(LONDON) — The U.K. has authorized charges of indecent assault against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
He is facing two charges of indecent assault against a woman from an incident that allegedly took place in August 1996 in London. The unnamed victim is now in her 50s, according to the CPS.
“Charges have been authorised against Harvey Weinstein, 70, following a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation,” the CPS said in a statement. “The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”
Weinstein would need to be formally charged in the U.K. before a trial could begin. It’s unclear when that could happen, as Weinstein is serving 23 years in prison after being convicted of first-degree criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape in February 2020. He was sentenced in March 2020.
A New York appeals court just upheld his conviction last week.
Weinstein, who co-founded the movie production company Miramax along with his brother, became the focus of the #MeToo movement in October 2017 when The New York Times published a story alleging Weinstein had paid at least eight settlements to women accusing him of sexual misconduct.
Dozens of women publicly accused Weinstein of similar misconduct in the following weeks. He was fired from his own production company less than a week later.
In addition to the charges he was convicted of in New York, Weinstein was extradited to Los Angeles in July 2021 and charged with four counts each of forcible rape and forcible oral copulation.
(BERLIN) — At least one person was killed and 12 others were injured when a car plowed into a crowd of pedestrians in a popular shopping district in Berlin on Wednesday morning, police said.
“It is not yet known whether it was an accident or intentional action,” the Berlin Police said in a statement via Twitter.
The incident took place along the busy shopping street Tauentzienstrasse in the west of Germany’s capital. The alleged driver of the vehicle was detained at the scene, according to police.
A police spokesperson told ABC News it was unclear whether the incident was terror-related. Further details were not immediately available.
The scene was near the Breitscheidplatz, a public square in Berlin where 13 people were killed after an extremist deliberately drove into a Christmas market in 2016.
(BERLIN) — A car plowed into a crowd of people in a popular shopping district in Berlin on Wednesday morning, police said.
“A man is said to have driven into a group of people,” the Berlin Police said in a statement via Twitter. “It is not yet known whether it was an accident or intentional action.”
The incident took place along the busy shopping street Tauentzienstrasse in the west of Germany’s capital. The alleged driver of the vehicle was detained at the scene, according to police.
Further details on the incident were not immediately available.
The scene was near the Breitscheidplatz, a public square in Berlin where 13 people were killed after an extremist deliberately drove into a Christmas market in 2016.
(NEW YORK) — There is evidence of Russian vessels departing “from near Ukraine with their cargo holds full of grain,” a U.S. Department of State spokesperson told ABC News on Monday night.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported that Russia seized at least 400,000 to 500,000 tons of grain worth over $100 million, according to the State Department spokesperson.
“Ukraine’s MFA also has numerous testimonies from Ukrainian farmers and documentary evidence showing Russia’s theft of Ukrainian grain,” the spokesperson said.
The news of Ukrainian grain aboard Russian ships partly confirms a recent report by The New York Times that Moscow is seeking to profit off of grain plundered from Ukraine by selling the product while subverting sanctions. Ukraine has already accused Russia of shipping the stolen grain to buyers in Syria and Turkey.
Since Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, the cost of grain has skyrocketed worldwide. Russia and Ukraine — often referred to collectively as Europe’s breadbasket — produce a third of the global supply of wheat and barley, but Kyiv has been unable to ship exports due to Moscow’s offensive. Earlier this month, the Ukrainian Grain Association warned that Ukraine’s wheat harvest is expected to plummet by 40%.
In recent weeks, there has been an all-out push from the United States and the United Nations to facilitate exports from war-torn Ukraine, desperate to offset what they foretell is a looming global food crisis with the potential to devastate the developing world. A Russian blockade in the Black Sea, along with Ukrainian naval mines, have made exporting siloed grain virtually impossible and, as a result, millions of people around the world — particularly in Africa and the Middle East — are now on the brink of famine.
As part of ongoing efforts to assist food exports, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to meet with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara this week. But State Department spokesperson Ned Price has set low expectations for the meeting.
“I don’t know if we should expect breakthroughs,” Price told reporters during a press briefing on Monday afternoon. “Of course, we’ll be watching closely. We’ll be talking with our Turkish allies in the aftermath of that visit.”
