(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, coming within about 9 miles as of Friday.
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 15, 7:51 am
Two killed in strike on Kyiv neighborhood
Two people were killed on Tuesday morning after Russian forces shelled residential areas in Kyiv, officials said.
The sound of large explosions echoed across Kyiv before dawn from what Ukrainian authorities said were artillery strikes. The shelling ignited a huge fire and a frantic rescue effort in the Svyatoshyn neighborhood.
Shockwaves from an explosion also damaged the entry to a downtown subway station that has been used as a bomb shelter. City authorities tweeted an image of the blown-out facade, saying trains would no longer stop at the station.
Mar 15, 5:51 am
Residents protest in Russian-occupied cities: UK military
Residents of Kherson, Melitopol and Berdyansk, cities occupied by Russian forces, have held “multiple” demonstrations protesting the occupation, the U.K. Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.
Protests in Kherson came as Russia may be making plans for a “referendum” to legitimize the region as a Russian-backed “breakaway republic,” similar to Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea, the Ministry said.
“Further protests were reported in the city yesterday with Russian forces reportedly firing warning shots in an attempt to disperse peaceful protesters,” the Ministry said.
Russia is likely to “make further attempts to subvert Ukrainian democracy,” the update said.
“Russia has reportedly installed its own mayor in Melitopol following the alleged abduction of his predecessor on Friday 11 March,” the update said. “Subsequently, the Mayor of Dniprorudne has also reportedly been abducted by Russian forces.”
Mar 14, 9:56 pm
Latest talks with Russia went ‘pretty good,’ will continue tomorrow, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy updated the status of negotiations with Russia in his latest address Monday, saying the latest talks went “pretty good” and will continue tomorrow.
Zelenskyy also addressed Russian troops, telling them they would be treated “decently” should they surrender.
“On behalf of the Ukrainian people, I give you a chance — chance to survive,” Zelenskyy said. “You surrender to our forces, we will treat you the way people are supposed to be treated. As people, decently.”
Zelenskyy also thanked the producer at a Russian state news channel who appeared on camera behind an anchor and held up an anti-war sign. She was later arrested.
“I am grateful to those Russians who do not stop trying to convey the truth,” he said. “To those who fight disinformation and tell the truth, real facts to their friends and loved ones. And personally to the woman who entered the studio of Channel One with a poster against the war.”
(NEW YORK) — With targets on the backs of her and her husband and from an undisclosed safe place, Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska sent out a desperate two-word plea to America and the world: “STOP WAR.”
In an exchange of written messages with ABC News, Zelenska described the blitz of Russian missiles raining on Ukraine and the deaths of civilians, including at least 71 children, as “genocide.”
“I guess my message is very similar to the one the whole world delivers. Only two simple words: STOP WAR,” the 44-year-old Zelenska wrote, unable to speak by phone or in-person due to high-security risks.
‘Help us stop Russian atrocity’
After her husband of 18 years, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was elected president of Ukraine in 2019, Zelenska launched an initiative as the first lady to improve the quality and nutrition of food in schools. But on Feb. 24, her priorities were dramatically altered when Russian tanks and troops invaded her country, leaving crisscrossed trails of destruction and death and prompting a diaspora of refugees, now topping 2.8 million.
Zelenska has become an inspiration to women across her war-torn land and the world, an outspoken mother of two beseeching the West to “help us to stop Russian atrocity in Ukraine.”
To reflect the stark realities of war, she has frequently posted images and videos on social media of hospital wards full of wounded citizens. She has also called Putin out for disingenuously describing the invasion as a “special operation.”
“When Russia says that it is ‘not waging war against civilians,’ I call out the names of these murdered children first,” she wrote in a 1,000-word “testimony” she publicly released last week.
‘I fear for my husband’
In her exchange with ABC News on Sunday, day 18 of the war, Zelenska said one of her greatest concerns is the well-being of her husband, who Ukrainian officials claim has been the target of several assassination attempts.
“As every woman in Ukraine, now I fear for my husband,” Zelenska wrote. “Every morning before I call him, I pray everything goes well. I also know how strong and enduring he is. He is able to withstand anything, especially when he defends people and things that he loves.”
Referring to Putin and his supporters in the Kremlin, she expressed doubt as to “whether they have ordinary and sincere human feelings.”
“Ask yourself these questions and you will understand the difference of views on this war,” she wrote.
‘It is genocide’
While imploring the West to help Ukraine, she has not shied away from criticizing Western leaders for being silent in response to Putin’s crackdown on the rights of his own citizens and his previous encroachments of her country’s borders.
“Today, our country and our civilians pay a very high price for the silence and hesitation regarding this issue. Yesterday, it was innocent women and children in the maternity hospital in Mariupol. We have lost more than 71 children because of the Russian war — it is genocide of the Ukrainian people,” Zelenska wrote to ABC News.
She added, “Moreover millions of people are suffering in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Irpin, Sumy and other cities. They don’t have water, food and medicine. Russian soldiers are blocking humanitarian aid. We need to stop it. By saying ‘we,’ I mean the whole world.”
Zelenska asked “citizens of America, Europe and the whole world” to hold their leaders accountable for “silently observing for decades while the regime, where you cannot express your opinion, where the nation has been turned into slaves, grew and strengthened.”
