(LONDON) — As investigators try to piece together clues on what caused a Chinese passenger plane to plunge from the sky Monday, officials told ABC News they are looking at every possible avenue, including an intentional downing.
None of the 123 passengers and nine crew members aboard Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 survived when it crashed into the mountains in the Guangxi region of southern China.
Early data shows the Boeing 737-800 plunged from 29,000 feet to 8,000 feet, leveled off and then went into a freefall, exploding into a fireball that was seen and filmed by people nearby.
On the ground, crews have found few clues as to what caused the disaster. The plane’s black boxes haven’t been recovered.
American intelligence agencies don’t have a clear theory on what led to the plane crash, an official told ABC News. U.S. authorities studying satellite and radar data aren’t ruling anything out, including a possible intentional downing, the official told ABC News.
Chinese officials said Tuesday that the plane’s crew didn’t answer calls from air traffic control when they noticed the rapid descent during its flight from Kunming to Guangzhou.
Eastern Airlines grounded its fleet of Boeing 787-800 planes as a precaution.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has called in the assistance of several international groups, including ones from the U.S., to find out what happened.
Members of the U.S. National Safety Transportation Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and engine-maker CFM International are all joining the probe.
“The NTSB is in contact with the CAAC investigator-in-charge and we will support their investigation with our technical advisors from the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and CFM in all ways necessary,” the NTSB said in a statement.
ABC News’ Amanda Maile contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — The jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has been sentenced to an additional nine years, in a fresh trial roundly criticized by human rights organizations as politically motivated.
Navalny is already imprisoned on a two-and-a-half-year sentence, incarcerated since he was immediately arrested on his return to Russia following treatment in Germany in January of last year, after being poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in August 2020.
Prosecutors sought a new 10-year sentence on fresh charges of embezzlement and contempt of court that were announced in February, granted by the court, which means Navalny will remain incarcerated until President Vladimir Putin is entering his 80s.
The charges, which are widely viewed as politically motivated, accuse Navalny of embezzling donations from his Anti-Corruption Foundation, the organization that produces his high-profile investigations into the alleged ill-gotten gains of Putin and his elite.
Navalny was made to stand for hours as the judge detailed the new convictions, with the opposition activist cutting a noticeably thinner figure after his time in jail alongside his lawyers. Last year, Navalny’s team said he was “fighting for his life” after he fell ill in prison after a protracted hunger strike.
9 years. Well, as the characters of my favorite TV series “The Wire” used to say: “You only do two days. That’s the day you go in and the day you come out”
I even had a T-shirt with this slogan, but the prison authorities confiscated it, considering the print extremist.
The dissident’s political organizations were formally designated as “extremist,” placing them alongside groups such as ISIS in Russia, meaning that anyone publicly supporting Navalny could face prison sentences and be barred from running in elections.
Navalny is often labelled as one of Putin’s most difficult domestic critics. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, his official social media accounts have posted regular messages criticizing the war and calling on Russians to stage weekly protests against the invasion.
As Navalny’s legal team was handed down the new sentence, his organization posted a new investigation that alleged a huge super-yacht under construction in Italy belongs to Putin and should be seized as Western countries clamp down on assets linked to the Russian state.
The new sentencing of Russia’s most prominent pro-democracy activist comes as the Kremlin is drastically clamping down on civil society organizations and the free press in the country following its invasion of Ukraine. On Monday, Facebook and Instagram were also formally designated as “extremist” groups as the Kremlin sought to control the narrative around the war.
Putin has issued repeated warnings against pro-Western “traitors” and “scum” seeking to bring about “the destruction of Russia.”
“Putin is intensifying his actions to destroy Russia and is essentially announcing the start of mass repressions against those who don’t agree with the regime,” he posted on Twitter. “This has happened in our history before, and not only ours.”
(NEW YORK) — Prince William and Duchess Kate are facing protests as they continue their week-long tour of the Caribbean to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.
William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, were forced to cancel one of their first stops in Belize over the weekend when protests broke out ahead of their arrival.
The protests, led by indigenous people, some holding signs against colonialism, prompted the couple to visit another local cocoa farm instead of the one they originally planned to tour in the foothills of the Maya Mountains.
As William and Kate arrive in Jamaica on Tuesday, another protest is planned in that country.
A group known as The Advocates Network, which describes itself as a “non-partisan alliance of individuals and organizations advocating for human rights and good governance,” has published an open letter protesting the royals’ visit, saying that British rule has “perpetuated the greatest human rights tragedy in the history of humankind.”
“During her 70 years on the throne, your grandmother has done nothing to redress and atone for the suffering of our ancestors that took place during her reign and/or during the entire period of British trafficking of Africans, enslavement, indentureship and colonialization,” reads the letter, which was signed by 100 individuals.
The group has also taken to Twitter, publishing in a thread 60 reasons why they say an apology is due to the country, a nod to Jamaica celebrating the 60th anniversary of its independence later this year.
William and Kate have so far not commented on the controversy.
As monarch, Queen Elizabeth is the head of the British Commonwealth, representing 54 nations, including Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas, which William and Kate will visit next.
Another Caribbean country, Barbados, became a republic last year, no longer pledging allegiance to the queen.
Queen Elizabeth’s oldest son, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, delivered a speech in Barbados at its independence ceremony, referencing Britain’s colonial past during which people were trafficked from Africa to the Caribbean.
“From the darkest days of our past, and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history, the people of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude,” said Charles. “Emancipation, self-government and independence were your way-points. Freedom, justice and self-determination have been your guides. Your long journey has brought you to this moment, not as your destination, but as a vantage point from which to survey a new horizon.”
William and Kate’s visit to the Caribbean this week is meant to thank people there for their support of Queen Elizabeth during her 70-year reign, the longest in Britain’s history.
“It’s more to support them and say thanks for all the support they’ve given the queen,” said Robert Jobson, an ABC News royal contributor, adding that William and Kate are implementing “soft-power diplomacy” on the tour.
In Belize, in addition to visiting a cocoa farm, William and Kate danced with locals and attended a special reception held by the country’s governor general.
In Jamaica, William and Kate are scheduled to meet with the governor general of Jamaica as well as the prime minister, in addition to other engagements, including visiting a school and hospital.
The Caribbean tour marks William and Kate’s first joint foreign tour since the start of the coronavirus pandemic two years ago.
(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 this 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 22, 4:40 pm
Russia claims more than 360,000 people evacuated from Ukraine to Russia
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Tuesday that it has evacuated 366,182 people from Ukraine to Russia since the invasion began.
