armored vehicles, in helicopters, and atop assault watercraft, more than 2,000 soldiers combine to form a united front on the battlefield against an imagined enemy.
This is a NATO exercise — preparation in case these troops are called upon to defend the alliance’s territory. While it’s a scenario that once seemed unthinkable, here, just 10 miles from the Belarusian border and against a geopolitical backdrop dominated by rapacious Russian aggression, this is more than just a drill.
“It’s a show of force,” Lt. Karol Frankowski of Poland told ABC News, adding that Belarus, Russia’s staunchest ally, is likely watching over them via aircraft or drone.
Soldiers from Poland, Croatia, Romania, the U.K. and U.S. make up the battle group, one of four that received a surge of manpower to defend the eastern front in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Their American commander, Lt. Col. Trevor Phillips, said today’s practice feels “absolutely” different, colored by the crisis.
“It’s difficult to watch and not be able to do anything about it. We’re direct action type people. Our whole motto while we are here is ‘stronger together,'” Frankowski said. “No nation should stand alone. That’s why this is so important to us.”
Even the objective of the practice is shaped by the warfare in Ukraine. The scenario — troops facing off against rival forces who attempt to barricade a bridge — recreates the challenges of modern warfare, officials said.
“The idea is to destroy the enemy and make free passage for the troops,” Col. Piotr Fajkowsli, the leader of the Polish brigade, told ABC News.
ABC News’ Martha Raddatz asked Fajkowsli if he believed Russia would ever strike inside his homeland’s boundaries.
“Anything can happen,” said Fajkowsli, saying that not long ago, the thought of Russia descending on Ukraine with such brute force would have been considered by most to be “impossible in the 21st century.”
“Now we can see destroyed towns burning. It is crazy,” he said.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during Friday’s press briefing it’s an assessment the president and the White House believe as well.
“We do believe Russian aggression in Ukraine shows a willingness by the Russians to disregard international borders and to disregard the basic rules of the road of the international community that have been built in sustained over the course of seven decades,” he said.
Fajkowsli said they are ready to face anything the opposition throws at them. The people he is sworn to protect are a different story.
“We as soldiers are ready to fight against chemical weapons. We have protective gear. The civilians, they don’t,” he said. “This is the danger.”
After the bridge is won, the troops break. With the day’s mission completed, they stand temporarily at ease. They will convene again tomorrow to once again play out these war games that now seem all too real.
Phillips hopes the conflict doesn’t spill over NATO’s borders.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 28, 7:00 am
Russian forces attempt to seize key highways, settlements
Russian forces on Monday morning were attempting to breach defenses from the northwest and east of Ukraine to seize key highways and settlements, which are held by Ukrainian troops, according to Ukrainian officials.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said that hypersonic missiles for the Russian military’s Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile system were being delivered to the Belarusian town of Kalinkovichi. Two of the latest strikes to hit Lutsk, a city in northwestern Ukraine, were launched from neighboring Belarus, according to Ukrainian officials.
Mar 28, 6:20 am
New round of talks could start Monday in Turkey
Ukraine and Russia have both said that a new round of peace negotiations with be held in person in Turkey at the start of this week, but it remains unclear whether the talks begin Monday or Tuesday.
One of the Ukrainian negotiators, David Arakhamia, has said the talks would be held Monday through Wednesday.
Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, has said the talks would start Tuesday.
Arakhamia said the decision to hold the negotiations in person was reached during the latest round of talks via video link, which are taking place everyday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Russian journalists that his country is ready to compromise on Moscow’s demand for neutral status, but wants meaningful security guarantees from Western countries. He said any peace deal is only possible if Russia withdraws all of its troops to areas occupied before the war began.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 6:16 am
Ukraine intel chief says Russia plans a ‘Korean scenario’
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking to split Ukraine in two after failing to seize the capital, Kyiv, according to the head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency.
Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said in a statement Sunday that Putin may now be pursuing a “Korean scenario” that would see Russian forces try to occupy the east and south of Ukraine since they no longer have the strength to “swallow the whole state.”
“After the failures near Kyiv and the impossibility to overthrow the central government in Ukraine, Putin is already changing his main direction of operations — to the south and east,” Budanov said. “There are grounds to suggest that he is considering the Korean scenario for Ukraine. That is to attempt to lay down a new line of contact between the non-occupied and occupied regions of our country. In fact, it’s an attempt to create in Ukraine a North and South Korea. Indeed, he definitely doesn’t have the strength to swallow the whole state.”
Budanov said he believes Putin still wants to open a land corridor between the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula and the other Russian-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine, which would mean the occupation of besieged Mariupol, a strategic port city in the southeast that has been under heavy Russian bombardment. But he said Ukraine’s continued counterattacks as well as resistance by local people in the occupied areas were disrupting Putin’s plans.
Budanov also predicted the start of guerrilla warfare that would make it impossible for Russia to hold territory.
“Soon the season of the total Ukrainian partisan safari will start,” he said. “Then for the Russians will remain only one relevant scenario — how to survive.”
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 5:07 am
Ukraine says no humanitarian corridors for Monday
Ukraine’s government announced for the first time in nearly three weeks that no humanitarian corridors for evacuating civilians will be open on Monday due to concerns about possible “provocations” from Russian forces.
“Our intelligence has informed us of possible provocations from the side of the occupiers on the routes of the humanitarian corridors,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on her official Telegram channel. “And so in interest of citizens’ safety today we are not opening humanitarian corridors.”
The Ukrainian government has been evacuating hundreds of thousands of civilians from cities and towns in the north, east and south of the country through established corridors. Officials have previously accused Russian forces of shelling some of the evacuation routes, despite agreeing to cease-fires.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 27, 5:17 pm
Zelenskyy outlines goals for peace agreement to Russian journalists
In his first interview with Russian journalists since his country was invaded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described some of Ukraine’s positions for ending the war.
During an interview with popular Russian independent news sites TV Rain and Meduza, Zelenskyy said any peace deal is only possible if Russia withdraws its troops to the territory occupied before the start of the invasion, meaning Crimea and the separatist-held areas of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said his main goals are “to maximally reduce the number of casualties (and) to shorten the length of this war.”
“The withdrawal of Russia to compromise territories — but that is everything (that) was before 24 February, before the assault. Let them return there,” Zelenskyy said. “I understand that to force Russia to completely liberate territory is impossible. That will lead to a third world war. I totally understand all that. And I say it: compromise. Return to where all this started and there we will try to resolve the question of Donbas, the difficult question of Donbas.”
Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine is ready to discuss taking a position of “neutrality” and “non-nuclear status” with Russia, but wants security guarantees for his country in return.
He again said he would put the issue to a referendum in Ukraine and that any treaty would need to be ratified by “guarantor countries” — which other officials have suggested must include the United States.
Zelenskyy reiterated that no guarantor countries, such as the United Kingdom and Turkey, will sign any agreement while Russian troops remain on Ukrainian soil.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 28, 7:33 am
Nightly curfew in Kyiv shifts back, shortens an hour
The nightly citywide curfew in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, has been shifted back and shortened by an hour.
Starting Monday night, the curfew will be from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time.
There has been a curfew in Kyiv every day since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24. The previous time frame was from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. local time.
-ABC News’ Julia Drozd and Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 7:00 am
Russian forces attempt to seize key highways, settlements
Russian forces on Monday morning were attempting to breach defenses from the northwest and east of Ukraine to seize key highways and settlements, which are held by Ukrainian troops, according to Ukrainian officials.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said that hypersonic missiles for the Russian military’s Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile system were being delivered to the Belarusian town of Kalinkovichi. Two of the latest strikes to hit Lutsk, a city in northwestern Ukraine, were launched from neighboring Belarus, according to Ukrainian officials.
Mar 28, 6:20 am
New round of talks could start Monday in Turkey
Ukraine and Russia have both said that a new round of peace negotiations with be held in person in Turkey at the start of this week, but it remains unclear whether the talks begin Monday or Tuesday.
One of the Ukrainian negotiators, David Arakhamia, has said the talks would be held Monday through Wednesday.
Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, has said the talks would start Tuesday.
Arakhamia said the decision to hold the negotiations in person was reached during the latest round of talks via video link, which are taking place everyday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Russian journalists that his country is ready to compromise on Moscow’s demand for neutral status, but wants meaningful security guarantees from Western countries. He said any peace deal is only possible if Russia withdraws all of its troops to areas occupied before the war began.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 6:16 am
Ukraine intel chief says Russia plans a ‘Korean scenario’
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking to split Ukraine in two after failing to seize the capital, Kyiv, according to the head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency.
Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said in a statement Sunday that Putin may now be pursuing a “Korean scenario” that would see Russian forces try to occupy the east and south of Ukraine since they no longer have the strength to “swallow the whole state.”
“After the failures near Kyiv and the impossibility to overthrow the central government in Ukraine, Putin is already changing his main direction of operations — to the south and east,” Budanov said. “There are grounds to suggest that he is considering the Korean scenario for Ukraine. That is to attempt to lay down a new line of contact between the non-occupied and occupied regions of our country. In fact, it’s an attempt to create in Ukraine a North and South Korea. Indeed, he definitely doesn’t have the strength to swallow the whole state.”
Budanov said he believes Putin still wants to open a land corridor between the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula and the other Russian-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine, which would mean the occupation of besieged Mariupol, a strategic port city in the southeast that has been under heavy Russian bombardment. But he said Ukraine’s continued counterattacks as well as resistance by local people in the occupied areas were disrupting Putin’s plans.
Budanov also predicted the start of guerrilla warfare that would make it impossible for Russia to hold territory.
“Soon the season of the total Ukrainian partisan safari will start,” he said. “Then for the Russians will remain only one relevant scenario — how to survive.”
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 5:07 am
Ukraine says no humanitarian corridors for Monday
Ukraine’s government announced for the first time in nearly three weeks that no humanitarian corridors for evacuating civilians will be open on Monday due to concerns about possible “provocations” from Russian forces.