Price underscored the pain the world is feeling because of Russia’s crunch on its food supply.
“This is a war that not only has brutalized — and, in many ways, terrorized — the people of Ukraine, but it has put at risk food security around the world,” he said.
Currently, there are approximately 84 merchant ships and 450 seafarers trapped at Ukrainian ports, according to Price.
“Not only is there grain aboard these vessels, but there are about 22 million tons of grain sitting in silos near the ports that also needs to move out to make room for the newly harvested grain,” he said. “In addition, Russia has actually taken aim at ships at sea. They have taken aim at grain silos. They are continuing to effectively implement what amounts to a blockade of Ukraine’s ports.”
(LONDON) — Some of the gunmen who attacked a church full of worshippers in southwestern Nigeria on Sunday were disguised as congregants, police said.
Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed in the late-morning attack at St. Francis Catholic Church in the town of Owo in Ondo state, more than 200 miles northwest of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, and over 200 miles southwest of Abuja, the Nigerian capital. The church was holding a service for Pentecost Sunday, a Christian holiday celebrated on the 50th day after Easter, when suddenly explosives detonated and gunshots rang out at around 11:30 a.m. local time, according to Olumuyiwa Adejobi, a spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force’s headquarters in Abuja.
“Further investigations revealed that some of the gunmen disguised as congregants, while other armed men who had positioned themselves around the church premises from different directions fired into the church,” Adejobi said in a statement on Monday night.
An unknown number of gunmen had approached the church during the service and began shooting at worshippers as they tried to flee, according to Funmilayo Ibukun Odunlami, a spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force’s command in Ondo state, adding that several gunmen were firing from inside the building.
A motive for the massacre was not immediately clear, as no group has claimed responsibility. Police have yet to identify the perpetrators or release the number of casualties.
“Some lives were lost and some sustained varying degrees of injuries,” Odunlami said in a statement on Sunday evening, later telling ABC News that police do not yet have an estimate.
Health workers at the Federal Medical Center in Owo told ABC News on Monday that at least 35 bodies had been transported to the hospital from the scene of Sunday’s attack. They said there was also an urgent need for blood donations for the wounded.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Laity Council of Nigeria said in a statement on Monday that “more than 50 parishioners” had died and the gunmen were “suspected to be bandits.”
The suspects fled the scene in a stolen Nissan and remain at large. The vehicle has since been recovered by police, according to Adejobi.
Police have also recovered three undetonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from the scene, along with fragments of detonated IEDs and pellets of expended AK-47 ammunition, Adejobi said.
Nigerian Inspector-General of Police Usman Alkali Baba has ordered a “full-scale” and “comprehensive” investigation into the incident and has deployed specialized police units to help track down the assailants, according to Adejobi.
“He equally assures that the heartless killers of the harmless victims, particularly innocent children, would be made to face the full wrath of the law,” Adejobi said.
(NEW YORK) — Prince Harry and Meghan, duchess of Sussex, have released a new photo of their daughter, Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
The photo shows a smiling, red-headed Lili sitting in the grass at her first birthday party, which took place on Saturday at Frogmore Cottage, the Sussexes’ home in the United Kingdom.
The toddler’s birthday party, described as a casual, backyard picnic, was attended by close friends and family, according to a spokesperson for the Sussexes.
Party guests enjoyed a birthday cake by London baker Claire Ptak, who created Harry and Meghan’s wedding cake in 2018.
The photo of Lili was taken by U.K.-based photographer Misan Harriman, who also took the photo Harry and Meghan shared with their pregnancy announcement last year.
Harriman shared a few photos on Twitter from the party, writing, “It was such a privilege to celebrate the 1st birthday of Lilibet with my family and hers! Joy and face painting all around.”
One of the photos shows Meghan holding Lili, who has her hand in her mouth and is wearing polka-dot socks.
It was such a privilege to celebrate the 1st birthday of Lilibet with my family and hers! Joy and face painting all around ❤️🎂🎉 pic.twitter.com/bg3RY6MOEu
Lili celebrated her first birthday on her first trip to the U.K., where her father and older brother, 3-year-old Archie, were born.