Russia said 19,442 people, including 3,448 children, were evacuated from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions to Russia on Monday, without the participation of Ukrainian authorities, Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of Russia’s National Defense Control Center, claimed in a press briefing.
Mizintsev claimed more than 68,000 residents were also evacuated from Mariupol without the Ukrainian authorities’ involvement.
He claimed these people “are now completely safe under the Russian Federation’s protection, and all those in need are receiving necessary aid.”
Russia claimed it opened humanitarian corridors from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv on Tuesday.
Mar 22, 3:55 pm
No signs China has given Russia military aid: US official
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said there are no signs that China has given any military assistance to Russia to help with the war in Ukraine.
President Joe Biden held a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday and Sullivan met with his counterpart in Rome on Monday over U.S. concerns that Beijing would aid Moscow.
Over a week ago, the U.S. confirmed that Russia asked China for military support and other aid since the invasion began.
“What I can tell you is we have not seen … the provision of military equipment by China to Russia,” Sullivan said. “The president made clear to President Xi the implications and consequences of any such provision of equipment, and they very well understand one another.”
When pressed on whether NATO allies would “put specific concrete steps in place” if China does provide assistance, Sullivan said Biden would be consulting with NATO and the EU.
“On April 1, the European Union is having a summit with China. And so this will be an opportunity, Thursday, for the United States and our European partners, to coordinate closely on what our message is. We believe we’re very much on the same page with our European partners, and we will be speaking with one voice on this issue,” Sullivan said.
-ABC News’ Elizabeth Schulze
Mar 22, 3:44 pm
Biden, allies to roll out new coordinated plans on Thursday
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said President Joe Biden and NATO allies will roll out new coordinated plans on Thursday in response to Russia’s continued invasion.
Sullivan said Biden is traveling to Europe “to ensure we stay united” with our allies and to send a message that they are committed to help Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”
“There will be hard days ahead in Ukraine. Hardest for the Ukrainian troops on the front lines and the civilians under Russian bombardment. This war will not end easily or rapidly,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said NATO allies will announce new sanctions, tighten existing ones, adjust troops on the Eastern Flank and outline plans to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.
Sullivan did not disclose any specific details about the sanctions but hinted that new ones will focus on a joint effort to crack down on countries helping Russia “undermine, weaken or get around the sanctions,” calling it an “important part” of this next phase.
“We have applied an enormous amount of economic pressure, and in order to sustain and escalate that pressure over time, part of that is about new designations, new targets, but a big part of it is about effective enforcement and evasion, applying the lessons that we’ve learned from other circumstances where we have, in fact, imposed sanctions on countries,” Sullivan said.
In Poland, Sullivan said Biden will “engage” with U.S. troops, hold a bilateral meeting with President Duda and meet with experts involved in the humanitarian response.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Mar 22, 3:14 pm
Zelenskyy addresses Italian lawmakers, saying Russia’s ‘goal is Europe’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Italy’s Parliament on Tuesday, warning that “Ukraine is the gateway to Europe for Russian troops.”
He called for more sanctions so Russia “is looking not for military reserves or mercenaries somewhere in Libya or Syria, but for peace.”
“This is a war that Russia has been preparing for a long time. Which one person has been preparing for a long time. One! For decades,” Zelenskyy said. “Their goal is Europe.”
Zelenskyy compared the Russian invasion to the Nazis, saying, “The last one who did something like this in Europe were the Nazis, when they invaded other countries.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Mar 22, 3:07 pm
Russia’s combat capability likely below 90%: US official
For the first time since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s combat capability has likely fallen below 90%, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters. The official said there are no tangible indications of reinforcements being brought in from elsewhere in the country.
“[This is] combat power that they assembled in Belarus and in the western part of their country prior to the invasion. It is not an assessment of all Russian military power,” the official said.
The official said there are “indications” that Ukrainian resistance is trying to retake some territory seized by Russian troops, such as the town of Izyum.
“What we’re starting to see are indications that they are now able and willing to take back territory that the Russians have taken,” said the official. “Whether this is a part of some sort of larger operational plan, we can’t say for sure.”
In Mykolaiv, northeast of Odessa, the Russians have been forced to reposition themselves to the area south of the city because Ukrainian resistance was so strong north of the city, the official said.
The logistical and resupply issues continue to plague Russian troops with the official noting that Russia now has concerns about fueling its ships in the Black Sea. Frostbite has also become an issue for Russian troops who continue to be inadequately supplied.
Ukrainian forces have mounted a strong resistance inside of Mariupol against the “significant number” of Russian forces that have made their way into the city, according to the official.
“The Ukrainians are fighting very, very hard to keep Mariupol from falling,” said the official.
Russia has fired more than 1,100 missiles in Ukraine, according to the official.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Mar 22, 2:21 pm
Russian Defense Ministry claims forces are making advances
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its forces pursued the retreating Ukrainian units of the 54th separate mechanized brigade, and advanced 4 kilometers on Tuesday, approaching the settlement of Novomikhailovka.
Russian-backed Donetsk troops took control of the settlement of Verkhnetoretskoe and continues to attack units of the 25th Airborne Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry.
Russia claims two tanks, five infantry fighting vehicles, three field artillery pieces and seven off-road vehicles were destroyed.
Russia also claimed it fired air and sea-based high-precision long-range weapons at Ukrainian military facilities. It claimed it destroyed depots of fuel, lubricants, rocket and artillery weapons and ammunition.
The country’s defense ministry said its operational-tactical and army aviation hit 83 military facilities of Ukraine. Among them: four command posts, four anti-aircraft missile systems, three depots of rocket and artillery weapons and ammunition, as well as 68 places of military equipment accumulation.
Russia claimed air defense systems shot down 6 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the air, including one Bayraktar TB-2 near the village of Merefa, Kharkiv region.
In total, since the beginning of the attack, 236 unmanned aerial vehicles, 185 anti-aircraft missile systems, 1,547 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 154 multiple rocket launchers, 612 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 1,343 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed, Russia claims.
Mar 22, 1:11 pm
Hungarian president-elect visits town on border with Ukraine
Hungarian President-elect Katalin Novak visited the small town of Beregsurany on Tuesday. The town is a mile from the border with Ukraine.
Beregsurany, which has a population of about 600 people, has seen an influx in refugees fleeing Ukraine. Some days as many as 3,000 people pass through it.