“Our intelligence has informed us of possible provocations from the side of the occupiers on the routes of the humanitarian corridors,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on her official Telegram channel. “And so in interest of citizens’ safety today we are not opening humanitarian corridors.”
The Ukrainian government has been evacuating hundreds of thousands of civilians from cities and towns in the north, east and south of the country through established corridors. Officials have previously accused Russian forces of shelling some of the evacuation routes, despite agreeing to cease-fires.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 27, 5:17 pm
Zelenskyy outlines goals for peace agreement to Russian journalists
In his first interview with Russian journalists since his country was invaded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described some of Ukraine’s positions for ending the war.
During an interview with popular Russian independent news sites TV Rain and Meduza, Zelenskyy said any peace deal is only possible if Russia withdraws its troops to the territory occupied before the start of the invasion, meaning Crimea and the separatist-held areas of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said his main goals are “to maximally reduce the number of casualties (and) to shorten the length of this war.”
“The withdrawal of Russia to compromise territories — but that is everything (that) was before 24 February, before the assault. Let them return there,” Zelenskyy said. “I understand that to force Russia to completely liberate territory is impossible. That will lead to a third world war. I totally understand all that. And I say it: compromise. Return to where all this started and there we will try to resolve the question of Donbas, the difficult question of Donbas.”
Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine is ready to discuss taking a position of “neutrality” and “non-nuclear status” with Russia, but wants security guarantees for his country in return.
He again said he would put the issue to a referendum in Ukraine and that any treaty would need to be ratified by “guarantor countries” — which other officials have suggested must include the United States.
Zelenskyy reiterated that no guarantor countries, such as the United Kingdom and Turkey, will sign any agreement while Russian troops remain on Ukrainian soil.
(SDE BOKER, Israel) — Out here in the Negev desert, the Israeli government says, history is being made.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is hosting for the first time on Israeli soil the foreign ministers of four Arab countries that now have close ties with the Jewish state — a new reality for a region realigned in recent years, especially by the threat from Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will join them for what Israel calls the Negev summit, but only after an evening of meetings with Palestinian leadership, including President Mahmoud Abbas, and civil society Sunday. While these new Arab-Israeli ties have been heralded for bringing peace and stability, they have left the Palestinians behind and done little to address the decades-old tensions there.
The Biden administration is trying to patch up ties with the Palestinians after frosty Trump years — especially with the specter of violence hanging over next month. Passover and Ramadan coincide, setting the stage for potential sparks like last spring’s deadly fighting.
Even so, Biden’s team has also embraced Trump’s Abraham Accords, the deals that established ties between Israel and several Arab neighbors — a rare piece of continuity between the two administration’s foreign policies.
Monday’s meeting brings together Israel and the U.S. with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco — all members of the new accords. Egypt, which established ties with Israel over 40 years ago in a U.S.-brokered deal, will also attend, although Jordan, which established ties in a 1994 U.S. deal, is not attending. Sudan, which was part of the accords, will not either, after a military coup last fall derailed its transition to a civilian-led democracy.
“The Middle East is changing, and it’s changing for the better. We’re cultivating old ties and building new bridges. We’re rejuvenating old peace and charging it with the new energy of the Abraham Accords,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said alongside Blinken Sunday in Jerusalem.
Blinken sang from the same sheet music Sunday, with he and other U.S. officials saying they believe deepening ties will help anchor peace across the region.
“What we’re seeing is normalization become the new normal for this region,” he said during a photo op with Israeli President Isaac Herzog — a line he deployed repeatedly during his visit. “The United States is very proud to be a part of that — to support the efforts to deepen the partnerships with countries that have already normalized with Israel and to help seek new partners.”
So far, Biden has had no luck with that effort — with Saudi Arabia in particular remaining the key holdout — and it’s unclear what, if any, announcements will come from the meeting Monday.
But still, the symbolism of Israel hosting these Arab countries, with their U.S. backer, is a powerful one – a “dramatic signal of American alignment with Israel and moderate Arab states in the double shadow of the Ukraine crisis … and the likely return to the JCPOA Iranian nuclear agreement,” according to Jim Jeffrey, a veteran U.S. diplomat and now the chair of the middle east program at the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank.
Those two security challenges are where ties have frayed between the U.S. and its Mideast allies and partners under Biden. In recent weeks, the U.S. has urged Israel, the UAE, and others to do more to punish Russia and support Ukraine — although in Jerusalem Sunday, Blinken praised Israeli commitments to enforce sanctions and provide humanitarian support, including a field hospital deployed to western Ukraine.
In addition, as the State Department’s team nears a renewed nuclear deal with Iran, Israel and Arab neighbors worry it will leave Iran flush with cash from sanctions relief — ready to boost arms and funds to its proxies and expand its ballistic missile program. Several of these countries face near daily threats from Tehran and those proxies — Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria for Israel, and the Houthis for UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are particularly adamant that Biden’s administration has not done enough to support them.
That make Monday’s meetings a delicate dance for Blinken — seeking to embrace the peaceful face of the Abraham Accords, while tempering the growing anti-Iran alliance as his team tries to complete a renewed Iran nuclear deal. In Jerusalem, Blinken papered over any differences, particularly with Israel, saying the two countries “are united in addressing the challenges posed by Iran, including its nuclear program.”
But what the burgeoning Arab-Israeli ties don’t address is the decades-old tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Biden administration was seized in one of its first foreign policy challenges by some of the worst violence in years between the Israeli military and Hamas, the U.S.-designated terror group that runs the Gaza Strip. Fighting lasted 11 days last May and killed over 250 people, the vast majority Palestinians.
But the risk of violence looms large again next month, with Judaism, Islam and Christianity’s holy days virtually overlapping in April — Passover, Ramadan, and Easter. The violence last spring erupted after Israeli restrictions on the Temple Mount during Ramadan and prospective evictions of Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem.
During meetings in Jerusalem and Ramallah, Blinken reiterated a constant U.S. message — that both sides refrain from steps that could provoke the other.
Beyond that low bar, it seems Biden and Blinken have little interest in deep engagement on the issue. This is only Blinken’s second trip to Israel and the West Bank in over a year in office, as the administration tries to focus attention on China and is consumed by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve to live with equal measures of freedom, of opportunity, security, of dignity, and we believe that the most effective way, ultimately, to give expression to that basic principle is through two states,” Blinken said Sunday with President Abbas.
But he added, “Of course, the two sides are very far apart, so we’ll continue our work, step by step, to try to bring them closer.”
One key question in that work is whether the U.S. will reopen its consulate general in East Jerusalem, which traditionally served as a consular operation for Palestinians. As part of its tense ties with Palestinian leaders, the Trump administration shuttered the facility when it moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
Blinken has promised to reopen the consulate, but Israeli officials are fiercely opposed to doing so, saying a U.S. consulate for Palestinians should be in what they consider Palestinian territory, not Jerusalem — which both sides claim as their capital.
During remarks after their meeting, Abbas again welcomed the U.S. reopening the consulate — which earned a head nod from Blinken.
But Blinken made no mention of it throughout his trip in Israel, including when Lapid was asked about it during a joint press conference Sunday.
“It’s not even our place to say anything,” Lapid said. “We just don’t think Jerusalem is the right place for this because Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and Israel alone.”
With that, Blinken and Lapid exited the room with a “thank you” to the press.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 27, 1:51 pm
Ukrainian forces purportedly take back towns, villages
Ukrainian forces appear to have had several successes Sunday, retaking several villages and towns in the northern and eastern parts of the country as they continue to wage fierce counterattacks against Russian troops, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian authorities claimed their troops have retaken control of some villages around Malaya Rogan near Kharkiv in the east, close to the Russian border.
Ukrainian forces also drove Russian troops from the town of Trostyanets in northern Ukraine between Kharkiv and the strategic city of Sumy, according to the mayor of Trostyanets. Video posted online appeared to show Ukrainian troops in Trostytanets.
There is also a report from Ukrainian officials that two villages were retaken near Mykolaiv in the south, where Ukrainian forces have launched a counterattack near the Russian-occupied city of Kherson.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 27, 1:09 pm
3.8 million refugees have fled Ukraine
At least 3.8 million people have fled Ukraine since Russian forces invaded the country on Feb. 24, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Sunday.
Most of the refugees, about 2.26 million, have gone to Poland, while more than 586,000 have ended up in Romania, according to the UNHCR.
Moldova and Hungary have taken in more than 350,000 refugees each. More than 272,000 refugees have also gone to Slovakia, the UNHCR reported.
The UNHCR said 271,254 refugees have also fled to Russia and 6,341 to Belarus.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Mar 27, 11:58 am
Agreement reached on new round of in-person peace talks
Ukraine and Russia have agreed to hold a new round of in-person peace talks, in Turkey this week, in a sign of some possible progress.
A member of Ukraine’s delegation said the talks would take place March 28-30, while Russia’s lead negotiator said they wouldn’t start until March 29.
The two sides have been talking every day by video conference, officials said.
David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and part of the country’s delegation negotiating with Russia, wrote on Facebook that in the last video discussions with his Russian counterparts, the parties agreed to meet in-person.
Previous in-person peace talks were held in Belarus.
Ukraine is insisting on security guarantees from western countries in any deal, with its lead negotiator telling a German newspaper over the weekend that such guarantees “don’t make sense” without the involvement of the United States.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 27, 10:22 am
Humanitarian aid arrives in Kharkiv
Sixty tons of food and relief items have arrived in the bombed-out city of Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The badly needed humanitarian aid arrived on Saturday and includes food, water and essential hygiene items, ICRC officials said. The Ukrainian Red Cross will distribute the supplies to residents in the war-torn area, many taking shelter in the city’s metro station.
Maxime Zabaloueff of the ICRC said the aid will go to help “the people who have suffered the terrible consequences of the shelling on this city.”
The ICRC is boosting its humanitarian response in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipro, Odessa and other areas across the country to address a growing humanitarian crisis, Zabaloueff said.
The ICRC has also dispatched more than 140 additional staff to the region, including surgeons and other medical workers, psychologists, weapon contamination specialists and engineers.
