(WASHINGTON) — “They know that I was working with the coalition forces,” Abdul, a former interpreter for the U.S. Marines said about the Taliban when ABC News spoke with him in June 2021. “If they take over Kabul, they will come, they will behead us, they will kill us. I know that I will be killed by the Taliban,” he told ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz.
Just two months later, the United States-backed Afghan government collapsed, and the Taliban swept through Kabul, taking over the country. Chaos ensued as thousands of Afghans rushed to the Kabul airport to flee, 13 U.S. service members, along with 170 Afghans were killed in a terrorist bombing, and a U.S. transport plane departed with Afghans clinging to its wheels.
“Those days were worst days in all [our] life — in all Afghanistan,” Abdul told ABC News this August. “There was no life, there was no future.”
“We lost almost — our everything, our dreams, our planning, what we wanted to do for our future,” Lima, his wife, added. ABC News is not using their full names to ensure their safety.
Having worked with the U.S., Abdul was immediately in danger. The Taliban came knocking on his door, he said, and he and his wife decided the only way they would see a future with their three young daughters — Susan, Hosai, and Uswa – was to escape.
“That was horrible when we were coming to [the] airport,” Hosai, 10, added as she said she remembered the gunfire and the harrowing journey to safety. “That was very horrible.”
The family made it to the Kabul airport. And with the help of Abdul’s American friends, in addition to ABC News, his family was able to make it out. First to Qatar, then to New Jersey, and finally to Northern Virginia, where his family is rebuilding their lives from scratch.
But Abdul and his family are the lucky ones — they’re the ones who got out, and have resettled successfully. Some 3.5 million Afghans are still displaced within Afghanistan, according to a United Nations Refugee Agency report from December. And while over 100,000 Afghans were airlifted out by the United States that August, many Afghans who have resettled in the United States are struggling.
Many Afghans have found their arrival riddled with red tape – from having difficulty receiving a Social Security number to finding affordable housing to remaining in constant limbo over their immigration status. Many Afghans came to the United States under so-called humanitarian parole, which lasts two years, and they now need to apply for asylum. But a Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University report found that asylum status is denied in 70% of cases.
Abdul and his family are the lucky ones. After attending a job fair, Abdul got hired by the Hilton Hotels chain to become a safety and security manager. He says he loves his job.
“I love the environment of my job especially,” Abdul said. “And I am sure I will get more opportunities because this is a land of opportunities.”
Abdul and his family have slowly been able to make their new home feel like the one they had to escape, decorating their living room floor with a bright red Afghan rug and having piping hot tea always ready to serve any guests.
Abdul’s three daughters have started the new school year — entering 8th grade, 5th grade, and 2nd grade.
“When we came here, it was like — [at] first, I didn’t feel like it was home, but after a month I [felt] like in my — I’m in my home,” Susan, 13, said. “So, it feels so good. I’m comfortable here. We are happy to be here in the United States.”
“Yeah,” Uswa, 6, added. “And I — and I feel safe here because there are no Taliban here.”
Abdul and Lima recognize that they are the lucky ones, especially since women in Afghanistan have lost many freedoms since the Taliban took over. They know escaping is the right decision.
“This is the place that they will have a great future,” Abdul said of his three girls. “And I’m happy. Everybody’s happy here right now. These five people are very happy and enjoying life in America.”
Vyacheslav Madiyevskyi/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 31, 10:45 AM EDT
IAEA mission arrives in Zaporizhzhia
A long-awaited expert mission from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog arrived in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s team will travel to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar on Thursday for the first time.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who is leading the mission, told reporters during a press briefing in Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday that the aim is for his team to establish a permanent presence at the Russian-occupied plant and that the initial phase would take “days.”
When asked if it was possible to demilitarize the site, Grossi said it was “a matter of political will” and that his mission is to preserve Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. He admitted it was “not a risk-free mission” and underlined that his team would be operating in Ukrainian sovereign territory but in cooperation with Russian forces.
Asked if he thought Russian troops would really give his team full access, Grossi told reporters the IAEA was on a “technical mission” and that he was confident his team could work “on both sides.”
Aug 30, 4:31 PM EDT
Blinken heralds arrival of first shipload of Ukrainian grain to drought-stricken Horn of Africa
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday celebrated the first shipment of Ukrainian grain to arrive in the Horn of Africa — a region facing dire hunger — since Russia’s invasion began.
“The United States welcomes the arrival in Djibouti of 23,300 metric tons of Ukrainian grain aboard the ship Brave Commander. This grain will be distributed within Ethiopia and Somalia, countries that are dangerously food insecure after four years of drought,” Blinken said in a statement.
This is the first shipload to reach the region since a United Nations-brokered deal that allowed ships to leave Ukraine’s ports again.