The Sussexes now live in California, where Meghan was raised. The family traveled to the U.K. to attend Platinum Jubilee celebrations for Lili’s great-grandmother and namesake, Queen Elizabeth II.
Lili and Archie did not appear publicly while in the U.K. Harry and Meghan attended just one public engagement, joining royal family members at a National Service of Thanksgiving for Elizabeth at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
The church service was the couple’s first royal event since they stepped down from their senior royal roles in 2020 and moved out of the U.K.
Prior to Lili’s birthday photo, the only public photo that had been released of her was the Sussexes’ 2021 Christmas card.
In the photo, the family is all smiling as Meghan lifts up Lili and Archie sits on Harry’s lap.
Harry revealed in April that Lili, 10 months old at the time, was learning how to walk.
“Her current priorities are trying to keep up with her brother; she took her first step just a few days ago!” Harry told People magazine. “Proud papa, here.”
(LONDON) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a “no-confidence” vote on Monday evening, with Conservative lawmakers voting in favor of his leadership by a margin of 211-148.
The vote could have forced his resignation after the prime minister became embroiled in a series of scandals.
Held by Johnson’s Conservative Party, the vote was the latest challenge aimed at ending the political career of the United Kingdom’s controversial leader.
“Conservative MPs made their choice tonight,” Keir Starmer, leader of the opposing Labour Party, said in a speech following the results. “They have ignored the British public and hitched themselves and their party firmly to Boris Johnson, and everything that he represents.”
Graham Brady, a Conservative MP, announced the vote on Monday morning, saying it had been triggered on Sunday when a 15% threshold of Conservative lawmakers in the House of Commons had decided they no longer trusted Johnson to lead.
“The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs and will remind them that when they’re united and focused on the issues that matter to voters there is no more formidable political force,” No. 10 Downing St., Johnson’s office, said in a statement.
Brady told BBC News that he had informed Johnson on Sunday. Members who filed no-confidence letters with Brady had dated them to coincide with the end of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Sunday, so as not to interrupt the celebration, he said.
The prime minister required a simple majority to survive. The Conservative Party holds 359 seats in the U.K. Parliament, meaning he required 180 MPs to back him in order to stay in office.
Despite living to fight another day, the scale of victory could still prove to be a problem. With a close vote, observers say, he could still be pressured to resign at a later date. Under the current rules, however, he will be immune from a similar challenge to his leadership for a year.
Theresa May, Johnson’s predecessor, won a confidence vote 200-117 in December 2018, but would still resign five months later. Johnson received an even lower percentage of support.
The no-confidence vote comes after months of pressure building on Johnson’s leadership, and this is the first vote of its kind since Johnson became prime minister in July 2019.
A much publicized investigation by a top civil servant, Sue Gray, into over a dozen gatherings held at key government residences attending by Downing Street staff concluded in May.
The prime minister himself was personally issued a fine by the Metropolitan Police in April for attending an illegal gathering during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, becoming the first sitting prime minister in British history to receive a sanction for breaking the law.
Johnson apologized, but has since faced a chorus of calls to resign from opposition lawmakers and, now, members of his own party.
The report included a photo of the prime minister making a toast at a gathering held in No. 10 to mark the departure of one of his special advisers, at a time when the nation was under a strict lockdown. There were also a number of damning details in the report, including “multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff” and instances of “excessive alcohol consumption.”
“Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of Government,” Gray wrote in the conclusion of the report. “The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this.”
While the government has received praise at home and abroad for their support for Ukraine, the scandal over “Partygate” and growing concern about the cost of living has overshadowed Johnson’s recent premiership.
On Friday, Johnson was booed by spectators at St. Paul’s Cathedral as he arrived for the National Service of Thanksgiving.
He has received public backing from several key lawmakers ahead of the no-confidence vote, which is a secret ballot, and Johnson will reportedly address his own MPs in order to make the case for his leadership ahead of the final vote on Monday evening.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 06, 9:05 am
Russia beefs up air defense on Snake Island
Russia has likely moved multiple air defense assets, including SA-15 and SA-22 missile systems, to Snake Island in the western Black Sea, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Monday in an intelligence update.