Mar 27, 7:09 am
139 children killed in invasion, Ukraine says
At least 139 children have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said.
Another 205 children have been injured, the office said on Sunday.
Mar 27, 6:46 am
Battlefield ‘static’ in northern Ukraine, UK says
Russian forces in northern Ukraine have been “largely static,” as Ukrainian resistance and counterattacks have been “hampering” their attempts to reorganize, the UK Ministry of Defence said on Sunday.
“Russian forces appear to be concentrating their effort to attempt the encirclement of Ukrainian forces directly facing the separatist regions in the east of the country, advancing from the direction of Kharkiv in the north and Mariupol in the south,” the Ministry’s update said.
Mar 26, 7:17 pm
Zelenskyy calls for 1% of NATO’s arsenal
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his call for 1% of NATO’s arsenal during his latest national address.
“One percent! We did not ask for more. And we do not ask for more. And we have already been waiting for 31 days!” he said.
Zelenskyy, who similarly pleaded for more military aid during an address at this week’s NATO summit, said Ukraine is especially in need of more planes and tanks.
“Ukraine cannot shoot down Russian missiles using shotguns, machine guns, which are too much in supplies,” he said. “And it is impossible to unblock Mariupol without a sufficient number of tanks, other armored vehicles and, of course, aircraft.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs and the minister of defense met with U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden, in Poland Saturday to address these “vital interests.”
Mar 26, 6:13 pm
Biden speaks with Belarusian opposition leader
President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya from Air Force One, the White House said Saturday.
Biden “underscored the continued support of the United States for the Belarusian people in defending and advancing human rights, including freedom of expression, and free and fair elections,” the readout of the call stated.
Tsikhanouskaya attended Biden’s address in Warsaw on Saturday, according to the readout.
Belarus has served as a staging area for Russian attacks on Ukraine during the war. Its president, Alexander Lukashenko, is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
-ABC News’ Armando Garcia
Mar 26, 4:03 pm
Blinken announces $100 million in ‘civilian security’ aid to Ukraine
The U.S. will be providing Ukraine with $100 million in “civilian security” assistance, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Saturday, hours after he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with their Ukrainian counterparts.
The aid will provide equipment including armored vehicles, medical supplies, personal protective equipment and communications equipment, according to the Department of State.
The aid will go to Ukraine’s border guard, law enforcement and government infrastructure protection, Blinken said in a statement.
“With the U.S. government’s vital assistance, Ukrainian law enforcement officers are playing a key role in rescuing victims of the Russian government’s brutal assault, leading and protecting convoys of those displaced by attacks, and providing security to civilian areas torn apart by ruthless and devastating bombing,” Blinken continued in the statement
Mar 26, 3:39 pm
Missile strikes hit oil depot, defense facility, Lviv officials confirm
Two Russian missile strikes in Lviv hit an oil depot and a defense facility, Maksym Kozytskyi, Lviv’s regional governor, confirmed in a press briefing Saturday.
Kozytskyi confirmed five people were injured at the site of the first strike and said firefighters are still putting out fires at the facility.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi told reporters a school near the oil depot was damaged in the strike.
Both officials asked the media not to film the sites of the strikes.
Mar 26, 3:17 pm
Biden tells Ukrainian people: ‘We stand with you’ in Warsaw address
President Joe Biden told the Ukrainian people, “We stand with you” in an address he gave at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday.
“We’ll not cease the efforts to get humanitarian relief wherever it is needed in Ukraine and for the people who’ve made it out of Ukraine. Notwithstanding the brutality of Vladimir Putin, let there be no doubt that this war [has] already been a strategic failure for Russia,” Biden said.
“Putin thought Ukrainians would roll over and not fight, not much of a student of history,” Biden said.
Biden also addressed the Russian people, telling them: “You, the Russian people, are not our enemy.”
“The American people stand with you and the brave people of Ukraine for peace,” Biden said.
Mar 26, 2:59 pm
‘This man cannot remain in power’ Biden says in Warsaw speech
In an address from Warsaw Saturday, President Joe Biden made remarks seemingly directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine. “For god’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said.
After the speech, the White House released a statement saying the president wasn’t calling for a regime change.
“The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” a White House official said.
“These are not the actions of a great nation,” Biden said, addressing the Russian people during his speech.
“Vladimir Putin’s aggression have cut you, the Russian people, off from the rest of the world, and it’s taking Russia back to the 19th century. This is not who you are,” Biden said.
Biden praised Ukrainian resistance, saying the U.S. stands with the people of Ukraine and will continue to support them.
“A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for liberty. Brutality will never grind down their will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness,” Biden said.
Mar 26, 2:00 pm
‘Don’t even think’ about moving in NATO territory: Biden warns in Warsaw speech
President Joe Biden warned: “Don’t even think about moving onto one single inch of NATO territory,” Saturday in an address that just ended.
Biden spoke to an audience of between 750 and 1,000 attendees in Warsaw, Poland, including Polish President Andrzej Duda, members of parliament, local officials, students from local universities and U.S. embassy staff, according to the White House.
Mar 26, 1:01 pm
There are ‘continuous battles’ for Mariupol’s territory that continue daily: Ukrainian official
“Continuous battles” for Mariupol’s territory continue daily, the city’s deputy mayor, Serhiy Orlov, told ABC News Saturday.
The deputy mayor estimated that 150,000 people remain in the city.
He was unable to give an update on the hundreds of of civilians believed to have been killed in Russian strikes that hit a theater that was being used as a shelter. A sign indicated that children were sheltering inside satellite imagery shows.
“The situation becomes worse, so people still have a lack of everything,” he told ABC News in a remote interview.
The mayor added: “The lack of water, electricity, heat and sanitary system, lack of medicine, food. So they’re just surviving … it’s not a secret that from 50 to 100 airstrikes, the Russian aircraft do each day and the one-third or one-half of all the bombing of airstrikes in Ukraine goes on Mariupol.”
Mar 26, 12:24 pm
Missile strikes in Lviv leave 5 injured, Ukrainian official says
Two missile strikes in Lviv left five people injured on Saturday, according to preliminary data, the governor of Lviv, Maksym Kozytskyi, said in a statement.
The official said there is still a threat of a missile strike and told people to stay in shelters, not to walk down the street or take pictures of anything.
The Governor of Lviv has asked people not to share footage of the blast site, in a statement.
“Everything that can be reported for security reasons, I will report,” Kozytskyi said.
The official could not confirm reports that there was an impact on a residential building or other infrastructure facilities.
Home to many refugees passing through on their way out of the country, Lviv has been spared some of the worst shelling seen so far.
Mar 26, 12:03 pm
Biden meets with refugees in Warsaw, calls Putin a ‘butcher’
President Joe Biden met with Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday. When asked by reporters what he thought of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin after meeting with refugees, Biden said, “He’s a butcher.”
Biden was greeted by Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki outside the PGE Narodowy Stadium and he met several volunteers and refugees.
After meeting with refugees, Biden briefly spoke with reporters and said he’s always in awe of the depth and strength of the human spirit of refugees.
“I’ve been to an awful lot of places like this, a lot of refugee camps, in my life, and what I’m always surprised by, is the depth and strength of the human spirit. I mean it sincerely. They’re — it’s incredible. It’s incredible. See all those little children? Just want to hug, they just want to say thanks. I mean — I mean, it just makes you so damn proud,” Biden said.
“Each one of those children said something to the effect, say a prayer for my dad, or my grandfather or my brother, who’s back there fighting. And I remember what it’s like when you have someone in a war zone. Every morning you get up and you wonder. You just wonder, you pray you don’t get that phone call,” Biden said.
Mar 26, 11:39 am
Zelenskyy calls for increased energy production to prevent Russian ‘blackmail’ of the world
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise video appearance at the Doha Forum in Qatar, addressing the energy-rich nation directly, calling on it and other energy-producing countries to increase energy production.
“The responsible states, in particular the State of Qatar, are reliable and reputable suppliers of energy resources. And they can contribute to stabilizing the situation in Europe. They can do much to restore justice,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy added, “The future of Europe depends on your efforts! I urge you to increase energy production! So that Russia understands that no state should use energy as a weapon to blackmail the world.”
Zelenskyy also warned that a food crisis will come after the migration crisis.
“Wheat, oil, corn and other agricultural products from our country are the basis of stability and internal security of many countries in different parts of the world… Russian troops mine fields in Ukraine, blow up agricultural machinery, destroy fuel reserves needed for sowing. They blocked our seaports,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy added: “Our state will have enough food. But the lack of exports from Ukraine will hit many nations in the Islamic world, Latin America and other parts of the world. Where some invaders still dream of going to strengthen their old privileges.”
Zelenskyy also drew direct comparisons between the destruction of Mariupol and the Russian bombing of Aleppo.
He criticized Russia for threatening the world with nuclear weapons, and called on countries to boost their production to counteract the global dependence on Russian oil.
Mar 26, 10:47 am
Biden, Duda give joint remarks ahead of meeting
President Joe Biden and Polish President Andrjez Duda delivered brief remarks ahead of their expanded bilateral meeting, with both sides stressing their strong relationship, and the importance of unity in the midst of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Biden is set to give a speech in Warsaw later Saturday.
Biden recalled a previous trip he made to Warsaw 25 years ago, after advocating for Poland to Join Nato, and said his message then is the same as today: “For your freedom and for ours.”
Biden also reiterated the U.S.’s commitment to NATO’s Article 5.
“The single most important criterion in this time-changing world — so much has changed, not just here, but in other parts of the world — is that NATO’s stay absolutely, completely, thoroughly united. [There needs] to be no separation, and our points of view, and whatever we do, we do in unison, and everyone, everyone comes along,” Biden said.
Biden added: “I’m confident that Vladimir Putin was counting on being able to divide NATO, and being able to separate the Eastern flank from the West. To be able to separate nations based on past histories. But he hasn’t been able to do it. We’ve all stayed together. And so I just think it’s so important that we, Poland and the United States, keep in lockstep the power pursuit.”