According to Ukrainian officials, dozens of ships have been able to safely navigate the Black Sea in recent weeks. But State Department officials have claimed Russian allies, like Syria, have unfairly benefitted from recent exports, proving detrimental to countries the World Food Programme has determined are facing a greater level of need.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Aug 30, 4:25 PM EDT
EU preemptively donates 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets to protect Ukrainians from potential radiation exposure
The European Commission said it received a request from the Ukrainian government on Friday for potassium iodide tablets as a preventative safety measure to increase the level of protection around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The European Response Coordination Centre quickly mobilized 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for Ukraine, including 5 million from the rescEU emergency reserves and 500,000 from Austria.
“No nuclear power plant should ever be used as a war theatre,” EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said. “It is unacceptable that civilian lives are put in danger. All military action around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant must stop immediately.”
-ABC News’ Max Uzol
Aug 30, 2:15 PM EDT
Sens. Klobuchar, Portman meet with Zelenskyy in Ukraine
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on a visit to the war-torn country.
“The support that the U.S. has given has been strongly bipartisan and we want that to continue,” Klobuchar told ABC News.
Portman noted the psychological advantage of Ukraine now making advances in Kherson, which was the first oblast taken by the Russians six months ago.
It shows that “even when the Russians are dug in, as they are in that region, that Ukrainians can make progress in an offensive,” he said. “And my hope is that we will continue to see that to the point that the Russians will finally come to the bargaining table and stop this illegal, totally unprovoked war on Ukraine.”
-ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud
Aug 30, 11:07 AM EDT
Russian forces shelling corridors leading to nuclear plant, Ukraine says
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russian forces are shelling corridors the International Atomic Energy Agency mission would take to reach the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine.
Podolyak said Russian forces are probably shelling the path to ensure the IAEA mission pass through Russian-controlled territory to reach the plant.
Aug 29, 4:38 PM EDT
Zelenskyy vows to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday vowed to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces.
“Ukraine is returning its own. And it will return the Kharkiv region, Luhansk region, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia region, Kherson region, Crimea. Definitely our entire water area of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, from Zmiinyi Island to the Kerch Strait,” he said in his daily address. “This will happen. This is ours. And just as our society understands it, I want the occupiers to understand it, too. There will be no place for them on Ukrainian land.”
Zelenskyy said his message to Russian fighters is that if they want to survive, it’s time for them to flee or surrender.
“The occupiers should know, we will oust them to the border — to our border, the line of which has not changed. The invaders know it well,” he said. “If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. Go home. If you are afraid to return to your home in Russia, well, let such occupiers surrender, and we will guarantee them compliance with all norms of the Geneva Conventions.”
Aug 29, 3:00 PM EDT
White House calls for controlled shutdown of Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactors, DMZ around plant
White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Russia should agree to a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and that a controlled shutdown of the reactors “would be the safest and least risky option in the near-term.”
Kirby also expressed support for the IAEA mission to the power plant.
“We fully support the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Grossi’s expert mission to the power plant, and we are glad that the team is on its way to ascertain the safety, security and safeguards of the systems there, as well as to evaluate the staff’s working conditions,” he said. “Russia should ensure safe, unfettered access for these independent inspectors.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Aug 29, 1:33 PM EDT
Ukrainian forces launch major counteroffensive
Ukrainian forces have launched a major counteroffensive in multiple directions in the southern part of Ukraine, Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Command, said Monday.
Humeniuk said the situation in the south remains “tense,” but controlled.
Ukrainians have been targeting strategic Russian command posts and slowly advancing toward Kherson for weeks. Kherson was first major city in the south to be captured by Russian forces following the invasion.
Russian military issued a statement confirming the offensive and claiming Ukraine sustained heavy losses.
Meanwhile, at least 12 missiles have struck Mykolaiv, which remains under Ukraine’s control in the south. Two people were killed and 24 were wounded, according to the governor of Mykolaiv Oblast.
-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Natalia Shumskaia
Aug 29, 12:47 PM EDT
Ukrainian official accused of treason is shot and killed
Oleksiy Kovalyov, a Ukrainian official who was accused of treason for openly collaborating with Russia, was shot and killed in his home on Sunday in Hola Prystan, Kherson Oblast, according to preliminary information from the Investigative Committee of Russia (SKR). An unidentified woman was also killed, SKR said.
Kovalyov was a Ukrainian lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party who was accused of treason; criminal proceedings were initiated by Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations in June. He is one of the highest-ranking Ukrainian defectors who fled to Kherson after the invasion and openly collaborated with Russia. He was appointed by the Russians as the deputy head of the Kherson Military-Civil Administration.
Aug 29, 12:19 PM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the IAEA team will travel to the plant via Ukrainian-controlled territory, state-run TASS reported.
The area around the nuclear plant is controlled by Russian forces. Peskov said once the IAEA team enters Russian-controlled territory, all necessary security will be provided.
Aug 29, 2:21 AM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
(LONDON) — Twenty-five years after her death, the legacy of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, endures across the world.
Diana died in a car crash on Aug. 31, 1997, at the age of 36, while fleeing the paparazzi in Paris. Her death prompted worldwide mourning and messages of condolences from leaders across the globe.
On Wednesday, Diana’s sons Prince William and Prince Harry will mark the 25th anniversary of their mother’s death privately with their families, sources close to both princes confirm to ABC News.