The move follows the loss of the Russian warship Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
“It is likely these weapons are intended to provide air defence for Russian naval vessels operating around Snake Island,” the ministry added. “Russia’s activity on Snake Island contributes to its blockade of the Ukrainian coast and hinders the resumption of maritime trade, including exports of Ukrainian grain.”
Russian forces captured Ukraine’s Snake Island in the early days of the invasion, memorably when Ukrainian soldiers defending the tiny islet told an attacking Russian warship to “go f— yourself.” Ukrainian troops have failed in their attempts to retake the previously inconsequential territory.
Meanwhile, in eastern Ukraine’s contested Donbas region, heavy fighting continues in the war-torn city of Sieverodonetsk, according to the ministry.
“Russian forces continue to push towards Sloviansk as part of their attempted encirclement of Ukrainian force,” the ministry said.
And in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Russian air-launched cruise missiles struck rail infrastructure Sunday in the early morning hours, “likely in an attempt [to] disrupt the supply of Western military equipment to frontline Ukrainian units,” according to the ministry.
Jun 05, 3:39 pm
Russian missiles target Kyiv
After five weeks of relative calm in Kyiv, Russian rockets hit Ukraine’s capital city on Sunday as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of strikes on “new targets” if the United States goes through with plans to supply Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said the war is still in its “hot phase” and “capturing Kyiv is still Russia’s main goal.”
An ABC News crew visited Kyiv’s Darnytskyy district, where several Russian cruise missiles slammed into a railway repair plant. One building was still on fire when the ABC News crew arrived. Nearby, another missile strike left a creater on a cement path.
It took hours before Ukrainian authorities permitted media access to the site, saying the area needed to be cleared for safety first.
The Russians claimed the attack in Darnystskyy destroyed military vehicles and armaments. Ukrainian officials said the missiles hit a railway repair plant where no tanks were stored.
Speaking on Russian TV on Sunday, Putin issued a warning to the West on supplying the Ukrainians with high-powered rocket systems. He said if the West carried through with it, Russia would hit “new targets they had not attacked before.”
Jun 05, 7:05 am
Putin warns of strikes if West supplies longer-range missiles
President Vladimir Putin warned that Russian forces would strike new targets if the West began supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
“But if they [missiles] are actually delivered, we will draw appropriate conclusions and apply our own weapons, which we have in sufficient quantities to carry out strikes on targets we aren’t striking yet,” Putin told Rossyia 1 TV Channel in an interview on Sunday.
(LONDON and ABUJA, Nigeria) — Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed in southwestern Nigeria on Sunday when gunmen attacked a church, officials said.
The bloodshed occurred at St. Francis Catholic Church in the town of Owo in Ondo state, more than 200 miles southwest of Abuja, the Nigerian capital. A group of unknown gunmen stormed the church at around 11:30 a.m. local time during a service for Pentecost Sunday, with about four of the assailants open firing inside the building while others shot at worshippers outside, according to Funmilayo Ibukun Odunlami, a spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force’s command in Ondo state.
“Some lives were lost and some sustained varying degrees of injuries,” Odunlami said in a statement on Sunday, later telling ABC News on Monday that police do not yet have an estimate on the number of casualties.
Health workers at the Federal Medical Center in Owo told ABC News that at least 35 bodies had been transported to the hospital from the scene of Sunday’s attack. They said there is also an urgent need for blood donations for the many wounded.
Earlier media reports, citing local officials and hospital workers, had placed the number of dead at more than 50.
The attack remains under investigation and specialized police units have been deployed to Owo “to restore normalcy and fortify the entire community,” according to Odunlami. A motive for the massacre and the identity of the perpetrators was not immediately clear, as no group has claimed responsibility.
A U.S. official briefed on the situation told ABC News that the attack reportedly began with an explosion outside the church, followed by gunmen shooting sporadically at worshippers inside. Stray bullets also killed passersby, the official said.
One of the priests at the church, Rev. Fr. Andrew Abayomi, said they were at the end of the service and people were getting ready to leave when the first gunshot rang out.
“We hid inside the church but some people had left when the attack happened,” Abayomi told reporters in Owo on Sunday. “We locked ourselves in the church for 20 minutes. When we heard that they had left, we opened the church and rushed victims to the hospital.”