Biden also spoke about Poland’s work on the humanitarian side of the crisis, praising the country for taking in so many refugees, but acknowledging that it should not be just on Poland to handle the brunt of the load.
“We do acknowledge that Poland is taking on a significant responsibility that I don’t think should just be Poland, It should be the whole world — all of NATO’s responsibility. The fact that you have so many, so many Ukrainians seeking refuge and this country of Poland,” Biden said.
He added: “We understand that because we have on our southern border thousands of people a day –literally, not figuratively –trying to get into the United States. But we believe that we the United States, should do our part relative to Ukraine as well by opening our borders to another 100,000 people. And with that, and in addition to that, I think it’s important that we are in constant contact, about how we each wish to proceed, relative to what Russia is doing, and how to proceed.
Mar 26, 9:46 am
Biden, Poland’s president hold bilateral meeting
President Joe Biden arrived at the Polish presidential palace Saturday for a bilateral meeting with Polish President Andrjez Duda, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.
Biden and Duda shook hands and stood shoulder to shoulder as both countries’ national anthems played.
Biden was met by three branches of the Polish military, as the two leaders reviewed the troops. They then headed inside for the meeting.
Biden was joined by a delegation of seven U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who participated in the meeting, according to the White House.
The Polish delegation consisted of six officials, including the ministers of foreign affairs and national defense, according to the White House.
Mar 26, 9:40 am
Biden drops by meeting between US and Ukrainian officials
President Joe Biden dropped by a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and their Ukrainian counterparts Saturday morning.
The meeting between the secretaries lasted for an hour and 46 minutes, according to the State Department.
The two secretaries pledged continued U.S. economic, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and provided the Ukrainians updates after Thursday’s NATO, EU and G-7 summits.
“The Secretaries and Ministers discussed outcomes of the March 24 extraordinary NATO Summit in Brussels, and the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of the Russian Federation’s increasingly brutal assault on Ukrainian cities and civilian population,” said Ned Price, a spokesperson for the Department of State, in a statement.
In a statement from the White House, Biden reaffirmed the U.S.’s commitment to Ukraine, saying the officials discussed further efforts to help Ukraine defend its territory.
“The President updated the Ministers on U.S. efforts to rally the world in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, including through the President’s meetings this week in Belgium, and the significant military and humanitarian assistance the United States is providing to Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement.
The White House added: “They also discussed the United States’ ongoing actions to hold President Putin accountable for Russia’s brutal aggression, in coordination with our allies and partners, including through the new sanctions actions announced by the President in Brussels on March 24.
Mar 26, 9:24 am
Unexploded missile near nuclear site in Kharkiv cause for concern, IAEA says
There is an unexploded missile in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear research facility in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s regulatory authority told the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The IAEA said it is continuing to monitor the situation.
“The regulator confirmed reports of an unexploded rocket of the multiple launch rocket system 9K58 Smerch ‘detected in the immediate vicinity’ of a nuclear research facility that has previously been damaged by shelling,” the IAEA said in a statement.
It added: “the regulator said ‘constant shelling’ of the area meant that no measures had yet been taken to dispose of the rocket.”
The facility is used for research and development and radioisotope production for medical and industrial applications. The site’s nuclear material cannot sustain a fission chain reaction and the radioactive inventory is low, according to the IAEA.
Eight of Ukraine’s 15 operational reactors, at four sites, are continuing to operate, including two at the Zaporizhzhya power plant. The other reactors are shut down for regular maintenance, the IAEA said.
Mar 26, 8:38 am
136 children have been killed, 199 injured, Ukraine officials say
Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office said that 136 children have been killed in the war and 199 have been injured, as of Saturday morning local time.
The grim update comes on Day 31 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mar 26, 8:34 am
Russia using artillery to ‘demoralize’ Ukraine’s forces, British Ministry of Defense says
The Russian army is reluctant to engage in large-scale infantry operations, the British Ministry of Defense said Saturday.
“Russia continues to besiege a number of major Ukrainian cities including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol. Russian forces are proving reluctant to engage in large scale urban infantry operations, rather preferring to rely on the indiscriminate use of air and artillery bombardments in an attempt to demoralize defending forces,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement posted online.
It added: “It is likely Russia will continue to use its heavy firepower on urban areas as it looks to limit its own already considerable losses, at the cost of further civilian casualties.”
Mar 25, 6:24 pm
Jill Biden meets with Ukrainian pediatric cancer patients
During a visit to Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden privately met with two Ukrainian families who have loved ones being treated at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Four Ukrainian children, ages 20 months to 8 years, as well as 10 of their family members, were airlifted from Poland to St. Jude on Monday to continue treatment, according to Michael LaRosa, the First Lady’s press secretary.
Biden said in remarks during her visit that her “heart has ached watching the videos” of devastation in Ukraine.
“Parents weeping over their child’s broken bones … bodies in the streets. The senselessness of it all is just staggering,” she said.
She added, “When I learned that St. Jude was working with hospitals in Europe to bring some of the Ukrainian children with cancer and their families here, I felt so proud and I wanted to join you in welcoming them. We stand with Ukraine and we’re praying for their families.”
Mar 25, 4:44 pm
Fox News correspondent injured in Ukraine is back in U.S.
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall is back in the U.S. after suffering serious injuries while reporting in Ukraine, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement.
Hall was hurt in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, on March 14 when his vehicle was hit by incoming fire, Scott said at the time. Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian producer and fixer Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova were killed in the incident.
Scott said Hall has been transferred from the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany to the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas.
Hall has undergone multiple surgeries, Scott said.
“He remains in good spirits despite everything he has endured,” Scott wrote. “His strength and resiliency in the face of this crisis has been nothing short of extraordinary.”
Mar 25, 3:03 pm
U.S. official: Russians on defensive around Kyiv, now focusing on Donbas
Russian forces around Kyiv have fallen into defensive positions and have stopped offensive ground movements toward the capital city, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday.
“We’re still seeing airstrikes, but not nothing from the ground,” the official said.
The U.S. official said — as Russians also noted Friday — that Russian troops are currently focusing on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, where there’s been heavy fighting.
The Russians “are putting their priorities and their effort in the east of Ukraine, and that’s where still there remains a lot of heavy fighting,” the official said. “And we think they are trying to not only secure some sort of, more substantial gains there as a potential negotiating tactic at the table, but also to cut off Ukrainian forces in the eastern part of the country.”
Also, the official noted that Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine that’s north of Crimea, doesn’t seem to be “as solidly in Russian control as it was before.”
“That would be significant if the Ukrainians were able to take Kerson back,” the official said. “It’s a significant port city. It would also put it much greater risk the Russian positions around Mykolaiv [in southern Ukraine], and again if they have ground desires on Odessa [in southern Ukraine], losing Kherson and therefore putting their troops between Ukrainians, you’ll be sandwiched between Ukrainian forces in Kherson and those in Mykolaiv. … That would put them smack in the middle and that would make it very, very difficult for them to make any kind of ground movement on Odessa. If in fact, that was their plan.”
The U.S. is also seeing indications that the Russians are trying to send in some reinforcements from the breakaway regions of Georgia, the official said.
Mar 25, 2:09 pm
Russian military claims ‘main goal’ of invasion is ‘liberation’ of eastern Ukraine
In a Friday briefing, Russian military officials tried to reshape the narrative of the war, claiming the “main goal” of the invasion — what Russia calls a “military operation” — is to “liberate” Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and not to seize other parts of Ukraine.
General Sergey Rudskoy, the head of the main operational directorate of Russia’s General Staff, said the main objectives of the “first phase” of the operation have been achieved, meaning Ukraine’s “combat capabilities have been significantly reduced.” Rudskoy said that allows Russia to now focus “on achieving the main goal the liberation of Donbas.”
The Donbas region contains the two Russian-controlled separatist statelets, the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, the defense of which Russia used as a pretext for invading. Rudskoy claimed Russia has “liberated” 93% of the Luhansk region and 54% of Donetsk.
The Ukrainian city of Mariupol is also within the Donbas region. Russian forces have been relentlessly bombarding Mariupol since the invasion began, destroying homes and leaving thousands of residents trapped.
Rudskoy claimed Russia’s “military operation” had two courses of action: the first being limiting operations to Donbas, but he said that would have allowed Ukraine to constantly reinforce its troops, so he said Russia took a second course of action, attacking cities across the whole country. Rudskoy claimed the course of the war “confirmed the validity” of that decision.
“These actions are carried out with the aim of causing such damage to military infrastructure, equipment, personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the results of which allow not only to shackle their forces and do not give them the opportunity to strengthen their grouping in the Donbas, but also will not allow them to do so until the Russian army completely liberates the territories of the DPR and LPR,” he said.
Rudskoy claimed Russia has successfully blocked Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv, and that the cities of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are under full Russian control.
He claimed Russia “initially” never had any intention of storming those cities, although he said they “did not rule out such a possibility” now.
“Initially, we did not plan to storm them in order to prevent destruction and minimize losses among personnel and civilians. And although we do not rule out such a possibility, however, as individual groups complete their tasks, and they are being solved successfully, our forces and means will concentrate on the main thing — the complete liberation of Donbas,” he said.
Rudskoy also made the dubious claim that Russia has sought to minimize civilian casualties. The U.N. reports that over 1,000 civilians have died since the invasion began.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 25, 12:50 pm
Biden says he’s in Poland to see humanitarian crisis firsthand
President Joe Biden, flanked by Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and Samantha Powers of the U.S. Agency for International Development, spoke at a briefing on humanitarian efforts Friday, again calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.”
“The single-most important thing that we can do on the outset, is keep the democracies united in our opposition, and our effort to curtail the devastation that is occurring at the hands of a man, who quite frankly, I think is a war criminal. And I think we’ll meet the legal definition of that, as well,” Biden said.
Biden said he’s in Poland to see the “humanitarian crisis” “firsthand,” but said he’s disappointed he “can’t see it firsthand like I have in other places.”
“They will not let me … cross the border and take a look at what’s going on in Ukraine,” Biden said. “But, you know, I’m eager to hear from you, the humanitarian community, about what you see, what you’re doing, and where you think we go from here.”