Harry spoke recently about the anniversary at a charity event in Aspen, Colorado.
“I want it to be a day filled with memories of her incredible work and love for the way she did it,” he said. “I want it to be a day to share the spirit of my mum with my family, with my children, who I wish could have met her. Every day, I hope to do her proud.”
Diana’s legacy, including her charity and advocacy work, lives on both in books and popular media as well as in the minds of those who remember her.
“She was an incredible lady who changed the world for the better,” ABC News royal contributor Robert Jobson said while reflecting on Diana’s legacy with Good Morning America.
The people’s princess
Unlike royals before her, many felt that Diana had a unique way of connecting with those around her. In the years before her tragic death, she touched countless lives and helped give a voice to the voiceless.
Whether it was visiting hospices and schools, meeting with those who were dying or comforting victims of active land mines, Diana prioritized those who were in need, making them feel seen and heard.
“I make the trips at least three times a week, and spend up to four hours at a time with patients holding their hands and talking to them,” Diana once said about her work with the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, according to the charity organization The Diana Award. “Some of them will live and some of them will die, but they all need to be loved while they are here. I try to be there for them.”
Diana’s commitment to caring for others manifested itself early on, when she was a young girl attending West Heath Girls’ School in Sevenoaks, Kent. According to the royal family’s official website, Diana was given her school’s award for the “girl giving maximum help to the school and her schoolfellows.”
While being involved with philanthropic causes has always been part of the royal family’s duties, Diana took things a step further, traveling the world to refugee camps and soup kitchens and making sure she was present wherever there was great need.
One particularly memorable moment came in 1987, when Diana famously challenged the stigma surrounding AIDS by shaking hands with a terminally ill AIDS patient during a visit to London’s Middlesex Hospital. The interaction was brief but proved to the public that HIV/Aids was not passed from person to person through touch, a common misconception at the time.
Diana’s humanitarian efforts and empathy prompted former Prime Minister Tony Blair to describe her as “The People’s Princess” while paying tribute to her following the news of her death.
“She was a wonderful and a warm human being, although her own life was often sadly touched by tragedy,” Blair said at the time. “She touched the lives of so many others in Britain and throughout the world with joy and with comfort. How many times shall we remember her in how many different ways — with the sick, the dying, with children, with the needy? With just a look or a gesture that spoke so much more than words, she would reveal to all of us the depth of her compassion and her humanity.”
Mom, Diana’s most important role
In addition to her humanitarian efforts, Diana saw her most important role as being a mother.
She made it a priority to give both William and Harry as much of a normal life as possible. Many believed she broke the mold of royal motherhood in the process.
From visiting Disney World, to going to the movies, to sending William and Harry to school outside palace walls instead of to a governess, Diana set her own course and rebelled against the parenting precedents which she felt did not suit her or her sons.
In one famous instance, Diana insisted on bringing 9-month-old William with her on an official visit to Australia, instead of leaving him with nannies while she toured the Commonwealth.
“She was very informal and really enjoyed the laughter and the fun,” William said in the 2017 documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy. “But she understood that there was a real life outside of palace walls.”
Some may recall a video of Diana in 1991, taking part in a foot race during a field day at Wetherby School, a boys school in London that both William and Harry attended. In it, Diana is seen giving her all in the race with other parents, her blazer and skirt blowing around in the wind.
William and Harry’s upbringing greatly influenced the way they raise their own children.
William and his wife Kate, the duchess of Cambridge, enrolled their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in school at an early age. It was announced recently that all three will attend a new school together, after the family moves to Windsor.
The royal couple also allow their kids to be kids, despite the rules set forth by the royal family, which have historically been quite strict.
In June, Charlotte and George were all smiles as they celebrated their great grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, which marked her 70th year on the throne. Louis also stole the show during the traditional Trooping the Color ceremony, making silly faces and covering his ears during the military flyover, much to the public’s delight.
Harry and his wife Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, have also modeled their parenting style after that of Diana, choosing to raise their two children Archie and Lilibet in California, after stepping away from their roles as senior working royals in 2020.
“The highlight for me is sticking him on the back of the bicycle in his little baby seat and taking him on these bike rides, something which I never was able to do when I was young,” Harry told Oprah in an interview last year about raising Archie in California.
The family have also gravitated toward more low-key get-togethers when possible. Photos from Lilibet’s first birthday party, which was held at at Frogmore Cottage, the Sussexes’ home in the U.K., during the Jubilee weekend in June, showed a pared down celebration, with a representative for the family describing it as a casual, backyard picnic attended by close friends and family. The children enjoyed face paint and and cake, according to U.K.-based photographer Misan Harriman, who attended the gathering.
Continuing Diana’s legacy
In addition to giving William and Harry a normal life, Diana also made sure to introduce them to those who were going through difficult times in hospitals and homeless shelters.
“I want my boys to have an understanding of people’s emotions, their insecurities, people’s distress and their hopes and dreams,” Diana once said.