The town has responded by setting up a local welcome center to facilitate registration, offering temporary beds until more permanent homes become available and providing counseling and care.
Novak is a member of Hungary’s far right, populist political party and closely works with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known for his hardline stance on immigration and strict asylum policies.
Novak met with reporters after handing out pancakes to some of the refugees, a tradition started by a group of local women who make hundreds of pancakes daily for everyone coming over the border.
Novak said Hungarians are a welcoming people and want to help those who are fleeing violence and forced to leave their homes.
When pushed on why the politics are different for these refugees, compared to refugees from other countries like Syria, she said Hungary will always welcome people fleeing violence, but the country’s stance on mass migration remains the same.
She did not explain why certain people are considered “mass migration” and others are “seeking asylum.”
-ABC News’ Maggie Rulli
Mar 22, 12:50 pm
International Chess Federation imposes 6-month ban on Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin
Russian chess grandmaster Sergey Karjakin was found guilty of breaching an article in the FIDE Code of Ethics relating to public statements he has made in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Three days after the invasion, Karjakin published an open letter on his verified Instagram account expressing his support for the Russian regime.
“I express to you, our Commander-in-Chief, my full support in protecting the interests of Russia, our multinational Russian people, eliminating threats and establishing peace! I wish you a speedy fulfillment of all tasks assigned to our valiant army,” he said in the post.
Karjakin has 21 days to appeal the decision.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Mar 22, 12:42 pm
Save the Children calls for immediate halt on intercountry adoptions
Save the Children is calling for an immediate ban on intercountry adoptions of children uprooted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to protect them from human traffickers or child abusers.
The international children’s charity warned in a statement Tuesday that “during mass movement of refugees, well-meaning people may attempt to ‘rescue’ children from the crisis-affected area in the mistaken belief that they will be better cared for in other environments.” But Save the Children stressed that “the best place for children is with their families and communities, and adoption is not an appropriate response for unaccompanied children until authorities and agencies have made all efforts to trace and reunite them with their families.”
The organization also warned that “not everybody attempting to foster or adopt children from Ukraine does so with the best intentions.”
Save the Children is calling on states to support a moratorium on all adoptions “until appropriate safeguards are in place” for the unaccompanied children who have fled Ukraine as well as those who have been uprooted within the country. Ukraine has suspended its intercountry adoption program until further notice in the wake of the ongoing war. But Save the Children noted that “it is important for receiving countries to also suspend intercountry adoption proceedings to ensure the appropriate international standards and safeguards.”
Save the Children staff in Romania have reported seeing some kids arriving from Ukraine unaccompanied, while others have been separated from their families in the chaos of fleeing their homes. The organization said many are under 14 and showing signs of psychological distress.
“There is so much upheaval in a child’s life during this time that the best place for them is with their families, relatives, and communities, rather than being removed to a foreign country and language. The most protective environment for a child is the safety and stability of their own family,” Amanda Brydon, global head of child protection advocacy for Save the Children, said in a statement. “At this stage of this crisis, an immediate moratorium on intercountry adoptions is critical to ensure that children are safe and that where possible and in their best interests, they are reunited with their caregivers or verified family members. Sending funds to trusted humanitarian agencies for their response to this crisis is one of the best ways to be able to support such children currently.”
Mar 22, 12:10 pm
US, St. Jude airlift 4 Ukrainian children with cancer
The U.S. Department of State announced Tuesday that it has coordinated with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital “to provide necessary life-saving and immediate care to four Ukrainian children whose ongoing cancer treatment was disrupted” by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The State Department helped airlift these pediatric cancer patients and some of their immediate family members from Poland to the international airport in Memphis, Tennessee, where they were subsequently transported to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“There, the patients will be able to safely resume critical cancer therapy disrupted by the Kremlin’s aggression,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. “They will receive the specialized care they desperately need, and their family members will be afforded sustenance, security, and support from St. Jude.”
Over 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, and more than half went to neighboring Poland, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency.
“Children are among the most vulnerable in a crisis, and these pediatric oncology patients need urgent and highly specialized medical care. We are proud to stand with European partners who are also treating children whose life-saving care in Ukraine has been made impossible by Putin’s war,” Price added. “We recognize, however, that the children transported represent a small proportion of the thousands of patients whose cancer treatment has been interrupted and, who, even amid a pandemic and with compromised immune systems, were forced to flee their homes. That is why, together with our allies and partners, we will continue to support our Ukrainian partners as we seek to save lives and bring this needless war to a close.”
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Mar 22, 10:57 am
Nobel winner to auction medal to benefit refugees
Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov announced Tuesday that he and independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta have decided to auction off their 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Medal and donate the proceeds to the Ukrainian Refugee Fund.
“There are already over 10 million of refugees,” Muratov wrote on the Novaya Gazeta website, “I ask the auction houses to respond and put up for auction this world-famous award.”
Muratov is the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta and won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with journalist Maria Ressa.
Mar 22, 10:00 am
Russian troops fire gas at peaceful protesters in Kherson
Russian troops fired gas into a crowd of peaceful protesters in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Tuesday.
Video from the scene, taken by journalists, shows projectiles landing in a square in central Kherson where residents had gathered to protest Russia’s occupation of the city. Loud bangs can be heard and the crowd suddenly disperses as people attempt to flee the smoke and gas emitting from the canisters around them. People are seen coughing and covering their faces as they run away.
-ABC News’ Julia Drozd and Fergal Gallagher
Mar 22, 7:58 am
Several loud explosions heard in Kyiv amid curfew
ABC News’ team in Kyiv reported hearing several loud explosions just before 1 p.m. local time.
The Ukrainian capital was reported to be relatively quiet earlier Tuesday, which marks the first full day of a 35-hour curfew, set to expire Wednesday morning.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said Tuesday that Ukrainian troops expelled Russian forces from Makariv, a suburb of Kyiv, after a fierce battle. However, Russian forces pushing toward Kyiv were able to take partial control of other northwestern suburbs, Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, according to the defense ministry.
Mar 22, 7:57 am
Pope Francis calls Zelenskyy, gets invited to Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he received a telephone call from Pope Francis on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy made the comment at the start of his 11-minute impassioned speech to Italy’s parliament via video link, after which he received a standing ovation.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, Andryi Yurash, later took to Twitter to confirm the call, saying Zelenskyy had a “very promising” conversation with the pontiff and invited him to visit Ukraine.
The Holy See Press Office has not yet released a statement on the call.