Since the invasion began on Feb. 24, over 3.6 million people have fled Ukraine, with more than 2.2 million of those refugees going to Poland, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
“Whether it’s food, or a blanket, or cash, or the care for medical teams that we send in, or child welfare specialists, they need it now. They need it as rapidly as we can get it there,” Biden said.
Mar 25, 12:12 pm
Biden tells troops ‘what’s at stake’ is beyond Ukraine
President Joe Biden spoke to members of the 82nd Airborne Division in Jasionka, Poland, Friday, telling them, “What you’re doing is consequential — really consequential.”
“What’s at stake” is beyond Ukraine, Biden said.
“What are your kids and grandkids gonna look like in terms of their freedom?” Biden said. “The last 10 years there have been fewer democracies that have been formed than we’ve lost in the world.”
“What you’re engaged in is much more than just whether or not you can alleviate the pain and suffering of the people of Ukraine,” Biden said.
Biden commended the troops, saying “the rest of the world looks to us, because, you know, we not only lead by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. And your generation combines both. The rest of the world looks at you and sees who you are. They see you are a multiethnic group of Americans that are in fact together and united in one resolve, to defend your country, and to help those who need help.”
Mar 25, 11:12 am
Biden thanks troops in Poland
In Jasionka, Poland, on Friday, President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited American troops, thanking them for working alongside Polish allies.
Biden and Austin first greeted members of the 82nd Airborne Division in a makeshift barbershop.
Biden and Austin then stopped by a mess hall and ended up staying for a slice of pizza.
Biden also shared a story about searching for his son, Beau, in a mess hall in Baghdad, only to find him using his mother’s maiden name — Hunter — on his fatigues.
“I said, ‘Beau, what the hell’s going on?’ His name was Beau Biden, and he was a colonel, I mean, a major, excuse me,” Biden said.
“And I said, ‘What happened?’ And he said, ‘Dad, with the name Biden, everybody thinks something’s going on. So I’m Hunter.’ That was his mother’s maiden name,” Biden said.
Mar 25, 10:29 am
Ukrainian troops have retaken towns, UK intelligence says
Ukrainian troops have been able to retake towns and defensive positions up to 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) east of Kyiv due to counter-attacks and Russian forces falling back on overextended supply lines, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Friday in an intelligence update on the situation.
Ukrainian troops are likely to continue to attempt to push Russian forces back along the northwestern axis from the Ukrainian capital toward Antonov Airport in Hostomel, a suburb of Kyiv, according to the U.K. Ministry of Defense.
In southern Ukraine, Russian forces are still attempting to circumvent the densely populated city of Mykolaiv as they look to drive west toward Odesa, with their progress being slowed by logistic issues and Ukrainian resistance, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said.
Mar 25, 10:25 am
Biden arrives in Poland
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived at Poland’s Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport Friday afternoon, where he will get a firsthand look at the international efforts to help some of the millions of people fleeing Ukraine.
Biden was greeted on the tarmac by four U.S. commanding generals. While in Rzeszow on Friday, Biden will receive a briefing on the humanitarian situation and meet with humanitarian aid groups as well as service members of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
He will later travel to Warsaw, where he will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda as well as refugees from Ukraine on Saturday.
Mar 25, 10:07 am
US says Russian attacks have capacity to put NATO at risk
U.S. President Joe Biden’s support of NATO battle groups on the eastern flank stems from the belief that Russia’s attacks in Ukraine have the capacity to put the alliance’s territories at risk, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
“We do believe Russian aggression in Ukraine shows a willingness by the Russians to disregard international borders and to disregard the basic rules of the road of the international community that have been built in sustained over the course of seven decades,” Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.
“It is important in this moment to send a clear message to Russia that the United States and NATO will defend every inch of NATO territory and to deter any thinking that Putin might have about further Russian aggression into NATO,” he said.
Sullivan noted that Belarus’ willingness to station Russian troops on its soil, in particular, has a “significant impact particularly on our NATO allies in the Baltics and Poland.”
Sullivan said Biden has made clear that any diplomatic agreement reached is one that Ukraine will have to determine for itself, meaning Washington is not going to push or pressure Kyiv into any outcome.
Currently, Washington’s priority is to ensure Ukraine has the capabilities to defend itself as Russian forces continue pushing forward, Sullivan told reporters.
Mar 25, 10:02 am
Pope Francis to consecrate Russia, Ukraine
Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday, inviting people around the world to join him in the prayer.
“This Act of Consecration is meant to be a gesture of the universal Church, which in this dramatic moment lifts up to God, through His Mother and ours, the cry of pain of all those who suffer and implore an end to the violence, and to entrust the future of our human family to the Queen of Peace,” Francis said in a statement.
He also called for an end to the violence.
Consecration is an act of surrender in which the pope recognizes both Russians and Ukrainians as children of god, and entrusts them to Mary’s care, Father Alexandre Mello, the secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life, told Crux.
Mello also said consecration aims to build bridges as the prayer’s goal is to have a healing effect and remind Russians and Ukrainians of their shared roots and identities as children of the same God.
The ceremony is tied to the Marian apparitions in Fatima, Portugal in 1917, in which many Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared to three children, asking that the pope consecrate Russia to her immaculate heart.
The Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary will be prayed during the Lenten penitential service in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome which begins at 5 p.m. local time. The pope will start the prayer at around 6:30 p.m. local time and has asked all Catholic Bishops and priests to join him spiritually.
U.S. bishops, including Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., and Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, announced they will be holding consecration ceremonies on Friday.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said he will join in the prayer from his converted monastery in Vatican City, where he has lived since he resigned.
Mar 25, 9:27 am
Biden to meet with Polish president, refugees from Ukraine in Warsaw
U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda as well as refugees from Ukraine in Warsaw on Saturday, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Poland on Friday, Sullivan noted that Biden will also deliver a “major address” before departing Saturday.
“He will give a major address tomorrow that will speak to the stakes of this moment, the urgency of the challenge that lies ahead, what the conflict in Ukraine means for the world, and why it is so important that the free world sustain unity and resolve in the face of Russian aggression,” Sullivan said. “He’ll also talk about the context and history of this conflict and where he sees it going from here.”
Upon arrival in Rzeszow, Poland, on Friday, Biden will meet with humanitarian aid groups as well as service members of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, according to Sullivan.
“He will be able to talk through with a range of different humanitarian leaders and experts, both from the region and from the international community as well as the US government experts who are playing a key role in this, on how the efforts are going so far and what further steps need to be taken to make sure that we’re investing those dollars as wisely as possible,” Sullivan said. “He will also have the chance to visit with troops from the 82nd Airborne Division, who have been deployed to Poland to reassure our NATO ally and to deter further aggression on the eastern flank. And he will also get a briefing from the commanders of those units who will have the chance to lay out for him the various tasks and missions that the American troops stationed at the airfield here have been undertaking and continue to undertake.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 25, 8:03 am
Ukrainian rescuers work to remove unexploded devices from homes
Video has emerged showing Ukrainian rescuers working to remove unexploded devices from civilian homes amid the Russian invasion.
The video, released Friday by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and verified by ABC News, shows pyrotechnic units in the northern city of Chernihiv using special equipment to carefully search for and remove unexploded shells, missiles and mines that landed in houses.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said it was called in to seize ammunition 18 times over the past day. The agency warned people not to approach the objects because they could explode “at any time” and to immediately report such findings to rescuers or police.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
Mar 25, 7:34 am
Biden departs Brussels for Poland
U.S. President Joe Biden departed Belgium on Friday morning and was en route to Poland for the final leg of his four-day trip aimed at maintaining unity among allies and supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
Biden was seen boarding Air Force One in the European Union’s de facto capital, Brussels, at 6:42 a.m. ET. He is expected to land in Rzeszow, Poland, at around 9:15 a.m. ET, where he will receive a briefing on the humanitarian response to the millions of people fleeing Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion. He will also meet with service members from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 25, 6:36 am
300 dead in airstrike on Mariupol theater, officials say
About 300 people were killed last week in a Russian airstrike on a drama theater-turned-bomb shelter in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the city’s government said Friday, citing eyewitnesses.
“We didn’t want to believe in this horror,” the Mariupol City Council. said in a statement. “But the words of those who were inside the building at the moment of this terrorist act say the opposite.”
As many as 1,500 civilians had been taking refuge in the grand, columned Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama in central Mariupol when it was struck on March 16, according to the Ukrainian government. Satellite images showed huge white letters on the pavement in front of and behind the building spelling out “CHILDREN” in Russian — “DETI” — to alert warplanes to those inside.
Video circulating online and verified by ABC News shows the immediate aftermath of the strike on the theater. People covered in dust are seen trying to make their way out of the theater, walking down from the first floor staircase in an area of the building that was still standing at the time.
Since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian forces have been relentlessly bombarding Mariupol, destroying homes and leaving thousands of residents trapped. Ukraine has defied Russia’s ultimatum for its troops to lay down arms and surrender the strategic southeastern port city of 430,000.
-ABC News Patrick Reevell
Mar 25, 5:20 am
Russia claims to have seized 5 more localities in Ukraine
Russia claimed Friday that its forces had captured five more localities in Ukraine.
“The grouping of troops of the Russian Armed Forces advanced another 4 kilometers overnight and captured Batmanka, Mikhailovka, Krasny Partizan, Stavki and Troitskoe,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the claim.
Mar 25, 5:10 am
US, EU announce plan to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian gas
U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Friday a joint task force to “reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and strengthen European energy security,” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Named the “Task Force for energy security,” the group will be chaired by one representative from the White House and one representative from the European Commission. They will work to ensure energy security for Ukraine and the European Union ahead of the next two winters by focusing on two main goals — diversifying liquefied natural gas supplies and reducing demand for natural gas, according to a fact sheet from the White House.
As part of the agreement, the United States will work with international partners to put more liquefied natural gas on the EU market, pledging to make at least 15 billion cubic meters available in 2022, with increases expected going forward.