“Leaders have lost their chance for respect. But you haven’t yet!” Zelenska said. “Today, the key life decisions are made in the offices of people who YOU elected as leaders in your countries. These are YOU who gave and keep giving the right to act on your behalf. And when they do not act, when they let our kids die — these are YOU who give them this right.”
She said it “is essential” for the West to understand that Ukraine “is now protecting Europe and our shared values.”
“Every day of our fight increases the price that Ukraine pays for securing these values,” Zelenska wrote. “Surely, in this fight as a nation, we become stronger and tougher. I wish the sanctions against Russia from the U.S. and E.U. become the same: stronger and tougher.”
She repeated her husband’s call for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, a request that has been rejected by the White House and the international community for fears it could start World War III if a Russian military jet is shot down in a confrontation with U.S. and NATO aircraft enforcing such a zone.
“We ask NATO to close our sky on behalf of all the people of Ukraine, or at least provide us with aircraft so we can defend our sky by ourselves,” Zelenska wrote.
‘You are giving life in the bomb shelters’
Zelenska directed a special message to Ukrainian women.
“You are giving life in the bomb shelters, calming children with lullabies, while Russian aviation keeps destroying our peaceful Ukrainian cities,” she wrote. “I admire your power. The power that becomes tougher than a hammer.”
She also directed a message specifically to American women.
“I appeal to you, women in America, and ask to support Ukrainian women and children who escaped from war and are looking for a shelter in your country,” she said. “These days every act of kindness and humanism is vital while we are bravely fighting for freedom for Ukraine, for Europe, for the whole world.”
U.S. Navy photograph by Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Justin Yarborough
(NEW YORK) — Amid growing tensions and changing geopolitics in the Arctic, the U.S. Navy kicked off Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2022, a three-week exercise focusing on research, testing and evaluation of operational capabilities in the region.
Despite the temperatures at the Arctic being below freezing, the region is one of the fastest warming places on the planet as a result of global warming. The melting ice makes the region more accessible, putting Russian nuclear and conventional naval forces even closer to the U.S. border.
To test submarine systems and research initiatives in the region, the Navy established a temporary ice camp, known as Ice Camp Queenfish, on top of an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean.
“The Arctic region can be unforgiving and challenging like no other place on Earth,” Rear Adm. Richard Seif, ranking officer of ICEX 2022, said in a press release.
“ICEX 2022 provides the Navy an opportunity to increase capability and readiness in this unique environment, and to continue establishing best practices we can share with partners and allies who share the U.S.’s goal of a free and peaceful Arctic,” he said.
The camp consists of shelters, a command center and infrastructure to house over 60 personnel, according to the press release.
Under the ice and amid freezing temperatures, Navy divers and two American submarines, the USS Pasadena and USS Illinois, train in launching torpedoes as well as finding and evading enemy submarines.
When the torpedoes are shot, the search and recovery team go under the ice to find them. Once located, a hole is drilled over the ice, and the team begins to recover the torpedo.
The USS Pasadena, a Los Angeles class fast attack submarine with a steel reinforced sail, allows it to punch up through Arctic ice as thick as 5 feet or more. The Pasadena can be equipped with up to 20 torpedoes.
Vice Adm. William Houston said the exercises ensure the submarine force is ready just in case any threat arises.
“I’m not concerned about really any threat. We are ready as a submarine force. We’ve all executed orders as directed by our civilian leadership” he told ABC News. “And we are postured and ready as always.”
“We continue to watch [Russia] every single day. We are on the frontlines. We are unseen,” Houston added. “And that’s a good thing. Because the adversary, any adversary, doesn’t know where we’re at. And that’s the key about the Submarine Force. It is the ultimate silent service. We’re exceptionally stealthy, and we’re watching all the time.”
As temperatures rise, scientists will travel to the far northern region to work in conjunction with the Navy in studying the cracking and melting Arctic ice.
“It’s more important than ever that as a scientific community we take this data and we start to really understand the whys of how it’s happening, so that we can feed that back to the broader scientific community and eventually policymakers,” Houston said.
The camp, located 160 miles away from land, honors the first Sturgeon-class submarine to operate under ice — the USS Queenfish (SSN-651).
With ICEX 2022 underway, the Navy is confident it is ready for any potential threat.
“We have the largest nuclear submarine force in the world,” Houston said. “You have unprecedented mobility where you don’t need to come to the surface and you can stay submerged for as long as you want. Any adversary doesn’t know where we’re at. We’re exceptionally stealthy, and we’re watching all the time.”
(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, coming within about 9 miles as of Friday.
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 14, 8:25 pm
Former US ambassador to Ukraine: ‘There’s no path to victory for Russia’
Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, doubted Russia’s ability to win the war it started, “because the Ukrainian people will continue to resist.”
“Ukrainians are never going to turn back to Russia at this point — never,” she told ABC News. “Not after he has invaded them and destroyed their families and destroyed their livelihoods and destroyed their homes. It is appalling what he has done, all in the name of allegedly protecting people in Ukraine. “
While Yovanovitch said she does not believe a ceasefire is currently on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s agenda, “It’s important to keep the lines of communication open.”
“It’s important to keep on talking, at least hopefully to get humanitarian corridors set up so that people can, you know, can leave cities that are no longer habitable because of the barbaric aggressiveness of Russia,” said Yovanovitch, who served as ambassador to Ukraine under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, between 2016 and 2019.