Diana’s legacy lives on in her sons who have followed closely in her footsteps, shining a spotlight on the issues that mattered most to her, including homelessness, HIV/AIDS and helping children and young people. They are also patrons of Diana’s many former charities.
Both William and Harry have made issues of mental health a special priority. In 2017, William campaigned for mental health awareness and told British GQ how it had taken him 20 years to process his mother’s death.
“I am in a better place about it than I have been for a long time, where I can talk about her more openly, talk about her more honestly and I can remember her better and publicly talk about her better,” he said at the time.
Harry, who last year became the chief impact officer for BetterUp, a Silicon Valley startup focused on coaching and mental health, has sought to downplay the stigma surrounding the issue, opening up about his own mental health struggles and how therapy has helped him.
Together, William and Harry are continuing their mother’s work by awarding young people around the world with the Diana Award, an annual honor bestowed on those working to change society for the better.
“My mother instilled in me and in all of us a drive to speak up and fight for a better world,” Harry said in a video last month honoring the 180 2022 Diana Award recipients. “Now as a husband and a parent, my mother’s voice is even stronger in my life. All of you have kept her voice alive by showing the world how each small action counts, how kindness is still valued, and how our world can be better if we choose to make it so.”
(NEW YORK) — When he was away in the U.K. studying international development and economics, Khalis Noori always envisioned returning home to Afghanistan and using his education to better his country.
But as he was setting up his new office in Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance, Taliban fighters were encircling Kabul. Before he could put his degrees to work, he was forced to burn them along with his laptop and photographs from his wedding — a desperate bid to destroy any material he feared could be used to brand him as a traitor.
“We were told not to leave the house,” Noori said of the frantic hours following the Taliban’s takeover and the American military’s hasty withdrawal. “We were so worried that I didn’t sleep for two nights.”
Still, Noori says he was one of the lucky ones. A friend from his time working as a cultural adviser for the U.S. armed forces was soon able to secure safe passage out of Afghanistan for him and his wife.
After a chaotic evacuation through Kabul’s airport, they journeyed on to Qatar, then Germany, and then a military base in central Virginia before landing in the Washington area where for most of the past year, they’ve been attempting to build a new home in place that bears little resemblance to the one they had to leave.
Many are still waiting for that evacuation.
Despite the Biden administration promising to prioritize their protection, thousands of Afghans vulnerable to retribution from the Taliban for working alongside American troops are caught in a bureaucratic pipeline.
As of last month, State Department officials say nearly 75,000 applicants were still waiting to learn if they would qualify for a special immigrant visa (SIV), meant to be a direct pathway to green card for Afghans who were employed by the U.S. government. More than 10,000 had cleared the onerous vetting process, but had yet to be relocated.
The State Department does not track SIV applicants’ whereabouts and while many have fled to other countries, multiple nongovernmental organizations estimate the majority are still stranded in Afghanistan.
Afghan refugees in the U.S. also face a complicated path forward.
Since the end of last August, 94,000 people who fled Afghanistan have made their way to American soil, according to the Department of Homeland Security. For the vast majority, it’s only a temporary haven. Admitted on a two-year humanitarian parole and provided with relocation services for a period of between 30 and 90 days, these newcomers are tasked with the expensive and daunting task of applying for permanent status while rebuilding their lives under a cloud of uncertainty.
Noori wasted no time in adjusting. Instead of pursuing international development, he now helps other new arrivals from Afghanistan get on their feet as the director of field operations for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS), which he describes as “challenging, but rewarding.”
While his enthusiasm for his new country and new work is apparent, Noori says he and many of the people he is trying to help are still mourning what they lost.
“I prepared myself — equipped myself — to go back to Afghanistan and be a part of that dream world leaders and the international community promised Afghans — democracy, rule of law, human rights, women’s rights. We were encouraged to stand for those values, and that’s what we did,” he said. “Losing your country, losing your loved ones, losing your career — everything you have worked for all your life. Myself, I see how that has changed me.”
Mohammad Nabi says he saw that dream turn to dust over the duration of a layover in Doha, Qatar. After working for the U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan for 15 years, he had begun to fear that the Taliban’s renewed strength posed a threat to him and his family. He made arrangements to leave Afghanistan with his wife and children, and together they boarded what would be the last commercial flight out of the country as he knew it. (ABC News is not using his real name at his request because he fears family members in Afghanistan could face retribution.)
“I saw on the news what happened in Kabul and it really shocked me because I had my family there — my parents are still there, my brothers and my sisters,” Nabi said.
He called home to say he planned to turn around to be with them, but they convinced him to travel on.
“That flight from Doha to D.C., I think those 13 or 14 hours were the most challenging hours of my life,” he said. “It was a very tough reality to deal with it. Everything that we worked hard for the last 20 years — everything a generation worked really, really hard to establish for themselves–it just vanished overnight.”
As a case manager for LIRS, Nabi says his most difficult work is trying reunite other fractured families, now a world apart.
“There are kids that are separated from their parents. There are wives that left their husbands and children back there. There are parents that left their kids,” he said. “The evacuation separated families so badly.”