The White House stressed that the task force would also work with an eye towards clean energy, looking to reduce greenhouse gas intensity of all new liquefied natural gas infrastructure as well as demand for liquefied natural gas by “accelerating market deployment of clean energy measures.” Those measures include expediting planning of clean energy projects, like wind and solar power, and using smart thermostats and heat pumps in homes.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 24, 5:44 pm
Biden meets with European Council
U.S. President Joe Biden’s final meeting in Brussels on Thursday was with the European Council.
“They reviewed their ongoing efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and Belarus, as well as their readiness to adopt additional measures and to stop any attempts to circumvent sanctions,” the White House said in a statement.
The leaders said they willl continue “providing humanitarian assistance, including to neighboring countries hosting refugees, and underscored the need for Russia to guarantee humanitarian access to those affected by or fleeing the violence,” according to the White House.
They also “discussed EU-U.S. cooperation to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, accelerate the transition to clean energy, as well as the need to respond to evolving food security needs worldwide,” the White House said.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 26, 4:03 pm
Blinken announces $100 million in ‘civilian security’ aid to Ukraine
The U.S. will be providing Ukraine with $100 million in “civilian security” assistance, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Saturday, hours after he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with their Ukrainian counterparts.
The aid will provide equipment including armored vehicles, medical supplies, personal protective equipment and communications equipment, according to the Department of State.
The aid will go to Ukraine’s border guard, law enforcement and government infrastructure protection, Blinken said in a statement.
“With the U.S. government’s vital assistance, Ukrainian law enforcement officers are playing a key role in rescuing victims of the Russian government’s brutal assault, leading and protecting convoys of those displaced by attacks, and providing security to civilian areas torn apart by ruthless and devastating bombing,” Blinken continued in the statement
Mar 26, 3:39 pm
Missile strikes hit oil depot, defense facility, Lviv officials confirm
Two Russian missile strikes in Lviv hit an oil depot and a defense facility, Maksym Kozytskyi, Lviv’s regional governor, confirmed in a press briefing Saturday.
Kozytskyi confirmed five people were injured at the site of the first strike and said firefighters are still putting out fires at the facility.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi told reporters a school near the oil depot was damaged in the strike.
Both officials asked the media not to film the sites of the strikes.
Mar 26, 3:17 pm
Biden tells Ukrainian people: ‘We stand with you’ in Warsaw address
President Joe Biden told the Ukrainian people, “We stand with you” in an address he gave at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday.
“We’ll not cease the efforts to get humanitarian relief wherever it is needed in Ukraine and for the people who’ve made it out of Ukraine. Notwithstanding the brutality of Vladimir Putin, let there be no doubt that this war [has] already been a strategic failure for Russia,” Biden said.
“Putin thought Ukrainians would roll over and not fight, not much of a student of history,” Biden said.
Biden also addressed the Russian people, telling them: “You, the Russian people, are not our enemy.”
“The American people stand with you and the brave people of Ukraine for peace,” Biden said.
Mar 26, 2:59 pm
‘This man cannot remain in power’ Biden says in Warsaw speech
In an address from Warsaw Saturday, President Joe Biden made remarks seemingly directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine. “For god’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said.
After the speech, the White House released a statement saying the president wasn’t calling for a regime change.
“The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” a White House official said.
“These are not the actions of a great nation,” Biden said, addressing the Russian people during his speech.
“Vladimir Putin’s aggression have cut you, the Russian people, off from the rest of the world, and it’s taking Russia back to the 19th century. This is not who you are,” Biden said.
Biden praised Ukrainian resistance, saying the U.S. stands with the people of Ukraine and will continue to support them.
“A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for liberty. Brutality will never grind down their will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness,” Biden said.
Mar 26, 2:00 pm
‘Don’t even think’ about moving in NATO territory: Biden warns in Warsaw speech
President Joe Biden warned: “Don’t even think about moving onto one single inch of NATO territory,” Saturday in an address that just ended.
Biden spoke to an audience of between 750 and 1,000 attendees in Warsaw, Poland, including Polish President Andrzej Duda, members of parliament, local officials, students from local universities and U.S. embassy staff, according to the White House.
Mar 26, 1:01 pm
There are ‘continuous battles’ for Mariupol’s territory that continue daily: Ukrainian official
“Continuous battles” for Mariupol’s territory continue daily, the city’s deputy mayor, Serhiy Orlov, told ABC News Saturday.
The deputy mayor estimated that 150,000 people remain in the city.
He was unable to give an update on the hundreds of of civilians believed to have been killed in Russian strikes that hit a theater that was being used as a shelter. A sign indicated that children were sheltering inside satellite imagery shows.
“The situation becomes worse, so people still have a lack of everything,” he told ABC News in a remote interview.
The mayor added: “The lack of water, electricity, heat and sanitary system, lack of medicine, food. So they’re just surviving … it’s not a secret that from 50 to 100 airstrikes, the Russian aircraft do each day and the one-third or one-half of all the bombing of airstrikes in Ukraine goes on Mariupol.”
Mar 26, 12:24 pm
Missile strikes in Lviv leave 5 injured, Ukrainian official says
Two missile strikes in Lviv left five people injured on Saturday, according to preliminary data, the governor of Lviv, Maksym Kozytskyi, said in a statement.
The official said there is still a threat of a missile strike and told people to stay in shelters, not to walk down the street or take pictures of anything.
The Governor of Lviv has asked people not to share footage of the blast site, in a statement.
“Everything that can be reported for security reasons, I will report,” Kozytskyi said.
The official could not confirm reports that there was an impact on a residential building or other infrastructure facilities.
Home to many refugees passing through on their way out of the country, Lviv has been spared some of the worst shelling seen so far.
Mar 26, 12:03 pm
Biden meets with refugees in Warsaw, calls Putin a ‘butcher’
President Joe Biden met with Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday. When asked by reporters what he thought of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin after meeting with refugees, Biden said, “He’s a butcher.”
Biden was greeted by Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki outside the PGE Narodowy Stadium and he met several volunteers and refugees.
After meeting with refugees, Biden briefly spoke with reporters and said he’s always in awe of the depth and strength of the human spirit of refugees.
“I’ve been to an awful lot of places like this, a lot of refugee camps, in my life, and what I’m always surprised by, is the depth and strength of the human spirit. I mean it sincerely. They’re — it’s incredible. It’s incredible. See all those little children? Just want to hug, they just want to say thanks. I mean — I mean, it just makes you so damn proud,” Biden said.
“Each one of those children said something to the effect, say a prayer for my dad, or my grandfather or my brother, who’s back there fighting. And I remember what it’s like when you have someone in a war zone. Every morning you get up and you wonder. You just wonder, you pray you don’t get that phone call,” Biden said.
Mar 26, 11:39 am
Zelenskyy calls for increased energy production to prevent Russian ‘blackmail’ of the world
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise video appearance at the Doha Forum in Qatar, addressing the energy-rich nation directly, calling on it and other energy-producing countries to increase energy production.
“The responsible states, in particular the State of Qatar, are reliable and reputable suppliers of energy resources. And they can contribute to stabilizing the situation in Europe. They can do much to restore justice,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy added, “The future of Europe depends on your efforts! I urge you to increase energy production! So that Russia understands that no state should use energy as a weapon to blackmail the world.”
Zelenskyy also warned that a food crisis will come after the migration crisis.
“Wheat, oil, corn and other agricultural products from our country are the basis of stability and internal security of many countries in different parts of the world… Russian troops mine fields in Ukraine, blow up agricultural machinery, destroy fuel reserves needed for sowing. They blocked our seaports,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy added: “Our state will have enough food. But the lack of exports from Ukraine will hit many nations in the Islamic world, Latin America and other parts of the world. Where some invaders still dream of going to strengthen their old privileges.”
Zelenskyy also drew direct comparisons between the destruction of Mariupol and the Russian bombing of Aleppo.
He criticized Russia for threatening the world with nuclear weapons, and called on countries to boost their production to counteract the global dependence on Russian oil.
Mar 26, 10:47 am
Biden, Duda give joint remarks ahead of meeting
President Joe Biden and Polish President Andrjez Duda delivered brief remarks ahead of their expanded bilateral meeting, with both sides stressing their strong relationship, and the importance of unity in the midst of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Biden is set to give a speech in Warsaw later Saturday.
Biden recalled a previous trip he made to Warsaw 25 years ago, after advocating for Poland to Join Nato, and said his message then is the same as today: “For your freedom and for ours.”
Biden also reiterated the U.S.’s commitment to NATO’s Article 5.
“The single most important criterion in this time-changing world — so much has changed, not just here, but in other parts of the world — is that NATO’s stay absolutely, completely, thoroughly united. [There needs] to be no separation, and our points of view, and whatever we do, we do in unison, and everyone, everyone comes along,” Biden said.
Biden added: “I’m confident that Vladimir Putin was counting on being able to divide NATO, and being able to separate the Eastern flank from the West. To be able to separate nations based on past histories. But he hasn’t been able to do it. We’ve all stayed together. And so I just think it’s so important that we, Poland and the United States, keep in lockstep the power pursuit.”
Biden also spoke about Poland’s work on the humanitarian side of the crisis, praising the country for taking in so many refugees, but acknowledging that it should not be just on Poland to handle the brunt of the load.
“We do acknowledge that Poland is taking on a significant responsibility that I don’t think should just be Poland, It should be the whole world — all of NATO’s responsibility. The fact that you have so many, so many Ukrainians seeking refuge and this country of Poland,” Biden said.
He added: “We understand that because we have on our southern border thousands of people a day –literally, not figuratively –trying to get into the United States. But we believe that we the United States, should do our part relative to Ukraine as well by opening our borders to another 100,000 people. And with that, and in addition to that, I think it’s important that we are in constant contact, about how we each wish to proceed, relative to what Russia is doing, and how to proceed.
Mar 26, 9:46 am
Biden, Poland’s president hold bilateral meeting
President Joe Biden arrived at the Polish presidential palace Saturday for a bilateral meeting with Polish President Andrjez Duda, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.