Yovanovitch also said she believes that Trump was dismissive of Ukraine during his presidency, adding that his praise of Putin “emboldened” the Russian leader.
“There’s no question that President Trump’s actions and his statements presumably emboldened Putin, and I think that Putin was getting what he needed from President Trump in terms of while our official policy was very strong with regard to supporting Ukraine,” she said.
-ABC News’ Penelope Lopez
Mar 14, 8:13 pm
UN to allocate $40 million for Ukraine relief
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has allocated $40 million “to ramp up aid agencies’ efforts to reach the most vulnerable people,” it announced in a press release Monday.
“These funds are critical to get operations off the ground immediately,” U.N. OCHA chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement. “In the early days of our response, fast and flexible funding can make all the difference.”
The U.N. is also deploying staff to get food and medicines closer to those in need, according to the release.
Griffiths described Mariupol, the eastern city being heavily bombed by Russia with hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped inside, as the “center of hell” in an interview with CNN on Monday.
“The most important priority … is to get civilians out,” Griffiths said.
-ABC News’ Matt Foster
Mar 14, 6:20 pm
International Court of Justice ruling on Russia expected Wednesday
The International Court of Justice will soon issue a ruling on allegations brought against Russia by Ukraine.
Ukraine had launched a case against Russia at the United Nations’ highest court, located in Hague, The Netherlands, accusing Moscow of planning genocide.
Ukraine also asked the court to intervene to halt the invasion and to order Russia to pay reparations.
The court will deliver the ruling at 11 a.m. EST on Wednesday, the U.N. announced in a press release.
-ABC News’ Matt Foster
Mar 14, 5:34 pm
‘‘Patients first,’ Pfizer CEO says of continuing *to send* supplies to Russia
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Monday defended the company’s decision to continue supplying medicine to Russia, saying “patients first.”
The pharmaceutical company announced Monday that it would donate all profits from sales in Russia to Ukraine. Despite the hefty sanctions placed on Russia by countries around the world, Bourla said at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin that a humanitarian exemption to continue operations in Russia applies.
“Always with sanctions, medicines are excluded,” he said, citing other previous instances, including Iran. “We debated a lot what needs to be done, and we felt it’s so foundational in our principles that patients should come first that we cannot stop the flow of our medicines to Russia.”
Bourla emphasized that medicine is not comparable to goods such as the latest smartphone, saying that treatments for conditions such as lung and metastatic breast cancer “can’t stop.”
However, Pfizer is not “continuing business as usual” in Russia, Bourla said.
“Though we will maintain the flow of the medicines, we will not make money out of it — all the profits of the Russian subsidiary going forward effective immediately will be donated to causes to alleviate the pain that the invasion is causing to Ukrainians.”
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Mar 14, 3:56 pm
Fox News correspondent injured while reporting in Ukraine
Fox News State Department correspondent Benjamin Hall was injured while newsgathering near Kyiv on Monday, according to Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media.
The circumstances were not immediately clear but Scott said Hall was hospitalized.
“Please keep Ben and his family in your prayers,” Scott said in a statement.
Shaun Tandon, president of the State Department Correspondents’ Association, said in a statement, “We know Ben for his warmth, good humor and utmost professionalism. We wish Ben a quick recovery and call for utmost efforts to protect journalists who are providing an invaluable service through their coverage in Ukraine.”
Mar 14, 3:26 pm
US warns China: No country will ‘get away with’ aiding Russia
While the State Department has declined to confirm reports that Russia has reached out to China for aid, State Department spokesman Ned Price is warning China that the U.S. is watching for any country that may come to Russia’s defense.
The U.S. delegation “raised directly and very clearly our concerns about the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China’s] support for Russia in the wake of the invasion and the implications that any such support would have for the PRC’s relationship not only with us, but for its relationships around the world,” Price said.
The U.S. is “watching very closely the extent to which the PRC or any other country for that matter provides any form of support — whether that’s material support, whether that’s economic support, whether that’s financial support for Russia,” he added.
He declined to say whether the U.S. and its allies are drawing up sanctions in case China provides strong support to Russia in violation of Western sanctions.
But he said, “Any country that would seek to, attempt to bail Russia out of this economic, financial morass will be met with consequences. We will ensure that no country is able to get away with such a thing.”
During a United Nations Security Council briefing Monday, China appeared to align itself more closely with the Kremlin.
“The final solution to the crisis in Ukraine is to take seriously and respect the reasonable security concerns of all states,” said Zhang Jun, China’s U.N. representative, repeating China’s assertion that Russia is reacting to legitimate threats to national security posed by Ukraine.
He continued, “The Cold War was over long ago. Cold War mentality based on bloc confrontation should be completely rejected. Sticking to hegemony mentality and provoking bloc confrontation will only bring the world disasters and exacerbate turmoil and division.”
He also slammed the use of sanctions by the U.S. and it allies, arguing that these economic punishments would not solve the conflict, but create more international strife.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan and Shannon Crawford
Mar 14, 3:16 pm
Mariupol residents evacuate during lull in violence
There was a lull in attacks by Russian forces on the coastal Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Monday, allowing the first mass civilian evacuation from the city, according to Petro Andrushenko, an adviser to the mayor.