“I had so many friends that they stayed back and didn’t get a chance to come that worked with the American government in Afghanistan. Some of them already had their visas, but they never got a chance to travel because everything happened overnight,” Nabi added. “They deserve to be here.”
Rasheed (who also asked that his real name not be used for fear of retribution), who worked as a U.S. Army contractor beginning in 2005, did make it out. But his wife and three children did not.
After receiving threats from the Taliban, Rasheed said he fled, thinking his family would be close behind — and they were. On Aug. 14, 2021, they completed their SIV interviews at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, the final step in the lengthy process. The next day, the embassy shuttered.
Rasheed says he feels powerless. So far, even direct appeals to the State Department have been fruitless.
“They’re telling we are in the process, they’ll get the evacuation. But nothing is happening,” he said.
ABC News reached out to the State Department for comment. A spokesperson declined to comment on Rasheed’s family’s case due to privacy concerns, but said the department’s goal is to “issue visas to every eligible SIV applicant as quickly as possible, while maintaining national security as our highest priority.”
“We cannot estimate how long it will take to process all remaining SIV cases, partly because certain steps of the application process are applicant-controlled, as is certain action even within steps that are government-controlled,” they added.
For Afghans in the U.S. on humanitarian parole, congressional attempts to streamline their path to permanent residency have sputtered. Last Spring, Senate Republicans rejected legislation, citing security concerns. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a similar bill in both chambers of Congress, but it also faces an uphill climb.
Despite the legal limbo, life for Afghan refugees moves on, conforming to the unfamiliar rhythms of American society. As the new school year begins, Zakia Safi, another LIRS case manager, is primarily focused on helping Afghan children adapt to the classroom.
She says they learn quickly, taking to English and their new studies quickly, and that the high schoolers especially enjoy the camaraderie that comes from sharing a classroom.
“But it’s never going to be the same if your mom or sister isn’t here,” she adds.
Safi tries to fill the gaps, even accompanying pregnant mothers to the hospital so they don’t have to go through delivery alone.
“I’ve cut a couple of umbilical cords,” she laughs.
Beyond those newborns, Safi says she has seen other fresh starts that fill her with pride in the past year: refugees starting businesses, earning promotions and enrolling in college.
But many, wistful for the land they were forced to leave behind, say Afghanistan will always be home.
“If I ever get a chance to have my previous life back, I would love to take it,” said Nabi.
(MOSCOW) — Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has died “after a serious and long illness,” the Central Clinical Hospital reported on Tuesday.
He was 91 years old. A more specific cause of death was not immediately clear.
Gorbachev will be buried at Moscow’s Novo-Dyevitchiye cemetery, next to his wife, Raisa, Russia’s state-run news agency Tass reported.
Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union before it dissolved. He ruled as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991 and was the country’s only president, a title he took in the waning months of his time in office.
Young and energetic, his rise in the ’80s signaled a new spring for what was then one of the world’s two superpowers. A political insider with a view to the outside, Gorbachev set into motion radical reforms — that led to a series of unintended events.
He tore through the Iron Curtain between the USSR and the West by opening relations with the U.S., agreeing to a series of crucial summits soon after taking power.
“We have become closer, and we have come to know each other better,” Gorbachev said in 1989, his — and U.S. President Ronald Reagan — New Years’ address decorated with hopes of international cooperation and understanding. “Americans seem to be rediscovering the Soviet Union, and we are rediscovering America.”
Gorbachev signed treaties to reduce the size of his country’s nuclear arsenal and, in a well-received reversal in military policy, he withdrew troops from a nine-year war in Afghanistan.
In a meeting with Regan in 1988, Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty eliminating both countries’ stock of intermediate and short-range land-based missiles that could carry nuclear warheads. It was the first treaty that abolished an entire class of weapons systems and established unprecedented protocols for observers from both nations to verify the destruction of its missiles.
Underscoring the invention of nuclear weapons as a “material symbol and expression of absolute military power,” Gorbachev also underscored that mankind’s survival and self-preservation came to the floor.
Domestically, Gorbachev had two trademarks: more transparency and freedom — a policy known as glasnost — and bold economic reform, or perestroika.
It was not, ultimately, a winning combination.
Glasnost brought a feeling of liberation and empowerment to the Soviet people and when his economic policies didn’t work, they weren’t afraid to express their disillusionment.
Gorbachev’s vision was to legitimize communism by putting a democratic face on it. What he didn’t seem to realize was that his people would start demanding the real thing.
Discontent spread like wildfire to the countries of the East bloc. And Gorbachev allowed the peaceful revolutions to happen. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down.
Gorbachev was revered in the West for ending the Cold War. He was ridiculed and ultimately reviled by many at home for the collapse of the country and the bleak years that followed, in the ’90s.
As the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time at the Kremlin in Moscow, Gorbachev had no choice but to resign.