Mar 22, 7:44 am
Several loud explosions heard in Kyiv
ABC News’ team in Kyiv reported hearing several loud explosions just before 1 p.m. local time.
The Ukrainian capital was reported to be relatively quiet earlier Tuesday.
Mar 22, 7:22 am
Several fires reported in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Several fires have erupted within the area around Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant, according to a press release from the Ukrainian parliament, which cited satellite images from the European Space Agency.
The Ukrainian parliament said the fires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a 1,000-square-mile restricted area of deserted land surrounding the shuttered plant, were likely caused by “shelling or arson” at the hands of Russian forces, which seized the site last month.
Mar 22, 7:06 am
Over 3.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than 3.5 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency.
The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amounts to just over 8% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in 27 days.
More than half of the refugees are in neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
Mar 22, 6:50 am
At least 925 civilians, including 75 children, killed in Ukraine: OHCHR
At least 925 civilians, including 75 children, have been killed 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).
Meanwhile, at least 1,496 civilians, including 99 children, have been injured, OHCHR figures show.
The tallies are civilian casualties that occurred in Ukraine from Feb. 24 to March 20 and have been verified by OHCHR, though the agency cautioned that the true numbers are believed to be “considerably higher.”
“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,” OHCHR said in a statement late Monday. “OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, especially in Government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.”
Mar 22, 6:43 am
Russia claims to have captured nine more localities in Ukraine
Russia claimed Tuesday that its troops have captured nine more localities in Ukraine.
According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense, units of the Russian Armed Forces have advanced another 6 kilometers (about 3.7 miles) and have taken control of the southeastern village of Urozhaine in the Donetsk oblast, some 65 miles north of the besieged port of Mariupol where many civilians remain trapped under Russia bombardment.
Meanwhile, the defense ministry said Russia-backed separatist forces of southeastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region have also advanced and captured eight more areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Mar 22, 6:28 am
Russia responds to Biden on biological, chemical weapons, claiming it has neither
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Tuesday denied allegations that Russia might be planning to use biological or chemical weapons in Ukraine.
“We have neither of these,” Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow. “What the Americans are saying are malicious insinuations — we’ve heard them all the time and we’ve given exhaustive answers to them for a long time. The problem is, the U.S. has no habit of listening to anyone but itself.”
Ryabkov’s comments came after U.S. President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of falsely claiming that the United States and Ukraine are developing biological or chemical weapons for use against Russia — rhetoric that Biden said shows Putin is considering using those types of deadly weapons in Ukraine.
“He’s already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful of what’s about to come,” Biden said Monday during remarks at the Business Roundtable’s CEO Quarterly Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Mar 22, 4:25 am
Russia-US relations ‘on the brink of a breakup,’ diplomat warns
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned Tuesday that the United States should stop supplying Ukraine with weapons and making threats to Moscow in order to “preserve relations” with Russia.
“They simply need to stop in their escalation, both verbal escalation and in terms of stuffing the Kyiv region with weapons. They need to stop producing threats to Russia,” Ryabkov said while answering questions from reporters in Moscow. “Meanwhile, if they do manage to somehow positively influence Kyiv, something that I not just doubt, but I am confident that it will not happen, unfortunately, then I think there will be a certain prospect for normalizing relations.”
“For now, we see a downward tendency in relations with our country through the fault of the U.S.,” he added. “We regret it, but it does not impact our determination to move toward accomplishing the goals of the special military operation and to adapt to the circumstances related to the American sanctions and the sanctions imposed by European satellites of the U.S. at its behest.”
When asked whether Moscow plans to recall its ambassador, Ryabkov told reporters that the future of Russia-U.S. relations depends on Washington.
“A note of protest was passed to the American ambassador yesterday. It said that the current developments put these relations on the brink of a breakup,” he said. “There is nothing here beyond what was said there: that the question is about a policy that the U.S. will choose.”
(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 this 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 22, 7:06 am
Over 3.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than 3.5 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency.
The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amounts to just over 8% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in 27 days.
More than half of the refugees are in neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
Mar 22, 6:50 am
At least 925 civilians, including 75 children, killed in Ukraine: OHCHR
At least 925 civilians, including 75 children, have been killed 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).
Meanwhile, at least 1,496 civilians, including 99 children, have been injured, OHCHR figures show.
The tallies are civilian casualties that occurred in Ukraine from Feb. 24 to March 20 and have been verified by OHCHR, though the agency cautioned that the true numbers are believed to be “considerably higher.”
“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,” OHCHR said in a statement late Monday. “OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, especially in Government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.”
Mar 22, 6:43 am
Russia claims to have captured nine more localities in Ukraine
Russia claimed Tuesday that its troops have captured nine more localities in Ukraine.
According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense, units of the Russian Armed Forces have advanced another 6 kilometers (about 3.7 miles) and have taken control of the southeastern village of Urozhaine in the Donetsk oblast, some 65 miles north of the besieged port of Mariupol where many civilians remain trapped under Russia bombardment.
Meanwhile, the defense ministry said Russia-backed separatist forces of southeastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region have also advanced and captured eight more areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Mar 22, 6:28 am
Russia responds to Biden on biological, chemical weapons, claiming it has neither
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Tuesday denied allegations that Russia might be planning to use biological or chemical weapons in Ukraine.
“We have neither of these,” Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow. “What the Americans are saying are malicious insinuations — we’ve heard them all the time and we’ve given exhaustive answers to them for a long time. The problem is, the U.S. has no habit of listening to anyone but itself.”
Ryabkov’s comments came after U.S. President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of falsely claiming that the United States and Ukraine are developing biological or chemical weapons for use against Russia — rhetoric that Biden said shows Putin is considering using those types of deadly weapons in Ukraine.
“He’s already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful of what’s about to come,” Biden said Monday during remarks at the Business Roundtable’s CEO Quarterly Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Mar 22, 4:25 am
Russia-US relations ‘on the brink of a breakup,’ diplomat warns
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned Tuesday that the United States should stop supplying Ukraine with weapons and making threats to Moscow in order to “preserve relations” with Russia.
“They simply need to stop in their escalation, both verbal escalation and in terms of stuffing the Kyiv region with weapons. They need to stop producing threats to Russia,” Ryabkov said while answering questions from reporters in Moscow. “Meanwhile, if they do manage to somehow positively influence Kyiv, something that I not just doubt, but I am confident that it will not happen, unfortunately, then I think there will be a certain prospect for normalizing relations.”