About 160 cars fled the city Monday, carrying what’s estimated to be hundreds of civilians, he said.
Heavy shelling and air bombardments impeded previous efforts to get civilians out and to allow for humanitarian supplies to be brought in.
The Mariupol City Council reported Sunday that 2,187 residents had been killed since the start of the invasion. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereschuk said last week that the city was “beyond a humanitarian disaster,” with most roads destroyed, little communication with the outside and no power, gas or heat.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 14, 2:46 pm
Russian violence getting ‘increasingly indiscriminate’: US official
The Russian military is trying to subdue population centers “using more and more long-range fires, which are increasingly indiscriminate in terms of what they’re hitting,” a senior U.S. defense official warned Monday.
Russia has now launched more than 900 missiles against Ukraine, according to the official.
But the official said “almost all of Russia’s advances remain stalled.”
The Russians closest to Kyiv are still near Hostomel Airport, about 9 miles from the city center. Some troops are moving in behind those advance forces, “but not at a great pace,” the official said.
The coastal city of Mariupol remains isolated and under heavy bombardment, with Russian forces to the north and east, though Ukrainians are continuing to fight back, the official said.
Significant fighting continues over Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine, with Russians relying more and more on long-range missile attacks, the official said.
The official said the U.S. is seeing a new line of advance, with 50 to 60 vehicles moving from the southwest of Kharkiv down toward the town of Izyum.
“The assessment is that they are trying to block off the Donbass area and to prevent the flow westward of any Ukrainian armed forces that would be in the eastern part of the country, prevent[ing] them from coming to the assistance of other Ukrainian defenders near Kyiv,” the official said.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Mar 14, 12:45 pm
Pfizer still delivering medicine to Russia but donating profits to Ukraine
Pfizer said it won’t stop delivering medicine to Russia, but will donate all profits from Russia to humanitarian support for Ukraine.
Pfizer also said it won’t hold new trials in Russia and will stop recruiting new patients for its ongoing trials in the country.
Additionally, Pfizer said it “will cease all planned investments with local suppliers intended to build manufacturing capacity in the country.”
Mar 14, 12:05 pm
At least 636 civilians killed in Ukraine
At least 636 civilians have been killed and another 1,125 injured in Ukraine since the attack began last month, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
These numbers are the verified deaths and injuries; actual death and injury figures are expected to be much higher, the OHCHR said.
Most of the casualties were due to explosive weapons impacting a wide area, including shelling, missiles and air strikes, the OHCHR said.
Mar 14, 10:20 am
Fourth round of Ukraine-Russia talks paused until Tuesday
Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak has tweeted that Ukraine and Russia are taking a “technical pause” in negotiations until Tuesday.
While the first three rounds of talks were held in Belarus, this fourth round is being held remotely.
“Negotiations continue,” Podolyak tweeted.
Mar 14, 10:04 am
Zelenskyy to address Congress virtually on Wednesday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address U.S. lawmakers virtually at 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to a letter from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Only members of Congress will be allowed in the auditorium where Zelenskyy’s remarks will be broadcast, but the event will be livestreamed.
“The Congress remains unwavering in our commitment to supporting Ukraine as they face Putin’s cruel and diabolical aggression, and to passing legislation to cripple and isolate the Russian economy as well as deliver humanitarian, security and economic assistance to Ukraine,” the letter said. “We look forward to the privilege of welcoming President Zelenskyy’s address to the House and Senate and to convey our support to the people of Ukraine as they bravely defend democracy.”
Mar 14, 6:47 am
More than 2.8 million have fled Ukraine: UN
More than 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded, the U.N. Refugee Agency said on Monday.
Monday’s update said more than 1.72 million people have crossed the border into Poland, but didn’t include updated figures for crossings into all the other countries that border Ukraine.
Rafal Trzaskowski, mayor of Warsaw, Poland, told The Telegraph on Saturday that his city’s ability to absorb refugees fleeing the Ukraine war was “at an end” and that the city would be overwhelmed unless an international relocation system was created.
“We are doing all we can but we cannot rely on improvisation anymore,” Trzaskowski told the newspaper. “We coordinate our work with other mayors in Poland and in Europe, and through this we send buses of refugees to other cities. But we are doing this on our own. We need a European relocation system which will organise it because it is a huge logistical enterprise. We can’t improvise anymore.”
-ABC News’ Zoe Magee
Mar 14, 6:12 am
Russian attacks will increase, may strike Lviv: US official
Russian attacks on Ukraine will increase, with the western city of Lviv among potential targets, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
Russian officials are convinced the city is being used to stage military operations and that some high ranking people are present. Russia may target the city, since “they want to create more terror,” an official said.
Russians have warned that anyone who supplies weapons to Ukraine, or offers safe haven, could be targeted.
After Sunday’s attack near the Polish border, concern is growing over a possible strike in Poland, an official said. There are several areas in Poland where weapons are currently being staged or stored.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Mar 14, 5:51 am
Ukraine, Russia to begin 4th round of talks
A fourth round of talks between Russia and Ukraine are due to begin on Monday, following optimistic comments from both sides over the weekend that they are moving towards a compromise.
Both sides have confirmed the latest round of the talks will take place today — the previous three rounds were held in Belarus, but these will take place remotely.