“We live in a new world,” he said in his farewell address. “The Cold War has ended, the arms race has stopped, as has the insane militarization which mutilated our economy, public psyche and morals. The threat of a world war has been removed. Once again, I want to stress that on my part everything was done during the transition period to preserve reliable control of the nuclear weapons.”
“[Russia] has been freed politically and spiritually, and this is the most important decision that we yet to fully come to grips with,” Gorbachev said as he resigned, “and we haven’t because we haven’t learned to use freedom yet.”
Others benefitted far more from his changes than he did.
His political rival, Boris Yeltsin, rose out of the post-Soviet chaos. When Gorbachev ran against Yeltsin, he received less than 1% of the vote, a humiliating end to his political career.
But the Nobel Peace Prize winner — so honored, the Nobel organization said, “for the leading role he played in the radical changes in East-West relations” — remained a man of influence.
After his closest ally, wife Raisa, died in 1999, Gorbachev devoted himself to campaigning for environmental causes. And he continually called for a nuclear disarmament, warning in 2019 that renewed tension between Russia and the West was putting the world at “colossal” risk.
“As long as weapons of mass destruction exist, primarily nuclear weapons, the danger is colossal, irrespective of any political decisions that may be made,” he told the BBC.
Five years after his resignation, Gorbachev published the book “Memoirs” — which recounted his childhood, political rise and his fall as the Soviet Union’s last leader.
“I am the principle witness and the principal person who bears responsibility for what happened,” Gorbachev said of his decision to write, “and I believed it was important for me to explain my position about why I started reforms, why I came around to the view that reforms were necessary … and how difficult the process was.”
For his 85th birthday, in 2016, Gorbachev released a 700-page collection of memoirs, interviews and other documents about his life.
“The more I think about my life, the more I see that the biggest and most important events took place unexpectedly. Absolutely,” he said at the time.
Tributes poured in Tuesday from world leaders after news of Gorbachev’s death.
“I’m saddened to hear of the death of Gorbachev,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted. “I always admired the courage & integrity he showed in bringing the Cold War to a peaceful conclusion. In a time of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all.”
Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Gorbachev a “man who tried to deliver a better life for his people.”
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
Vyacheslav Madiyevskyi/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 30, 4:31 PM EDT
Blinken heralds arrival of first shipload of Ukrainian grain to drought-stricken Horn of Africa
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday celebrated the first shipment of Ukrainian grain to arrive in the Horn of Africa — a region facing dire hunger — since Russia’s invasion began.
“The United States welcomes the arrival in Djibouti of 23,300 metric tons of Ukrainian grain aboard the ship Brave Commander. This grain will be distributed within Ethiopia and Somalia, countries that are dangerously food insecure after four years of drought,” Blinken said in a statement.
This is the first shipload to reach the region since a United Nations-brokered deal that allowed ships to leave Ukraine’s ports again.
According to Ukrainian officials, dozens of ships have been able to safely navigate the Black Sea in recent weeks. But State Department officials have claimed Russian allies, like Syria, have unfairly benefitted from recent exports, proving detrimental to countries the World Food Programme has determined are facing a greater level of need.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Aug 30, 4:25 PM EDT
EU preemptively donates 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets to protect Ukrainians from potential radiation exposure
The European Commission said it received a request from the Ukrainian government on Friday for potassium iodide tablets as a preventative safety measure to increase the level of protection around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The European Response Coordination Centre quickly mobilized 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for Ukraine, including 5 million from the rescEU emergency reserves and 500,000 from Austria.
“No nuclear power plant should ever be used as a war theatre,” EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said. “It is unacceptable that civilian lives are put in danger. All military action around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant must stop immediately.”
-ABC News’ Max Uzol
Aug 30, 2:15 PM EDT
Sens. Klobuchar, Portman meet with Zelenskyy in Ukraine
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on a visit to the war-torn country.
“The support that the U.S. has given has been strongly bipartisan and we want that to continue,” Klobuchar told ABC News.
Portman noted the psychological advantage of Ukraine now making advances in Kherson, which was the first oblast taken by the Russians six months ago.
It shows that “even when the Russians are dug in, as they are in that region, that Ukrainians can make progress in an offensive,” he said. “And my hope is that we will continue to see that to the point that the Russians will finally come to the bargaining table and stop this illegal, totally unprovoked war on Ukraine.”
-ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud
Aug 30, 11:07 AM EDT
Russian forces shelling corridors leading to nuclear plant, Ukraine says
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russian forces are shelling corridors the International Atomic Energy Agency mission would take to reach the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine.
Podolyak said Russian forces are probably shelling the path to ensure the IAEA mission pass through Russian-controlled territory to reach the plant.
Aug 29, 4:38 PM EDT
Zelenskyy vows to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday vowed to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces.
“Ukraine is returning its own. And it will return the Kharkiv region, Luhansk region, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia region, Kherson region, Crimea. Definitely our entire water area of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, from Zmiinyi Island to the Kerch Strait,” he said in his daily address. “This will happen. This is ours. And just as our society understands it, I want the occupiers to understand it, too. There will be no place for them on Ukrainian land.”