“For now, we see a downward tendency in relations with our country through the fault of the U.S.,” he added. “We regret it, but it does not impact our determination to move toward accomplishing the goals of the special military operation and to adapt to the circumstances related to the American sanctions and the sanctions imposed by European satellites of the U.S. at its behest.”
When asked whether Moscow plans to recall its ambassador, Ryabkov told reporters that the future of Russia-U.S. relations depends on Washington.
“A note of protest was passed to the American ambassador yesterday. It said that the current developments put these relations on the brink of a breakup,” he said. “There is nothing here beyond what was said there: that the question is about a policy that the U.S. will choose.”
(NEW YORK) — Since the war in Ukraine began, more than three million refugees have fled — by bus, train, car and foot — for neighboring countries. Some have destinations in mind, while others have no plan. But as these displaced citizens navigate different yet equally impossible conditions, doctors at the countries that border Ukraine say there’s a common thread: mental health is the most often reported medical problem.
Among the millions of refugees, acute stress disorder has been reported as a common ailment.
“Acute stress disorder is basically a fight-or-flight reaction that lasts a few days to a month and involves having been exposed to a threat to your life or limb and not being able to stop thinking about it,” Dr. Craig Katz, a clinical professor of psychiatry, medical education, system design and global health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told ABC News.
In cases where people are in a fight-or-flight mode, “They’re highly likely to have problems sleeping, being extremely anxious and not having much of an appetite, because they need to focus on survival,” Katz said.
Russia launched its full invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, exposing its citizens to death and destruction, as well as disruption to basic needs.
“It’s clearly a nation under stress,” Dr. Dan Schnorr, an emergency medicine physician with Doctors Without Borders, told ABC News. “Every child in [Ukraine] is now experiencing multiple adverse childhood events, and that is one of the uncounted casualties that will ripple throughout generations.”
Research suggests that firsthand exposure to traumatic events, such as the Ukraine war, can have lasting effects, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression and relapse of alcohol abuse. According to the American Psychiatric Association, prevalence of acute stress disorder ranges from 13%-50% depending on the type of event exposed to and about half of those individuals with acute stress disorder develop PTSD.
According to Katz, the risk of developing lasting effects of acute stress disorder increases depending on the extent of exposure to a traumatic event, prior trauma that was not well addressed previously, a history of psychiatric disorders and not having social support.
Alternatively, being spiritual, having social support, realistic optimism, being cognitively flexible and having a sense of purpose can all help to mitigate the effects of the acute stress.
“Psychological first aid is a way to attend to people’s mental health scratches and bruises so that they don’t become festering wounds,” Katz said. “You make sure people feel safe and secure, make sure they have meals to eat, you especially make sure they — as much as you can — they are together with loved ones or have some sort of communication that has support.”
At Palanca, the border crossing in Moldova, psychosocial clinics have been established to identify those struggling mentally and ease the effects of this trauma.
“It’s more about listening and giving a shoulder to cry on,” Dr. Axel Adolfo, an emergency medicine physician working with Doctors Without Borders, said. “It’s about having someone waiting there for them with arms fully open … They just want to let go of the two to three weeks they spent in fear or doubt and can feel that they are close to [safety].”
The challenge now becomes helping to integrate these populations into neighboring societies.
“People always say mental health is a good idea, but they need to start planning from now,” Katz said.
Refugees are at risk of forming lasting mental health effects. Eventually, according to Katz, screening will be important to identify who may need to be connected to a psychiatrist.
For now, though, “It’s about being here and saying, ‘The whole world is watching, and we are here to help you, and it’s OK to cry,'” Adolfo 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 this 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 22, 4:25 am
Russia-US relations ‘on the brink of a breakup,’ diplomat warns
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned Tuesday that the United States should stop supplying Ukraine with weapons and making threats to Moscow in order to “preserve relations” with Russia.
“They simply need to stop in their escalation, both verbal escalation and in terms of stuffing the Kyiv region with weapons. They need to stop producing threats to Russia,” Ryabkov said while answering questions from reporters in Moscow. “Meanwhile, if they do manage to somehow positively influence Kyiv, something that I not just doubt, but I am confident that it will not happen, unfortunately, then I think there will be a certain prospect for normalizing relations.”
“For now, we see a downward tendency in relations with our country through the fault of the U.S.,” he added. “We regret it, but it does not impact our determination to move toward accomplishing the goals of the special military operation and to adapt to the circumstances related to the American sanctions and the sanctions imposed by European satellites of the U.S. at its behest.”
When asked whether Moscow plans to recall its ambassador, Ryabkov told reporters that the future of Russia-U.S. relations depends on Washington.
“A note of protest was passed to the American ambassador yesterday. It said that the current developments put these relations on the brink of a breakup,” he said. “There is nothing here beyond what was said there: that the question is about a policy that the U.S. will choose.”
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. government has determined the attacks by Myanmar’s military against the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority, constituted genocide and crimes against humanity, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday.
The legal determination comes nearly five years after the brutal violence killed approximately 9,000 Rohingya and drove nearly 1 million from the Southeast Asian country across the border into Bangladesh, fleeing murder, rape and arson.
Despite calls from Congress, human rights advocates, and other bodies to designate the atrocities a genocide, the State Department had held out. But now, with many of the same military leaders that were responsible for the genocide in power as part of a military coup last year, Blinken said recognizing the genocide was a key part of promoting accountability for its victims.
“The day will come when those responsible for these appalling acts will have to answer for them,” Blinken said firmly during remarks at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
The determination is only the eighth such one made by the State Department in the decades since the Holocaust, including in Bosnia and Rwanda, by ISIS and the Chinese government.
It doesn’t bring with it any automatic punishment. Instead, Blinken vowed to continue efforts toward accountability, including by announcing $1 million in new funding for the United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar.
U.N. investigators have already found that the military committed “genocidal acts,” but the IIMM is collecting evidence for potential future prosecutions of military commanders involved in atrocities, just as investigations continue at the International Criminal Court and elsewhere.
The U.N.’s top court, the International Court of Justice, also ruled in January 2020 that Myanmar must “take all measures within its power” to prevent the genocide of Rohingya after The Gambia, a small West African country, filed a lawsuit against Myanmar on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a coalition of countries with significant Muslim populations.
Still, activists and human rights groups say Blinken’s historic announcement could help spur action, ahead of the fifth anniversary of the military’s deadly campaign this August.