On Sunday, one of Russia’s negotiators, an MP Leonid Slutsky told Russian media that he believed “substantial progress” had been made and that he believed that progress could even “grow into a unified position” in documents for signing in the next few days.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Mykhailo Podolyak, in interviews and videos posted on Twitter on Sunday also said that Russia “looks at the situation far more properly” and has stopped throwing out “ultimatums.”
Podolyak told the Russian newspaper Kommersant the sides were discussing concrete proposals and that the key issue was “security guarantees” for both Russia and Ukraine. He said the sides were discussing a cease-fire, as well as compensation to Ukraine’s infrastructure destroyed during the war. But he did say that “some time is still needed” for Russia to understand the reality of its situation.
The comments have raised hopes Russia may be lowering its war aims as a result of the fierce Ukrainian resistance and tough response from Western countries.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told Fox News on Sunday that the U.S. also sees Russia is showing signs of a “willingness to have real, serious negotiations.”
But is unclear where the compromise might be found.
Last week, Russia was insisting that Ukraine change is constitution to guarantee it will not join NATO or the European Union. Ukraine had signalled that was not possible but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hinted there might be some negotiating space around NATO, which he has acknowledged Ukraine is not close to joining.
In a video posted to Twitter Monday morning before the start of the talks, Podolyak said Ukraine’s positions were “unchanged”: it was demanding an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops. He said only after that could any political settlements be discussed.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 13, 9:41 pm
Russia asks China for military support, US official says
Russia has asked China for military support and other aid in the time since it invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
China and Russia recently strengthened their partnership, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has stood by Russian President Vladimir Putin as he’s bombarded Ukraine.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden’s top national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said during an interview with CNN that the U.S. was “watching closely to see the extent to which China actually does provide any form of support, material support or economic support, to Russia.”
“It is a concern of ours,” Sullivan said, adding that the U.S. has communicated to Beijing that it will “not stand by and allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses from the economic sanctions.”
Sullivan is planning to meet a top Chinese official in Rome on Monday.
The Financial Times, The Washington Post and The New York Times first reported on this development.
(NEW YORK) — In the Ukraine conflict, reports of civilian casualties have dominated the headlines as Russian troops siege cities around the country.
Civilian buildings have been hit by Russian forces, with hospitals and residential buildings shelled, causing thousands of civilian casualties and massive human suffering.
Russia has denied they are deliberately targeting civilians and insisted in some cases that enemy fighters were hiding within the buildings.
Russia is also reported to have used unguided “dumb” bombs in Ukraine, which greatly increase the risk of missing targets and hitting civilian infrastructure.
Many countries, including the United States, along with independent monitors, like Amnesty International, have condemned Russia’s actions.
“We’ve all seen the devastating images coming out of Ukraine and are appalled by Russia’s brutal tactics,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said Friday. “Pregnant women on stretchers, apartment buildings — buildings shelled, families killed while seeking safety from this terrible violence. These are disgusting attacks; civilian casualties are increasing. If Russia is intentionally targeting civilians, that would be a war crime.”
But whether or not these attacks constitute war crimes has been debated. U.S. officials and the United Nations have been more reserved, saying legal assessments must be done, but Ukrainian officials have clearly condemned Russia’s attacks as violations of international humanitarian law.
Making matters murkier is the issue of civilians taking up arms to resist the Russian advance and the fact that the front lines often disappear in the realm of urban warfare.
Here’s what you need to know about the laws of war pertaining to civilians:
Civilians off limits, except when they take up arms
In an armed conflict, countries are not allowed to deliberately target or indiscriminately attack civilians, the civilian population or civilian properties, according to the rules of international humanitarian law, or IHL.
IHL covers the rules of war, specifying what parties can and can’t do during an armed conflict. The Geneva Conventions, four treaties adopted in 1949 and signed by 196 countries, are the core of IHL, according to the humanitarian organization International Committee of the Red Cross. Additional protocols were later adopted in 1977 and 2005. The conventions and protocols regulate the conduct of armed conflict and seek to minimize its effects.
Russia signed Protocol 1 in 1977, but Russian leader Vladimir Putin revoked Russia’s acceptance in October 2019, citing potential abuse of a commission set up to investigate war crimes.
But the protections for civilians who participate in an armed conflict by taking up arms are different, Allen Weiner, the director of the Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law, told ABC News.
“The rule is that civilians can be targeted, but only for such time as they are directly taking part in hostilities. So while a civilian is shooting at you, they become a permissible target. When they go back home, they cease to be permissible target under the law of armed conflict,” Weiner said.
Principles of distinction, proportionality, precautions
Under the Geneva Conventions, signatory states must abide by the IHL principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions during an armed conflict.
Distinction requires all sides to distinguish between civilian populations and combatants at all times, including distinguishing between civilian and military infrastructures, according to the ICRC.
This distinction is important, as the rules of war forbid countries from launching attacks on civilians and civilian objects or even launching indiscriminate attacks that hit military targets and civilians or civilian objects without distinction.
“Essential infrastructure must be spared, including water, gas and electrical systems that, for instance, provide civilian homes, schools and medical facilities with vital water and electricity supplies,” the ICRC told ABC News.
Russia, for instance, has captured the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants and attacked at least 26 health care facilities, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, said last week. Russia has also hit other gas and electric infrastructure.