A Catholic Church spokesperson in Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Augustine Ikwu, said the attack “has left the community devastated,” but that all the priests and bishops in the parish were “safe.”
“Nonetheless, let us continue to pray for them and the good people of Owo and the state at large,” Ikwu said in a statement on Sunday.
Ondo state Gov. Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who visited the scene of the attack as well as some of the hospitalized victims, “is deeply saddened by the unprovoked attack and killing of innocent people of Owo,” according to his spokesperson, Richard Olatunde.
“The vile and satanic attack is a calculated assault on the peace-loving people of Owo Kingdom who have enjoyed relative peace over the years,” Olatunde said in a statement on Sunday. “We shall commit every available resource to hunt down these assailants and make them pay.”
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned what he described as “the heinous killing of worshippers.”
“No matter what, this country shall never give in to evil and wicked people, and darkness will never overcome light,” Buhari said in a statement on Sunday.
ABC News’ Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 05, 3:39 pm
Russian missiles target Kyiv
After five weeks of relative calm in Kyiv, Russian rockets hit Ukraine’s capital city on Sunday as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of strikes on “new targets” if the United States goes through with plans to supply Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said the war is still in its “hot phase” and “capturing Kyiv is still Russia’s main goal.”
An ABC News crew visited Kyiv’s Darnytskyy district, where several Russian cruise missiles slammed into a railway repair plant. One building was still on fire when the ABC News crew arrived. Nearby, another missile strike left a creater on a cement path.
It took hours before Ukrainian authorities permitted media access to the site, saying the area needed to be cleared for safety first.
The Russians claimed the attack in Darnystskyy destroyed military vehicles and armaments. Ukrainian officials said the missiles hit a railway repair plant where no tanks were stored.
Speaking on Russian TV on Sunday, Putin issued a warning to the West on supplying the Ukrainians with high-powered rocket systems. He said if the West carried through with it, Russia would hit “new targets they had not attacked before.”
Jun 05, 7:05 am
Putin warns of strikes if West supplies longer-range missiles
President Vladimir Putin warned that Russian forces would strike new targets if the West began supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
“But if they [missiles] are actually delivered, we will draw appropriate conclusions and apply our own weapons, which we have in sufficient quantities to carry out strikes on targets we aren’t striking yet,” Putin told Rossyia 1 TV Channel in an interview on Sunday.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova and Tomek Rolski
Jun 03, 6:17 pm
Driver killed, 2 journalists injured in eastern Ukraine
Two Reuters journalists were injured and their driver killed in an attack in eastern Ukraine Friday, Reuters said.
Photographer Alexander Ermochenko and cameraman Pavel Klimov were traveling into Sievierodonetsk when they came under fire on a Russian-held part of the road, according to Reuters. Klimov was treated for an arm fracture and Ermochenko for a small shrapnel wound at a nearby hospital.
Their driver, who has not been identified, had been assigned to Reuters by Russia-backed forces.
“Reuters extends its deepest sympathies to the family of the driver for their loss,” a Reuters spokesperson said in a statement.
Jun 03, 12:39 pm
EU issues latest package of sanctions
The European Union announced a new package of sanctions targeting Russia on Friday. The EU is banning all sea transfers of crude oil from Russia after a six-month transitory period, to allow for the market to adjust.
The EU will also ban imports (sea transfers) of refined petroleum products from Russia, after an eight-month transitory period.
The EU also added 65 new individuals to its sanctions list, including retired Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva. She became chair of the board of the National Media Group and previously sat as a deputy in Russia’s State Duma.
Kabaeva was sanctioned by the U.K. on May 13, which said she is alleged to have a close personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but has not been sanctioned by the U.S.
Jun 03, 12:17 pm
Marriott suspends all operations in Russia
Marriott International announced Friday that it will suspend all its operations in Russia, after operating there for 25 years, due to the conflict in Ukraine.
It said the suspension comes as newly announced U.S., U.K. and EU restrictions will make it impossible for it to operate or franchise hotels in Russia.
Marriott closed its corporate office in Moscow and all upcoming hotels and future developments and investments were paused on March 10.