Biden and Duda shook hands and stood shoulder to shoulder as both countries’ national anthems played.
Biden was met by three branches of the Polish military, as the two leaders reviewed the troops. They then headed inside for the meeting.
Biden was joined by a delegation of seven U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who participated in the meeting, according to the White House.
The Polish delegation consisted of six officials, including the ministers of foreign affairs and national defense, according to the White House.
Mar 26, 9:40 am
Biden drops by meeting between US and Ukrainian officials
President Joe Biden dropped by a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and their Ukrainian counterparts Saturday morning.
The meeting between the secretaries lasted for an hour and 46 minutes, according to the State Department.
The two secretaries pledged continued U.S. economic, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and provided the Ukrainians updates after Thursday’s NATO, EU and G-7 summits.
“The Secretaries and Ministers discussed outcomes of the March 24 extraordinary NATO Summit in Brussels, and the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of the Russian Federation’s increasingly brutal assault on Ukrainian cities and civilian population,” said Ned Price, a spokesperson for the Department of State, in a statement.
In a statement from the White House, Biden reaffirmed the U.S.’s commitment to Ukraine, saying the officials discussed further efforts to help Ukraine defend its territory.
“The President updated the Ministers on U.S. efforts to rally the world in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, including through the President’s meetings this week in Belgium, and the significant military and humanitarian assistance the United States is providing to Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement.
The White House added: “They also discussed the United States’ ongoing actions to hold President Putin accountable for Russia’s brutal aggression, in coordination with our allies and partners, including through the new sanctions actions announced by the President in Brussels on March 24.
Mar 26, 9:24 am
Unexploded missile near nuclear site in Kharkiv cause for concern, IAEA says
There is an unexploded missile in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear research facility in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s regulatory authority told the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The IAEA said it is continuing to monitor the situation.
“The regulator confirmed reports of an unexploded rocket of the multiple launch rocket system 9K58 Smerch ‘detected in the immediate vicinity’ of a nuclear research facility that has previously been damaged by shelling,” the IAEA said in a statement.
It added: “the regulator said ‘constant shelling’ of the area meant that no measures had yet been taken to dispose of the rocket.”
The facility is used for research and development and radioisotope production for medical and industrial applications. The site’s nuclear material cannot sustain a fission chain reaction and the radioactive inventory is low, according to the IAEA.
Eight of Ukraine’s 15 operational reactors, at four sites, are continuing to operate, including two at the Zaporizhzhya power plant. The other reactors are shut down for regular maintenance, the IAEA said.
Mar 26, 8:38 am
136 children have been killed, 199 injured, Ukraine officials say
Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office said that 136 children have been killed in the war and 199 have been injured, as of Saturday morning local time.
The grim update comes on Day 31 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mar 26, 8:34 am
Russia using artillery to ‘demoralize’ Ukraine’s forces, British Ministry of Defense says
The Russian army is reluctant to engage in large-scale infantry operations, the British Ministry of Defense said Saturday.
“Russia continues to besiege a number of major Ukrainian cities including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol. Russian forces are proving reluctant to engage in large scale urban infantry operations, rather preferring to rely on the indiscriminate use of air and artillery bombardments in an attempt to demoralize defending forces,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement posted online.
It added: “It is likely Russia will continue to use its heavy firepower on urban areas as it looks to limit its own already considerable losses, at the cost of further civilian casualties.”
Mar 25, 6:24 pm
Jill Biden meets with Ukrainian pediatric cancer patients
During a visit to Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden privately met with two Ukrainian families who have loved ones being treated at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Four Ukrainian children, ages 20 months to 8 years, as well as 10 of their family members, were airlifted from Poland to St. Jude on Monday to continue treatment, according to Michael LaRosa, the First Lady’s press secretary.
Biden said in remarks during her visit that her “heart has ached watching the videos” of devastation in Ukraine.
“Parents weeping over their child’s broken bones … bodies in the streets. The senselessness of it all is just staggering,” she said.
She added, “When I learned that St. Jude was working with hospitals in Europe to bring some of the Ukrainian children with cancer and their families here, I felt so proud and I wanted to join you in welcoming them. We stand with Ukraine and we’re praying for their families.”
Mar 25, 4:44 pm
Fox News correspondent injured in Ukraine is back in U.S.
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall is back in the U.S. after suffering serious injuries while reporting in Ukraine, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement.
Hall was hurt in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, on March 14 when his vehicle was hit by incoming fire, Scott said at the time. Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian producer and fixer Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova were killed in the incident.
Scott said Hall has been transferred from the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany to the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas.
Hall has undergone multiple surgeries, Scott said.
“He remains in good spirits despite everything he has endured,” Scott wrote. “His strength and resiliency in the face of this crisis has been nothing short of extraordinary.”
Mar 25, 3:03 pm
U.S. official: Russians on defensive around Kyiv, now focusing on Donbas
Russian forces around Kyiv have fallen into defensive positions and have stopped offensive ground movements toward the capital city, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday.
“We’re still seeing airstrikes, but not nothing from the ground,” the official said.
The U.S. official said — as Russians also noted Friday — that Russian troops are currently focusing on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, where there’s been heavy fighting.
The Russians “are putting their priorities and their effort in the east of Ukraine, and that’s where still there remains a lot of heavy fighting,” the official said. “And we think they are trying to not only secure some sort of, more substantial gains there as a potential negotiating tactic at the table, but also to cut off Ukrainian forces in the eastern part of the country.”
Also, the official noted that Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine that’s north of Crimea, doesn’t seem to be “as solidly in Russian control as it was before.”
“That would be significant if the Ukrainians were able to take Kerson back,” the official said. “It’s a significant port city. It would also put it much greater risk the Russian positions around Mykolaiv [in southern Ukraine], and again if they have ground desires on Odessa [in southern Ukraine], losing Kherson and therefore putting their troops between Ukrainians, you’ll be sandwiched between Ukrainian forces in Kherson and those in Mykolaiv. … That would put them smack in the middle and that would make it very, very difficult for them to make any kind of ground movement on Odessa. If in fact, that was their plan.”
The U.S. is also seeing indications that the Russians are trying to send in some reinforcements from the breakaway regions of Georgia, the official said.
Mar 25, 2:09 pm
Russian military claims ‘main goal’ of invasion is ‘liberation’ of eastern Ukraine
In a Friday briefing, Russian military officials tried to reshape the narrative of the war, claiming the “main goal” of the invasion — what Russia calls a “military operation” — is to “liberate” Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and not to seize other parts of Ukraine.
General Sergey Rudskoy, the head of the main operational directorate of Russia’s General Staff, said the main objectives of the “first phase” of the operation have been achieved, meaning Ukraine’s “combat capabilities have been significantly reduced.” Rudskoy said that allows Russia to now focus “on achieving the main goal the liberation of Donbas.”
The Donbas region contains the two Russian-controlled separatist statelets, the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, the defense of which Russia used as a pretext for invading. Rudskoy claimed Russia has “liberated” 93% of the Luhansk region and 54% of Donetsk.
The Ukrainian city of Mariupol is also within the Donbas region. Russian forces have been relentlessly bombarding Mariupol since the invasion began, destroying homes and leaving thousands of residents trapped.
Rudskoy claimed Russia’s “military operation” had two courses of action: the first being limiting operations to Donbas, but he said that would have allowed Ukraine to constantly reinforce its troops, so he said Russia took a second course of action, attacking cities across the whole country. Rudskoy claimed the course of the war “confirmed the validity” of that decision.
“These actions are carried out with the aim of causing such damage to military infrastructure, equipment, personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the results of which allow not only to shackle their forces and do not give them the opportunity to strengthen their grouping in the Donbas, but also will not allow them to do so until the Russian army completely liberates the territories of the DPR and LPR,” he said.
Rudskoy claimed Russia has successfully blocked Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv, and that the cities of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are under full Russian control.
He claimed Russia “initially” never had any intention of storming those cities, although he said they “did not rule out such a possibility” now.
“Initially, we did not plan to storm them in order to prevent destruction and minimize losses among personnel and civilians. And although we do not rule out such a possibility, however, as individual groups complete their tasks, and they are being solved successfully, our forces and means will concentrate on the main thing — the complete liberation of Donbas,” he said.
Rudskoy also made the dubious claim that Russia has sought to minimize civilian casualties. The U.N. reports that over 1,000 civilians have died since the invasion began.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 25, 12:50 pm
Biden says he’s in Poland to see humanitarian crisis firsthand
President Joe Biden, flanked by Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and Samantha Powers of the U.S. Agency for International Development, spoke at a briefing on humanitarian efforts Friday, again calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.”
“The single-most important thing that we can do on the outset, is keep the democracies united in our opposition, and our effort to curtail the devastation that is occurring at the hands of a man, who quite frankly, I think is a war criminal. And I think we’ll meet the legal definition of that, as well,” Biden said.
Biden said he’s in Poland to see the “humanitarian crisis” “firsthand,” but said he’s disappointed he “can’t see it firsthand like I have in other places.”
“They will not let me … cross the border and take a look at what’s going on in Ukraine,” Biden said. “But, you know, I’m eager to hear from you, the humanitarian community, about what you see, what you’re doing, and where you think we go from here.”
Since the invasion began on Feb. 24, over 3.6 million people have fled Ukraine, with more than 2.2 million of those refugees going to Poland, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
“Whether it’s food, or a blanket, or cash, or the care for medical teams that we send in, or child welfare specialists, they need it now. They need it as rapidly as we can get it there,” Biden said.
Mar 25, 12:12 pm
Biden tells troops ‘what’s at stake’ is beyond Ukraine
President Joe Biden spoke to members of the 82nd Airborne Division in Jasionka, Poland, Friday, telling them, “What you’re doing is consequential — really consequential.”
“What’s at stake” is beyond Ukraine, Biden said.
“What are your kids and grandkids gonna look like in terms of their freedom?” Biden said. “The last 10 years there have been fewer democracies that have been formed than we’ve lost in the world.”
“What you’re engaged in is much more than just whether or not you can alleviate the pain and suffering of the people of Ukraine,” Biden said.