Zelenskyy said his message to Russian fighters is that if they want to survive, it’s time for them to flee or surrender.
“The occupiers should know, we will oust them to the border — to our border, the line of which has not changed. The invaders know it well,” he said. “If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. Go home. If you are afraid to return to your home in Russia, well, let such occupiers surrender, and we will guarantee them compliance with all norms of the Geneva Conventions.”
Aug 29, 3:00 PM EDT
White House calls for controlled shutdown of Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactors, DMZ around plant
White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Russia should agree to a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and that a controlled shutdown of the reactors “would be the safest and least risky option in the near-term.”
Kirby also expressed support for the IAEA mission to the power plant.
“We fully support the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Grossi’s expert mission to the power plant, and we are glad that the team is on its way to ascertain the safety, security and safeguards of the systems there, as well as to evaluate the staff’s working conditions,” he said. “Russia should ensure safe, unfettered access for these independent inspectors.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Aug 29, 1:33 PM EDT
Ukrainian forces launch major counteroffensive
Ukrainian forces have launched a major counteroffensive in multiple directions in the southern part of Ukraine, Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Command, said Monday.
Humeniuk said the situation in the south remains “tense,” but controlled.
Ukrainians have been targeting strategic Russian command posts and slowly advancing toward Kherson for weeks. Kherson was first major city in the south to be captured by Russian forces following the invasion.
Russian military issued a statement confirming the offensive and claiming Ukraine sustained heavy losses.
Meanwhile, at least 12 missiles have struck Mykolaiv, which remains under Ukraine’s control in the south. Two people were killed and 24 were wounded, according to the governor of Mykolaiv Oblast.
-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Natalia Shumskaia
Aug 29, 12:47 PM EDT
Ukrainian official accused of treason is shot and killed
Oleksiy Kovalyov, a Ukrainian official who was accused of treason for openly collaborating with Russia, was shot and killed in his home on Sunday in Hola Prystan, Kherson Oblast, according to preliminary information from the Investigative Committee of Russia (SKR). An unidentified woman was also killed, SKR said.
Kovalyov was a Ukrainian lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party who was accused of treason; criminal proceedings were initiated by Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations in June. He is one of the highest-ranking Ukrainian defectors who fled to Kherson after the invasion and openly collaborated with Russia. He was appointed by the Russians as the deputy head of the Kherson Military-Civil Administration.
Aug 29, 12:19 PM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the IAEA team will travel to the plant via Ukrainian-controlled territory, state-run TASS reported.
The area around the nuclear plant is controlled by Russian forces. Peskov said once the IAEA team enters Russian-controlled territory, all necessary security will be provided.
Aug 29, 2:21 AM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
(NEW YORK) — Seventy-five people have died and 59 have been injured in Pakistan over the last 24 hours due to severe weather, further devastating a country that’s experiencing historic rain and flooding, according to the country’s National Disaster Management Authority.
About one-third of Pakistan is under water, the country’s federal minister for climate change, Sherry Rehman, wrote on Twitter Monday, saying in an interview that Pakistan is experiencing a “climate catastrophe.”
Rehman said that Padidan, in Pakistan’s Sindh Province, received an “unheard of” nearly 70 inches of rain in one day.
In the last day, 59 people were injured and more than 58,000 homes destroyed due to monsoon rains and flooding, the National Disaster Management Authority said. Since June 14, 1,136 people have died, 1,634 people have been injured and more than one million homes have been destroyed because of flash floods, the agency said.
The monsoon rains occurred a month early this year, causing rivers and dams to overflow and impacting all four of Pakistan’s provinces.
In a statement, the climate minister called the flooding a “climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions.”
“Frankly, no one has seen this kind of downpour & flooding before, and no one country can cope alone with the multiple, cascading effects of extreme weather, climate events,” Rehman wrote.
The rains have impacted 33 million people in Pakistan and have forced thousands of people to evacuate.
Pakistan’s government deployed soldiers to help with search-and-rescue operations, with army helicopters airlifting people to safety.
(NEW YORK) — Astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann is set to become the first Native American woman in space when NASA launches its new crew to the International Space Station this fall.
Mann will serve as commander on the SpaceX Crew-5 mission and will be joined by three others, astronaut and pilot Josh Cassada, astronaut Koichi Wakata from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
“I feel, I think in one word, just absolutely excited,” Mann, an enrolled member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, told ABC News. “The training that we’ve been through the launch with this crew, it’s going to be an incredible mission.”
Born in California, Mann graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, where she was the varsity women’s soccer captain. She earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford and later became a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps. She has been deployed twice aboard aircraft carriers, flying missions in support of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was awarded six medals for her service.
“Teamwork is so important to human spaceflight,” she told ABC News. “And I think my background in the Marine Corps and also playing soccer on a team really helped develop that.”
The expedition will be Mann’s first space flight since she became an astronaut in 2013. She is one of eight members of NASA’s 21st astronaut class, nicknamed the “Eight Balls,” formed for space station operations and potential future assignments to the Moon and Mars.