“Rohingya faced genocide, one of the most terrible crimes imaginable, and then faced the international community not even acknowledging it had happened. Today, the U.S. has gone a long way to correcting that,” said Tun Khin, a Rohingya activist.
But Myanmar, still called by its former name, Burma, by the U.S. government, is now led by the military commanders who oversaw and orchestrated the genocide, including Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the leader who deposed Myanmar’s democratically-elected government and its civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar has denied it has committed a genocide, instead calling it a military operation against Islamist extremists. It has rejected the ICJ’s findings and refused to cooperate with the ICC probe.
The Trump administration stopped short of designating the atrocities a genocide, in part because of concerns that pushing Myanmar’s government too strongly would cause a military coup that collapsed the power-sharing civilian-military government. But critics have argued the impunity the military largely faced laid the groundwork for its February 2021 coup, just days after President Joe Biden took office.
Trump’s first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, called the attacks “ethnic cleansing” and his successor, Mike Pompeo, quietly released a State Department report documenting the atrocities, but declined to speak to its significance.
But that report was one “key” basis for Blinken’s determination, he said Monday. When he took office, he said the department would conduct a new review of the evidence and make a determination.
Conducted in 2018, the State Department report documented through interviews with victims of grisly crimes that approximately three-quarters personally witnessed a killing, a majority witnessed sexual violenceand one-fifth witnessed a “mass casualty event” in which more than 100 people were killed or injured.
Blinken didn’t just cite those statistics Monday, he also read the firsthand accounts of some victims, including those documented by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s exhibit, “Burma’s Path to Genocide,” which he toured before his remarks.
“It’s painful to even read these accounts, and I ask you — I ask each and every one of you listening — put yourself in their place. … These stories force us to reckon with the immeasurable pain wrought by every heinous abuse. That pain ripples outward — from the individual victims and survivors to loved ones, to friends, to entire communities,” he said — adding a reference to his stepfather Samuel Pisar, a Holocaust survivor and renowned author, who he said “carried” that pain “for the rest of his life.”
But despite that pain, Myanmar’s military leaders have suffered few consequences for their bloody actions — not just the genocide, but last year’s coup — according to some activists. Successive rounds of U.S., European Union, British and Canadian sanctions, including on key economic sectors and military-owned enterprises, have not changed their course, especially amid continued support from Russia and China.
“Stronger actions must be followed to punish perpetrators, to protect remaining Rohingya in Myanmar, rebuild our lives,” Wai Wai Nu, a Rohingya activist, tweeted Monday.
Since the coup, the military has widened its attacks on civilians across the country and on other ethnic minority groups, while the same systems of persecution and violence that repressively targeted Rohingya for decades and presaged the genocide remain in place.
“We urge the administration, and the international community, to continue to do more to hold the military junta accountable, redouble efforts to restore democracy and bring about a genuine national reconciliation to Burma,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and James Risch, R-Idaho, the chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But that kind of reconciliation seems increasingly out of reach. Over a year after the coup, the armed forces have killed more than 1,600 people and detained thousands more. An opposition “National Unity Government” has received some backing from the U.S., but the country is heading toward a protracted civil war with increasingly dangerous implications for Myanmar and the region, according to some analysts.
(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 this 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 21, 4:11 pm
Pro-Kremlin newspaper unwittingly publishes Russian troops death toll
Pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that nearly 10,000 Russian troops have died as a result of the invasion into Ukraine.
The newspaper published an article Monday that included a paragraph stating that Russia’s defense ministry said its losses in Ukraine are 9,862 dead and 16,153 injured.
“Russia’s Ministry of Defense denies the information of the Ukrainian General Staff about alleged large-scale casualties among the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine,” the article stated. “According to the data of the Russian ministry of defense, in the course of the special operation in Ukraine, Russia’s armed forces have lost 9,861 dead, 16,153 have received wounds.”
Not long after journalists online spotted the number, the article vanished and then was reposted without any mention of Russian casualties, indicating that the newspaper likely published the figure unwittingly.
If a journalist deliberately posted the death toll, they could be severely prosecuted under a new Russian law.
Russia has not published an official death toll for its forces since March 3, when it said just 498 of its troops had been killed.
The U.S. has estimated that between 2,000 and 10,000 Russians have been killed in the conflict.
Mar 21, 3:48 pm
Russian defense minister claims nearly 350,000 Ukrainians evacuated to Russia
Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, claimed that about 347,000 Ukrainians have evacuated to Russia.
The evacuations occurred “without the participation of the Kyiv authorities,” Mizintsev alleged during a press conference Monday, claiming that officials in Kyiv “again have not approved any of the four humanitarian corridors in Russia’s direction proposed by the Russian side.”
Mizintsev also alleged that Kyiv refuses to conduct humanitarian operations in the besieged city of Mariupol by withdrawing Ukrainian forces from the city.
“At 2 a.m. on March 21, 2022, we received an unsubstantiated refusal to rescue people, and a surrender and laying down arms are out of the question,” Mizintsev said, adding that more than 130,000 people remain blockaded in the city.
Mizintsev claimed that in the past 24 hours alone, 16,054 people, including 4,631 children, were evacuated “from dangerous areas of Ukraine and the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics” into Russia.
Moscow had had offered safe passage out of Mariupol in return for the city’s surrender before 4 a.m. Monday, but Ukraine rejected the offer well before the deadline.
Mar 21, 2:09 pm
Nazi concentration camp survivor killed in Kharkiv bombardment
A man who survived multiple Nazi concentration camps was killed in the Russian bombardment of Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine, on Friday, the country’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
Kuleba announced the news on Twitter Monday, saying 96-year-old Boris Romantchenko died after a “Russian bomb” hit his home.
“Survived Hitler, murdered by Putin,” Kuleba wrote.
Romantchenko survived four Nazi concentration camps: Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Mittelbau-Dora and Peenemünde.
The Buchenwald Memorial Institute issued a statement saying it is “appalled at the news of Boris Romantschenko’s violent death in the war in Ukraine.”
The institute confirmed a projectile hit the multistory building where Romantchenko lived and ignited his flat.
-ABC News’ Luisa Rollenhagen and Christine Theodorou
Mar 21, 1:46 pm
US officials says Russian missiles are ‘failing to launch’
A senior U.S. defense official said at a Monday press briefing that Russian missiles are “failing to launch” as they are fired into Ukraine.
Russia has fired more than 1,100 missiles since the invasion last month, according to U.S. assessments, but there are indications they have been facing problems with the reliability of precision-guided munitions.