Biden commended the troops, saying “the rest of the world looks to us, because, you know, we not only lead by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. And your generation combines both. The rest of the world looks at you and sees who you are. They see you are a multiethnic group of Americans that are in fact together and united in one resolve, to defend your country, and to help those who need help.”
Mar 25, 11:12 am
Biden thanks troops in Poland
In Jasionka, Poland, on Friday, President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited American troops, thanking them for working alongside Polish allies.
Biden and Austin first greeted members of the 82nd Airborne Division in a makeshift barbershop.
Biden and Austin then stopped by a mess hall and ended up staying for a slice of pizza.
Biden also shared a story about searching for his son, Beau, in a mess hall in Baghdad, only to find him using his mother’s maiden name — Hunter — on his fatigues.
“I said, ‘Beau, what the hell’s going on?’ His name was Beau Biden, and he was a colonel, I mean, a major, excuse me,” Biden said.
“And I said, ‘What happened?’ And he said, ‘Dad, with the name Biden, everybody thinks something’s going on. So I’m Hunter.’ That was his mother’s maiden name,” Biden said.
Mar 25, 10:29 am
Ukrainian troops have retaken towns, UK intelligence says
Ukrainian troops have been able to retake towns and defensive positions up to 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) east of Kyiv due to counter-attacks and Russian forces falling back on overextended supply lines, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Friday in an intelligence update on the situation.
Ukrainian troops are likely to continue to attempt to push Russian forces back along the northwestern axis from the Ukrainian capital toward Antonov Airport in Hostomel, a suburb of Kyiv, according to the U.K. Ministry of Defense.
In southern Ukraine, Russian forces are still attempting to circumvent the densely populated city of Mykolaiv as they look to drive west toward Odesa, with their progress being slowed by logistic issues and Ukrainian resistance, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said.
Mar 25, 10:25 am
Biden arrives in Poland
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived at Poland’s Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport Friday afternoon, where he will get a firsthand look at the international efforts to help some of the millions of people fleeing Ukraine.
Biden was greeted on the tarmac by four U.S. commanding generals. While in Rzeszow on Friday, Biden will receive a briefing on the humanitarian situation and meet with humanitarian aid groups as well as service members of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
He will later travel to Warsaw, where he will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda as well as refugees from Ukraine on Saturday.
Mar 25, 10:07 am
US says Russian attacks have capacity to put NATO at risk
U.S. President Joe Biden’s support of NATO battle groups on the eastern flank stems from the belief that Russia’s attacks in Ukraine have the capacity to put the alliance’s territories at risk, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
“We do believe Russian aggression in Ukraine shows a willingness by the Russians to disregard international borders and to disregard the basic rules of the road of the international community that have been built in sustained over the course of seven decades,” Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.
“It is important in this moment to send a clear message to Russia that the United States and NATO will defend every inch of NATO territory and to deter any thinking that Putin might have about further Russian aggression into NATO,” he said.
Sullivan noted that Belarus’ willingness to station Russian troops on its soil, in particular, has a “significant impact particularly on our NATO allies in the Baltics and Poland.”
Sullivan said Biden has made clear that any diplomatic agreement reached is one that Ukraine will have to determine for itself, meaning Washington is not going to push or pressure Kyiv into any outcome.
Currently, Washington’s priority is to ensure Ukraine has the capabilities to defend itself as Russian forces continue pushing forward, Sullivan told reporters.
Mar 25, 10:02 am
Pope Francis to consecrate Russia, Ukraine
Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday, inviting people around the world to join him in the prayer.
“This Act of Consecration is meant to be a gesture of the universal Church, which in this dramatic moment lifts up to God, through His Mother and ours, the cry of pain of all those who suffer and implore an end to the violence, and to entrust the future of our human family to the Queen of Peace,” Francis said in a statement.
He also called for an end to the violence.
Consecration is an act of surrender in which the pope recognizes both Russians and Ukrainians as children of god, and entrusts them to Mary’s care, Father Alexandre Mello, the secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life, told Crux.
Mello also said consecration aims to build bridges as the prayer’s goal is to have a healing effect and remind Russians and Ukrainians of their shared roots and identities as children of the same God.
The ceremony is tied to the Marian apparitions in Fatima, Portugal in 1917, in which many Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared to three children, asking that the pope consecrate Russia to her immaculate heart.
The Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary will be prayed during the Lenten penitential service in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome which begins at 5 p.m. local time. The pope will start the prayer at around 6:30 p.m. local time and has asked all Catholic Bishops and priests to join him spiritually.
U.S. bishops, including Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., and Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, announced they will be holding consecration ceremonies on Friday.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said he will join in the prayer from his converted monastery in Vatican City, where he has lived since he resigned.
Mar 25, 9:27 am
Biden to meet with Polish president, refugees from Ukraine in Warsaw
U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda as well as refugees from Ukraine in Warsaw on Saturday, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Poland on Friday, Sullivan noted that Biden will also deliver a “major address” before departing Saturday.
“He will give a major address tomorrow that will speak to the stakes of this moment, the urgency of the challenge that lies ahead, what the conflict in Ukraine means for the world, and why it is so important that the free world sustain unity and resolve in the face of Russian aggression,” Sullivan said. “He’ll also talk about the context and history of this conflict and where he sees it going from here.”
Upon arrival in Rzeszow, Poland, on Friday, Biden will meet with humanitarian aid groups as well as service members of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, according to Sullivan.
“He will be able to talk through with a range of different humanitarian leaders and experts, both from the region and from the international community as well as the US government experts who are playing a key role in this, on how the efforts are going so far and what further steps need to be taken to make sure that we’re investing those dollars as wisely as possible,” Sullivan said. “He will also have the chance to visit with troops from the 82nd Airborne Division, who have been deployed to Poland to reassure our NATO ally and to deter further aggression on the eastern flank. And he will also get a briefing from the commanders of those units who will have the chance to lay out for him the various tasks and missions that the American troops stationed at the airfield here have been undertaking and continue to undertake.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 25, 8:03 am
Ukrainian rescuers work to remove unexploded devices from homes
Video has emerged showing Ukrainian rescuers working to remove unexploded devices from civilian homes amid the Russian invasion.
The video, released Friday by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and verified by ABC News, shows pyrotechnic units in the northern city of Chernihiv using special equipment to carefully search for and remove unexploded shells, missiles and mines that landed in houses.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said it was called in to seize ammunition 18 times over the past day. The agency warned people not to approach the objects because they could explode “at any time” and to immediately report such findings to rescuers or police.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
Mar 25, 7:34 am
Biden departs Brussels for Poland
U.S. President Joe Biden departed Belgium on Friday morning and was en route to Poland for the final leg of his four-day trip aimed at maintaining unity among allies and supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
Biden was seen boarding Air Force One in the European Union’s de facto capital, Brussels, at 6:42 a.m. ET. He is expected to land in Rzeszow, Poland, at around 9:15 a.m. ET, where he will receive a briefing on the humanitarian response to the millions of people fleeing Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion. He will also meet with service members from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 25, 6:36 am
300 dead in airstrike on Mariupol theater, officials say
About 300 people were killed last week in a Russian airstrike on a drama theater-turned-bomb shelter in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the city’s government said Friday, citing eyewitnesses.
“We didn’t want to believe in this horror,” the Mariupol City Council. said in a statement. “But the words of those who were inside the building at the moment of this terrorist act say the opposite.”
As many as 1,500 civilians had been taking refuge in the grand, columned Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama in central Mariupol when it was struck on March 16, according to the Ukrainian government. Satellite images showed huge white letters on the pavement in front of and behind the building spelling out “CHILDREN” in Russian — “DETI” — to alert warplanes to those inside.
Video circulating online and verified by ABC News shows the immediate aftermath of the strike on the theater. People covered in dust are seen trying to make their way out of the theater, walking down from the first floor staircase in an area of the building that was still standing at the time.
Since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian forces have been relentlessly bombarding Mariupol, destroying homes and leaving thousands of residents trapped. Ukraine has defied Russia’s ultimatum for its troops to lay down arms and surrender the strategic southeastern port city of 430,000.
-ABC News Patrick Reevell
Mar 25, 5:20 am
Russia claims to have seized 5 more localities in Ukraine
Russia claimed Friday that its forces had captured five more localities in Ukraine.
“The grouping of troops of the Russian Armed Forces advanced another 4 kilometers overnight and captured Batmanka, Mikhailovka, Krasny Partizan, Stavki and Troitskoe,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the claim.
Mar 25, 5:10 am
US, EU announce plan to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian gas
U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Friday a joint task force to “reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and strengthen European energy security,” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Named the “Task Force for energy security,” the group will be chaired by one representative from the White House and one representative from the European Commission. They will work to ensure energy security for Ukraine and the European Union ahead of the next two winters by focusing on two main goals — diversifying liquefied natural gas supplies and reducing demand for natural gas, according to a fact sheet from the White House.
As part of the agreement, the United States will work with international partners to put more liquefied natural gas on the EU market, pledging to make at least 15 billion cubic meters available in 2022, with increases expected going forward.
The White House stressed that the task force would also work with an eye towards clean energy, looking to reduce greenhouse gas intensity of all new liquefied natural gas infrastructure as well as demand for liquefied natural gas by “accelerating market deployment of clean energy measures.” Those measures include expediting planning of clean energy projects, like wind and solar power, and using smart thermostats and heat pumps in homes.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 24, 5:44 pm
Biden meets with European Council
U.S. President Joe Biden’s final meeting in Brussels on Thursday was with the European Council.
“They reviewed their ongoing efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and Belarus, as well as their readiness to adopt additional measures and to stop any attempts to circumvent sanctions,” the White House said in a statement.
The leaders said they willl continue “providing humanitarian assistance, including to neighboring countries hosting refugees, and underscored the need for Russia to guarantee humanitarian access to those affected by or fleeing the violence,” according to the White House.
They also “discussed EU-U.S. cooperation to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, accelerate the transition to clean energy, as well as the need to respond to evolving food security needs worldwide,” the White House said.