During the upcoming mission, which is set for launch on Monday, Oct. 3, the team will conduct scientific experiments to benefit life on Earth and prepare for human exploration of outer space. Their preparation included instruction in space station systems, Russian language and robotics, as well as science and physiological and survival training.
“We’ll get a chance to do a couple of spacewalks, flying the robotic arm, and so there’s a lot that goes into that preparation to be ready for your mission,” Mann said.
Cassada, who along with Mann are the last two in their class to fly to space, described her as “incredibly capable” and one of his “closest friends.”
“Her ability to shift gears is really interesting — this ability to say, ‘OK, Josh, you’re joking. We’re done joking. We’re focusing and we are 100% operational this moment,'” he told ABC News. “And it’s really neat that it takes us all in the exact same direction just very organically.”
In his allocated 3.3 pounds of personal items, Cassada said he plans to pack 1980s movies for the team to watch every Friday, teasing Mann for never understanding his movie references and jokes, despite growing up in the ’80s.
Mann, on the other hand, said she will bring her wedding ring and a gift from her mother when she was young: a dream catcher, which in some Native American cultures symbolizes unity and provides protection.
In 2002, when John Herrington, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, became the first Native American man to fly into space, he carried the Nation’s flag and a traditional flute on his 13-day voyage.
At the end of the day, Mann said, it “really doesn’t matter if you’re a woman or a man or what country you’re from, or your gender or your race.”
“We are coming together as a human race,” she said, “And our mission on board the International Space Station of developing this technology and research to benefit all of humankind is really what brings us together.”
Vyacheslav Madiyevskyi/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 29, 4:38 PM EDT
Zelenskyy vows to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday vowed to reclaim all territory lost to Russian forces.
“Ukraine is returning its own. And it will return the Kharkiv region, Luhansk region, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia region, Kherson region, Crimea. Definitely our entire water area of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, from Zmiinyi Island to the Kerch Strait,” he said in his daily address. “This will happen. This is ours. And just as our society understands it, I want the occupiers to understand it, too. There will be no place for them on Ukrainian land.”
Zelenskyy said his message to Russian fighters is that if they want to survive, it’s time for them to flee or surrender.
“The occupiers should know, we will oust them to the border — to our border, the line of which has not changed. The invaders know it well,” he said. “If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. Go home. If you are afraid to return to your home in Russia, well, let such occupiers surrender, and we will guarantee them compliance with all norms of the Geneva Conventions.”
Aug 29, 3:00 PM EDT
White House calls for controlled shutdown of Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactors, DMZ around plant
White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Russia should agree to a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and that a controlled shutdown of the reactors “would be the safest and least risky option in the near-term.”
Kirby also expressed support for the IAEA mission to the power plant.
“We fully support the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Grossi’s expert mission to the power plant, and we are glad that the team is on its way to ascertain the safety, security and safeguards of the systems there, as well as to evaluate the staff’s working conditions,” he said. “Russia should ensure safe, unfettered access for these independent inspectors.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Aug 29, 1:33 PM EDT
Ukrainian forces launch major counteroffensive
Ukrainian forces have launched a major counteroffensive in multiple directions in the southern part of Ukraine, Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Command, said Monday.
Humeniuk said the situation in the south remains “tense,” but controlled.
Ukrainians have been targeting strategic Russian command posts and slowly advancing toward Kherson for weeks. Kherson was first major city in the south to be captured by Russian forces following the invasion.
Russian military issued a statement confirming the offensive and claiming Ukraine sustained heavy losses.
Meanwhile, at least 12 missiles have struck Mykolaiv, which remains under Ukraine’s control in the south. Two people were killed and 24 were wounded, according to the governor of Mykolaiv Oblast.
-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Natalia Shumskaia
Aug 29, 12:47 PM EDT
Ukrainian official accused of treason is shot and killed
Oleksiy Kovalyov, a Ukrainian official who was accused of treason for openly collaborating with Russia, was shot and killed in his home on Sunday in Hola Prystan, Kherson Oblast, according to preliminary information from the Investigative Committee of Russia (SKR). An unidentified woman was also killed, SKR said.
Kovalyov was a Ukrainian lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party who was accused of treason; criminal proceedings were initiated by Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations in June. He is one of the highest-ranking Ukrainian defectors who fled to Kherson after the invasion and openly collaborated with Russia. He was appointed by the Russians as the deputy head of the Kherson Military-Civil Administration.
Aug 29, 12:19 PM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the IAEA team will travel to the plant via Ukrainian-controlled territory, state-run TASS reported.
The area around the nuclear plant is controlled by Russian forces. Peskov said once the IAEA team enters Russian-controlled territory, all necessary security will be provided.
Aug 29, 2:21 AM EDT
IAEA says mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘on its way’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Monday that the agency’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine “is now on its way.”
“The day has come,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Grossi, who is leading the IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia,” has long sought access to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling at or near the site in recent weeks, fueling fears that the fighting could cause a nuclear disaster.
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted, alongside a photo of himself with 13 other experts. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.”
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation.