Some Russian missiles are “failing to launch, or they’re failing to hit the target, or they’re failing to explode on contact,” the official said.
Additionally, Russian forces are no closer to Kyiv than they were more than a week ago.
“They haven’t achieved anything in terms of what we assessed to be their objectives, which was population centers so that they could occupy and take over Ukraine,” the official said.
“They are looking for a chance to gain some momentum – not even regain momentum … because they never really had it. And that’s what’s so frustrating for them,” the official continued.
The official said most credit for the stalled Russian efforts goes to the Ukrainian forces and citizens, and the leadership of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Mar 21, 12:37 pm
Nazi concentration camp survivor killed in Kharkiv bombardment
A man who survived multiple Nazi concentration camps was killed in the Russian bombardment of Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine, on Friday, the country’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
Kuleba announced the news on Twitter Monday, saying 96-year-old Boris Romantchenko died after a “Russian bomb” hit his home.
“Survived Hitler, murdered by Putin,” Kuleba wrote.
Romantchenko survived four Nazi concentration camps: Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Mittelbau-Dora and Peenemünde.
The Buchenwald Memorial Institute issued a statement saying it is “appalled at the news of Boris Romantschenko’s violent death in the war in Ukraine.”
The institute confirmed a projectile hit the multistory building where Romantchenko lived and ignited his flat.
Mar 21, 11:55 am
Secretary Blinken condemns Russia during tour of Holocaust Museum
Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Russia while visiting the U.S. Holocaust Museum Monday to tour its Rohingya exhibit.
At the top of his remarks, Blinken discussed the Russian government’s “unprovoked, brutal war on Ukraine,” including the strike that damaged the Ukrainian Holocaust memorial Babyn Yar.
He also said the Kremlin is falsely claiming to be stopping a genocide in Ukraine, “abusing the term that we reserve for the greatest atrocities, disrespecting every victim of this heinous crime.”
Blinken then pivoted to discuss atrocities elsewhere in the world including China, Ethiopia and Myanmar.
“The day will come when those responsible for these appalling acts will have to answer for them,” he said.
Mar 21, 10:50 am
Pope Francis makes strong anti-war statement as Russian invasion continues
Pope Francis made a strong anti-war statement Monday as the Russian invasion of Ukraine entered its 26th day.
In a speech in a private meeting at the Vatican with volunteer members of the I Was Thirsty organization, which promotes clean drinking water to poor areas of the world, the pope decried war and the money spent on weapons.
“Why make war on each other for conflicts that we should resolve by talking to each other as men?” he said to the audience in the Clementine Hall.
“Why not rather unite our forces and our resources to fight together the true battles of civilization: the fight against hunger and thirst; the fight against disease and epidemics; the fight against epidemics; the fight against the poverty and slavery of today?” the pope continued. “We must create the consciousness that continuing to spend on weapons dirties the soul, it dirties the heart, it dirties humanity.”
It comes just one day after Pope Francis denounced the “repugnant” war against Ukraine as “cruel and sacrilegious inhumanity” during a noontime prayer in St. Peter’s Square, although he stopped short of naming Russia as the aggressor.
Mar 21, 9:53 am
Ammonia leak at chemical plant in besieged city of Sumy
An ammonia leak has been reported at a chemical plant in the northeastern city of Sumy, the regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said Monday.
On his official Telegram channel, Zhyvytskyy said the leak was caused by Russian shelling.
He warned those within a 3-mile radius of the Sumykhimprom plant should leave the area because the gas is hazardous but that workers have contained the leak.
Zhyvytskyy said, so far, just one injury has been reported among employees of the plant.
-ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti
Mar 21, 9:05 am
Refugee numbers reach 3.4 million
More than 3.4 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded, according to the latest figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Monday’s update showed that, of those refugees, more than 2 million have crossed the border into Poland. Additionally, about 535,000 have entered Romania and 365,000 have crossed into Moldova.
Refugees are also going to Hungary, Slovakia, Russia and Belarus.
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi tweeted Sunday that since the Russian invasion, 10 million people in Ukraine fled, either displaced in the country or as refugees abroad.
“Among the responsibilities of those who wage war, everywhere in the world, is the suffering inflicted on civilians who are forced to flee their homes,” he wrote.
UNICEF told ABC News that half of the internally displaced Ukrainians and half of those who have fled are children.
-ABC News’ Zoe Magee
Mar 21, 5:21 am
No surrender in besieged Mariupol, Ukraine says
Ukrainian officials rejected Russia’s demand that they surrender the southern port city of Mariupol on Monday morning.
Officials instead called on Russia to allow residents to evacuate safely from the city.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an early morning video address said his government was preparing to send buses to Mariupol on Monday to continue the evacuation.
“In besieged Mariupol, Russian aircraft dropped a bomb on an art school. People were hiding there. Hiding from shelling, from bombing,” Zelenskyy said, according to an official translation from his office. “There were no military positions. There were about four hundred civilians. Mostly women and children, the elderly. They are under the debris. We do not know how many are alive at the moment.”
Some who’ve left Mariupol have described dire circumstances, with constant shelling and little access to essentials, including food, water, and medicine, according to a report published Monday by Human Rights Watch.
“Mariupol residents have described a freezing hellscape riddled with dead bodies and destroyed buildings,” Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “And these are the lucky ones who were able to escape, leaving behind thousands who are cut off from the world in the besieged city.”
Mar 20, 10:17 pm
Biden traveling to Poland Friday to discuss efforts to support Ukraine, humanitarian crisis
In addition to his trip to Brussels, President Joe Biden will also travel to Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, where he will hold a bilateral meeting with President Andrzej Duda.
“The President will discuss how the United States, alongside our Allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Sunday.
Psaki’s statement did not specify if Biden will do anything else during his trip to Poland, which has taken in more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees since the start of the conflict with Russia.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 20, 5:36 pm
Russia gives Ukrainian forces in Mariupol until morning to surrender: Reports
Russia has given Ukrainian forces in the besieged city of Mariupol until Monday at 4 a.m. local time to surrender, according to reports.
Gen. Col. Mikhail Mizintsev, a senior Russian commander, warned the city’s local authorities, including the mayor, that if they do not surrender they will face a “military tribunal,” according to Russian state media.
He called on the official authorities in Kyiv to “see reason” and to cancel orders given earlier that he said oblige Ukrainian fighters “to sacrifice themselves and to become the ’martyrs of Mariupol.’”