“There’s not really different tiers of immunity; civilian objects are immune, period. So a civilian house is immune, a school is immune and a hospital is immune. And there’s really only one degree of immunity, which is, it can’t be targeted,” Weiner said.
The ICRC said that the use of “weapons with wide area effects must be avoided in populated areas” and that “attacks carried out with new technologies and cyber means must also respect international humanitarian law.”
The Russian army has been accused of using cluster bombs by Ukraine, including at Central City Hospital in Vuhledar on Feb. 24, reports the Office of the OHCHR called “credible.”
Proportionality prohibits states from launching attacks against military targets if the attack is expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects. Attacks may only be launched against a military objective if the potential civilian losses are not expected to outweigh the foreseen military advantage, according to the ICRC.
Parties to a conflict must “at all times take action to minimize civilian harm,” Cordula Droege, the chief legal officer for the ICRC, told ABC News in an interview.
In a conflict, countries are required to take constant precautions to spare civilians and their objects, which includes doing everything possible to verify that targets are military objects and giving advance warning of attacks that may affect the civilian population when possible, according to the ICRC.
“Civilians should be spared,” Droege said.
Consequences
There are consequences for breaking the rules of war. War crimes are documented and investigated by governments and international courts, such as the International Criminal Court. Individuals can also be prosecuted for war crimes, according to the ICRC.
Russia has been accused of targeting civilians and civilian infrastructures during its invasion of Ukraine, which is considered illegal under international law. Russia has denied the accusations and in some cases claimed enemy fighters were hiding behind civilians and in civilian buildings.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of hitting civilian targets in Ukraine, killing innocent people and destroying hospitals, schools and critical infrastructure such as running water, electricity and gas, all of which is protected under international law.
But while the U.S. has said it is documenting the incidents, officials have stopped short of saying Russia is guilty of war crimes.
“States are obligated to prosecute people who commit these crimes. … If the Russians are doing it, they have a legal obligation to prosecute their own,” Weiner said. “A lot of militaries do actually prosecute their own people if they violate the rules.”
The ICRC is “extremely worried about the protection of civilians” in Ukraine, Droege said.
“We are engaging all parties to the conflict on a bilateral and confidential dialogue to ensure they abide by their [IHL] obligations, including the respect of civilian objects, such as essential infrastructure, and, more broadly, all other IHL rules on the conduct of hostilities,” the ICRC said.
Even though Ukraine did not sign on to be a party to the International Criminal Court, it issued a declaration recognizing the jurisdiction of the court in 2015 — a year and a half after Russian forces first invaded Ukraine, seizing the Crimean Peninsula and launching a separatist war in the eastern provinces Donetsk and Luhansk.
That declaration gives the ICC the ability to prosecute criminal cases in the country, while the Ukrainian government has also said it is collecting evidence to be able to prosecute Russian service members they capture who have violated IHL.
Theoretically, Weiner said, there could be a prosecution of Russian soldiers or even Russia civilians in command of the army, such as the head of state or minister of defense, in the case of “ordering or directing these violations of international humanitarian law.”
While Weiner said the evidence gathered will show what, if any, violations of international humanitarian law have occurred, one thing is clear to him.
“This is really unusual in terms of being one of the most flagrant violations that I have seen of the basic idea that one country can’t simply invade another and try to take its territory by force, or to replace its government,” Weiner said.
(NEW YORK) — Yurii Panchenko, who fled Ukraine with his wife and only daughter hours after the first Russian missile exploded near his house, has begun raising funds through his Ukrainian mountain bike business, offering tours in and around Kyiv via Airbnb.
There are no actual tours taking place, as Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, continues to face indiscriminate missile strikes and shelling by the Russian military. But money, which will be used to support the Ukrainian defense, keeps flowing into Panchenko’s account.
“People from all over the world have booked tours for several months ahead just to support us,” Panchenko said, adding, “Except for Russians. We haven’t had bookings from there yet.”
Before the war, Panchenko’s tours were called “Mountain Biking In Kyiv” and the business had about one request per week. He renamed them “Support Ukrainian Army Mountain Bike Tours in Kyiv” and demand flew off the charts. The idea came a few days ago, with a booking request for a bike tour on a day when bombs were falling on the Ukrainian capital.
“First, I didn’t understand. Then I read a note from the customer, where they said they didn’t want to take the tour and they just wanted to support us,” Panchenko, who’s now living with his family in Vienna, Austria, said.
Since then, he’s had more than 500 tours booked, raising more than $15,000, despite dropping his prices to make the symbolic adventure more affordable.
Panchenko is one of many Airbnb hosts in Ukraine using the platform to raise money. More than 14,300 Airbnb Experiences were booked in Ukraine in the week prior to March 9, the company told ABC News.
Hosts received about $360,000 in the same time period, the company said. Airbnb earlier this month announced it was temporarily waiving guest and host fees for bookings in Ukraine.
“We are so humbled by the inspiring generosity of our community during this moment of crisis,” said Haven Thorn, a company spokesperson.
While there’s no way to know how recipients use the donations, Airbnb said it’s “actively evaluating” the listings in Ukraine to “detect and deter fraudulent activity.”
“The vast majority or most of our hosts are everyday people sharing the home in which they live,” Thorn said. “People considering booking to donate can also look at a Host’s profile to see how many listings they have and check the history of reviews on the listing to see how long the listing has been active.”