Russian forces have been trying to push deep into Mariupol, engaging in street-to-street fighting while indiscriminately bombarding the city. Ukrainian troops defending the city are believed to be under severe pressure right now.
Mizintsev said Russia has proposed opening humanitarian corridors beginning at 9 a.m. Monday to allow Ukrainian troops and civilians to leave Mariupol.
He claims Russia’s goals in the city are “purely humanitarian” and repeated Russia’s false claims that it was Ukrainian “nationalist” forces that have destroyed several major civilian buildings, which in reality have been struck directly by Russian air and missile strikes.
“We call on the units of the Ukrainian armed forces, the battalions of the Territorial Defense, foreign mercenaries, to cease military action, lay down their arms and to leave for the territories controlled by Kyiv via the humanitarian corridors agreed with the Ukrainian side,” Mizintsev reportedly said. “Moreover, the safe exit of all those laying down their arms is guaranteed and the sparing of their lives.”
Mar 20, 4:27 pm
Zelenskyy criticizes Israel for not providing arms to Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed members of the Knesset, the legislature of Israel, on Sunday, criticizing the country for not doing more to help Ukraine.
During the address, Zelenskyy drew parallels between Ukraine and Israel’s challenges with their neighbors and questioned why Israel has not sent arms to Ukraine or imposed sanctions on Russia.
“Everyone in Israel knows that your missile defense is the best,” Zelenskyy said. “It is powerful. Everyone knows that your weapon is strong. Everyone knows you’re doing great. You know how to defend your state interests, the interests of your people. And you can definitely help us protect our lives, the lives of Ukrainians, the lives of Ukrainian Jews. One can keep asking why we can’t get weapons from you. Or why Israel has not imposed strong sanctions against Russia.”
Zelenskyy described the Russian invasion as “a large-scale and treacherous war aimed at destroying our people,” quoting former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, who was born in Kyiv.
“We intend to remain alive. Our neighbors want to see us dead,” Zelenskyy said. “This is not a question that leaves much room for compromise.”
During Zelensky’s speech, the Knesset’s cyber unit and the National Cyber Directorate fought off a number of cyberattacks aimed at interrupting the live-streamed speech, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing the Knesset.
(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 this 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 21, 5:21 am
No surrender in besieged Mariupol, Ukraine says
Ukrainian officials rejected Russia’s demand that they surrender the southern port city of Mariupol on Monday morning.
Officials instead called on Russia to allow residents to evacuate safely from the city.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an early morning video address said his government was preparing to send buses to Mariupol on Monday to continue the evacuation.
“In besieged Mariupol, Russian aircraft dropped a bomb on an art school. People were hiding there. Hiding from shelling, from bombing,” Zelenskyy said, according to an official translation from his office. “There were no military positions. There were about four hundred civilians. Mostly women and children, the elderly. They are under the debris. We do not know how many are alive at the moment.”
Some who’ve left Mariupol have described dire circumstances, with constant shelling and little access to essentials, including food, water, and medicine, according to a report published Monday by Human Rights Watch.
“Mariupol residents have described a freezing hellscape riddled with dead bodies and destroyed buildings,” Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “And these are the lucky ones who were able to escape, leaving behind thousands who are cut off from the world in the besieged city.”
Mar 20, 10:17 pm
Biden traveling to Poland Friday to discuss efforts to support Ukraine, humanitarian crisis
In addition to his trip to Brussels, President Joe Biden will also travel to Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, where he will hold a bilateral meeting with President Andrzej Duda.
“The President will discuss how the United States, alongside our Allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Sunday.
Psaki’s statement did not specify if Biden will do anything else during his trip to Poland, which has taken in more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees since the start of the conflict with Russia.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 20, 5:36 pm
Russia gives Ukrainian forces in Mariupol until morning to surrender: Reports
Russia has given Ukrainian forces in the besieged city of Mariupol until Monday at 4 a.m. local time to surrender, according to reports.
Gen. Col. Mikhail Mizintsev, a senior Russian commander, warned the city’s local authorities, including the mayor, that if they do not surrender they will face a “military tribunal,” according to Russian state media.
He called on the official authorities in Kyiv to “see reason” and to cancel orders given earlier that he said oblige Ukrainian fighters “to sacrifice themselves and to become the ’martyrs of Mariupol.’”
Russian forces have been trying to push deep into Mariupol, engaging in street-to-street fighting while indiscriminately bombarding the city. Ukrainian troops defending the city are believed to be under severe pressure right now.
Mizintsev said Russia has proposed opening humanitarian corridors beginning at 9 a.m. Monday to allow Ukrainian troops and civilians to leave Mariupol.
He claims Russia’s goals in the city are “purely humanitarian” and repeated Russia’s false claims that it was Ukrainian “nationalist” forces that have destroyed several major civilian buildings, which in reality have been struck directly by Russian air and missile strikes.
“We call on the units of the Ukrainian armed forces, the battalions of the Territorial Defense, foreign mercenaries, to cease military action, lay down their arms and to leave for the territories controlled by Kyiv via the humanitarian corridors agreed with the Ukrainian side,” Mizintsev reportedly said. “Moreover, the safe exit of all those laying down their arms is guaranteed and the sparing of their lives.”
Mar 20, 4:27 pm
Zelenskyy criticizes Israel for not providing arms to Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed members of the Knesset, the legislature of Israel, on Sunday, criticizing the country for not doing more to help Ukraine.
During the address, Zelenskyy drew parallels between Ukraine and Israel’s challenges with their neighbors and questioned why Israel has not sent arms to Ukraine or imposed sanctions on Russia.
“Everyone in Israel knows that your missile defense is the best,” Zelenskyy said. “It is powerful. Everyone knows that your weapon is strong. Everyone knows you’re doing great. You know how to defend your state interests, the interests of your people. And you can definitely help us protect our lives, the lives of Ukrainians, the lives of Ukrainian Jews. One can keep asking why we can’t get weapons from you. Or why Israel has not imposed strong sanctions against Russia.”
Zelenskyy described the Russian invasion as “a large-scale and treacherous war aimed at destroying our people,” quoting former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, who was born in Kyiv.
“We intend to remain alive. Our neighbors want to see us dead,” Zelenskyy said. “This is not a question that leaves much room for compromise.”
During Zelensky’s speech, the Knesset’s cyber unit and the National Cyber Directorate fought off a number of cyberattacks aimed at interrupting the live-streamed speech, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing the Knesset.