The bike mechanic from Kyiv said he has used the money to buy fuel and medicine in support of evacuation efforts in Ukraine. He said he also purchased a special thermal camera worth about $1,700 for one of Ukraine’s elite military units.
“We are also planning to send the troops other special devices, body armours and helmets,” Panchenko added.
Panchenko said his family has barely anything to spare, yet they’re not planning to keep any of the Airbnb proceeds for their personal use. They fled to Vienna through Romania on a four-day ride, having packed a single bag of clothes and essentials while carrying less than a thousand dollars. They managed to find free temporary accommodation and support in the Austrian capital, where Panchenko now works as a bike mechanic in a repair shop.
“We’ll be here for at least three weeks. We’re faring much better than other families who are still stuck in Ukraine. We’re trying to help those in need as much as we can,” Panchenko said.
Panchenko’s family home is near the city airport in Kyiv, but when the first Russian cruise missiles hit dangerously close, they were gone in 15 minutes, he said. They hopped into their car and headed off early in the morning.
“We were actually ready for something like this to happen and had some essentials pre-packed. But we never expected ballistic missiles to be raining down on us,” Panchenko said.
He managed to escape with his family before Ukraine banned all men aged 18-60 from leaving the country and started conscripting them into the military.
“I am not a military man and I knew I could be useful from elsewhere, like sending help from abroad,” Panchenko said.
Panchenko said his family has no discernible plan for the future.
“We’re currently living in the moment. We don’t know what’s going to happen to us next week,” Panchenko said.
He wants to return to Ukraine with his family once the war is over and rebuild his life, he said.
“But if they’ll need me to go back and fight, I’ll be ready,” he 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, coming within about 9 miles as of Friday.
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 15, 5:51 am
Residents protest in Russian-occupied cities: UK military
Residents of Kherson, Melitopol and Berdyansk, cities occupied by Russian forces, have held “multiple” demonstrations protesting the occupation, the U.K. Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.
Protests in Kherson came as Russia may be making plans for a “referendum” to legitimize the region as a Russian-backed “breakaway republic,” similar to Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea, the Ministry said.
“Further protests were reported in the city yesterday with Russian forces reportedly firing warning shots in an attempt to disperse peaceful protesters,” the Ministry said.
Russia is likely to “make further attempts to subvert Ukrainian democracy,” the update said.
“Russia has reportedly installed its own mayor in Melitopol following the alleged abduction of his predecessor on Friday 11 March,” the update said. “Subsequently, the Mayor of Dniprorudne has also reportedly been abducted by Russian forces.”
Mar 14, 9:56 pm
Latest talks with Russia went ‘pretty good,’ will continue tomorrow, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy updated the status of negotiations with Russia in his latest address Monday, saying the latest talks went “pretty good” and will continue tomorrow.
Zelenskyy also addressed Russian troops, telling them they would be treated “decently” should they surrender.
“On behalf of the Ukrainian people, I give you a chance — chance to survive,” Zelenskyy said. “You surrender to our forces, we will treat you the way people are supposed to be treated. As people, decently.”
Zelenskyy also thanked the producer at a Russian state news channel who appeared on camera behind an anchor and held up an anti-war sign. She was later arrested.
“I am grateful to those Russians who do not stop trying to convey the truth,” he said. “To those who fight disinformation and tell the truth, real facts to their friends and loved ones. And personally to the woman who entered the studio of Channel One with a poster against the war.”
(NEW YORK) — Nearly three million refugees have fled Ukraine since war erupted on Feb. 24. Among them is Hassan Al-Khalaf, an 11-year-old boy from Zaporizhzhia, a southern Ukrainian city along the Dnipro River where Russia has taken control of a nuclear power plant.
Hassan is one of the estimated one million children who have made the dangerous journey out of the war-torn country.
“Reports from the border suggest that some children are arriving unaccompanied after being sent by family members who were unable to leave Ukraine but wanted their children to be safe from ground attack and aerial explosions,” the charity Save the Children said in a release. “Others have been separated from their families in the chaos of fleeing their homes. Many of the solo arrivals are under 14 and showing signs of psychological distress.”
The boy arrived in Slovakia by train and foot, traveling over 620 miles west. The 11-year-old brought with him only a plastic bag with his belongings, including his passport. A phone number was written on his hand.
Border guards in Slovakia and volunteers banded together to help Hassan during his harrowing trek, using the phone number to help reunite the boy with his older siblings including his brother, who has been studying in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava.
Hassan’s mother, Pisecka Yulia Volodymyrivna, a widow, made the heartbreaking decision to send her 11-year-old out of Ukraine for his safety and stayed behind to care for her 84-year-old mother, who is unable to walk.
In a video statement, Volodymyrivna thanked the border guards and volunteers in Slovakia, saying in part, “Border guards met him, they guided him holding his hand. They helped him to cross the border and let him to the other side of Slovakia. Then Slovakian volunteers met him. They fed my child. They took him to Bratislava. I thank you very much for saving my son’s life.”
“I can’t leave my mother, who is 84 years old and who can’t walk on her own. That is why I put my son on a train to the Slovakia border where he was met by people with big hearts,” she continued. “There are people with big hearts in your small country. Please, save our children. Please protect our Ukrainian children.”
(NEW YORK) — A Fox News correspondent was injured in Ukraine, a day after the death of a freelance journalist also covering the Russia invasion.
Fox News State Department correspondent Benjamin Hall was injured while newsgathering near Kyiv on Monday, according to Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media.
The circumstances were not immediately clear but Hall was hospitalized, according to Scott, who asked to “please keep Ben and his family in your prayers.” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby also confirmed he was injured.
Shaun Tandon, president of the State Department Correspondents’ Association, said in a statement, “We know Ben for his warmth, good humor and utmost professionalism. We wish Ben a quick recovery and call for utmost efforts to protect journalists who are providing an invaluable service through their coverage in Ukraine.”
Hall’s injury follows the Sunday death of freelance journalist Brent Renaud, which was confirmed by the U.S. State Department. Renaud was in Ukraine to cover the global refugee crisis for a documentary with Sugar23, Time Studios and Day Zero Productions, according to Sugar23.
“As an award-winning filmmaker and journalist, Brent tackled the toughest stories around the world often alongside his brother Craig Renaud,” Time editor-in-chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal and president and COO of Time and Time Studios Ian Orefice said in a statement. “In recent weeks, Brent was in the region working on a TIME Studios project focused on the global refugee crisis. Our hearts are with all of Brent’s loved ones.”
Photojournalist Juan Arredondo said he was with Renaud when he was killed.
In a video from a hospital bed, Arredondo said, “We crossed the first bridge in Irpin; we were going to film other refugees leaving and we got to a car, somebody offered to take us to the other bridge and we crossed a checkpoint and they started shooting at us. So, the driver turned around and they kept shooting. It’s two of us, my friend is Brent Renaud, and he’s been shot and left behind.”
“This kind of attack is totally unacceptable, and is a violation of international law,” Carlos Martínez de la Serna, program director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement. “Russian forces in Ukraine must stop all violence against journalists and other civilians at once.”
“Two examples of the dangers in covering war,” Kirby, of the Pentagon, said of Hall and Renaud during a Monday press briefing. “This is a war that didn’t need to be fought, to be sure. But just as to be sure, there are journalists from around the world on the ground trying to discover the truth and to show that truth and to tell these important stories.”
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
(HONG KONG) — China is facing its worst COVID crisis since early 2020, when the world first witnessed an entire population locked down to contain the coronavirus in Wuhan and its surrounding province.
Two years on, it’s now sending tens of millions of people into lockdown in the entire northeastern province of Jilin, where 24 million people live, and the southern cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan, with 17.5 million and 10 million, respectively.
China, the last major country to relentlessly pursue a Covid-zero policy, reported 1,437 cases across dozens of cities on Monday. That’s a fourfold jump in a week.
Although record case numbers are testing the resilience of China’s no-tolerance approach, there is no sign the country is willing to pivot to ‘living with the virus.”
The epicenter of the omicron variant outbreak is the Northeastern Jilin province, where 895 cases were recorded, but there are also outbreaks and containment measures in place Shanghai, the financial powerhouse, and Shenzhen, the southern tech hub.
Authorities announced on Monday afternoon that all 24 million people in Jilin province would go into lockdown, including the previously locked down city of Changchun. It’s the first provincial lockdown since Wuhan and Hubei in January 2020.
On Sunday, China ordered all of Shenzhen’s 17.5 million residents into a seven-day lockdown, with three rounds of testing. All public transport is halted and all businesses, except essential services, will be closed until March 20.
As a result, Apple supplier Foxconn has shut two of its plants in the area and relocated production elsewhere.
The lockdown and outbreaks threaten manufacturing and tech production in Shenzhen, known as China’s Silicon Valley. It’s home to Huawei and Tencent, and is home to one of the country’s key ports.
Professor Heiwai Tang at Hong Kong University told ABC News that he doesn’t expect these week-long lockdowns to have a significant impact on the country’s gross domestic product.
“It seems the lockdowns will be shorter this time with more tracking, which means a short disruption of work and production,” Tang said. “If it ends up lasting for weeks it’s another issue, including inflation risks.”
Professor Michael Song from Hong Kong’s Chinese University estimated that the two-month lockdown in Wuhan cost China 2% of its GDP.
There’s immense pressure on local authorities to contain the virus, with state media reporting that the Jilin City mayor and the head of the Changchun city health commission were dismissed from their roles over the weekend.
Shanghai-based virologist Zhang Wenhong called the flare-up “the most difficult moment in the past two years” of China’s efforts to stamp out the virus. Shanghai has so far avoided a full-scale lockdown.
Across the border from Shenzhen, neighboring Hong Kong is also still tackling its deadliest wave yet, driven by Omicron. Hong Kong recorded 26,908 cases and 286 more deaths on Monday, officials said. Hong Kong’s death rate is the highest in the developed world, in part because of sluggish vaccination rates among the elderly.
Mega isolation facilities are being built across the Hong Kong for people with mild cases. One facility, with 3,900 beds, was built in a week. ABC News witnessed several busloads of people arriving at the facility from all over the city.
Self-titled “Asia’s world city,” Hong Kong is undergoing strict social-distancing measures and still has strict border measures in place, leading to an expat exodus. Many businesses are closed until late April.
The mental-health strain of the strict lockdown has also becoming apparent. Last month, police reported three suicide attempts in 27 hours at one of the quarantine camps.