The company also announced it has given $1 million in disaster relief funds for associates and their families who have been directly affected by the war. Lodging is being offered to refugees from Ukraine at 85 hotels in neighboring countries.
Jun 03, 7:50 am
Russia now controls over 90% of Luhansk region
Russia now controls over 90% of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast and “is likely to complete control in the next two weeks,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Friday in an intelligence update.
“Russia is now achieving tactical success in the Donbas. Russian forces have generated and maintained momentum and currently appear to hold the initiative over Ukrainian opposition,” the ministry said. “Russia has achieved these recent tactical successes at significant resource cost, and by concentrating force and fires on a single part of the overall campaign.”
Russia has been unable to advance its other fronts or axes, “all of which have transitioned to the defensive,” according to the ministry. In fact, the ministry noted, none of the strategic objectives of Moscow’s original plan have been achieved.
Russian forces failed to achieve their initial objectives to seize Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and other major cities.
“Staunch Ukrainian resistance and the failure to secure Hostomel airfield in the first 24 hours led to Russian offensive operations being repulsed,” the ministry said. “Following the failure of the initial plan, through false planning assumptions and poor tactical execution, Russia adapted its operational design to focus on the Donbas.”
Russian forces are now battling Ukrainian troops for control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which comprises Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
“In order for Russia to achieve any form of success will require continued huge investment of manpower and equipment, and is likely to take considerable further time,” the ministry added.
Jun 03, 5:49 am
100 days of war
Friday marked the 100th day since Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine.
In a statement, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the “full-scale invasion” as a “continuation of Russia’s aggressive actions it unleashed 8 years ago by occupying Crimea and parts of territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”
“Today, our people defend not only their right to exist and live in an independent state, but the security of Europe and the whole democratic world,” the ministry said. “Every day our defenders, at the cost of their own lives, bravely repel Russia’s war machine and fight for freedom and peaceful future of the continent.”
“For 100 days of war, the Kremlin has failed to reach its main goal — conquest of Ukraine,” the ministry added. “Instead, Russia has become the most sanctioned state in the world, and its activities within international organizations and participation in international events have been significantly limited or stopped. The Ukrainian army is bravely holding the line and has liberated territories in a number of regions. Ukraine is determined to have a complete victory over the Russian invader.”
The ministry thanked the “dozens of countries around the world who provide significant support” to Ukraine. It also called on the international community to support the establishment of a special tribunal to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
“In order to stop Russia’s crimes against the Ukrainian people, destruction of our economy and blackmail of the whole world by famine, consistent support for Ukraine should continue. Assistance to our state today is the best investment in peace and sustainable development of all mankind,” the ministry said. “The main pillars for our victory remain unchanged: maximum sanction pressure on Russia, deliveries of necessary weapons and granting Ukraine the status of candidate on the way to full-fledged EU membership.”
Meanwhile, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova applauded progress that’s been made in the so-called special military operation in Ukraine.
“The special military operation will be continued until all of its objectives declared by the Russian administration, including denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, are achieved,” Zakharova said at a press briefing Friday. “A lot has been done in this area: militants of the Azov nationalistic formation have surrendered in Mariupol and the liberation of Donbas has been consistently carried out.”
Jun 02, 1:34 pm
Russia controls about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, Zelenskyy says
Russia now controls over 46,300 square miles of Ukraine, which accounts for about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Since Russia’s invasion began, Russian forces have gained control of over 16,602 square miles, or roughly 7% of Ukraine’s territory — an area that’s comparable to the size of the Netherlands, Zelenskyy said Thursday in a speech to the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg. Combined with the territory from Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the war in the Donbas region, Russia’s control of Ukraine now accounts for 20% of its territory, he said.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Jun 02, 6:35 am
Ukrainian first lady sits down for exclusive interview with ABC News: ‘Don’t get used to our pain’
Since the start of Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainian first lady has been in hiding with her two children. A difficult question her 9-year-old son keeps asking is when the war will end, Olena Zelenska said in an exclusive interview with ABC News.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think any Ukrainian would be able to answer that question,” Zelenska told Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts in her first televised solo interview since the invasion began.
In discussing the state of the conflict nearly 100 days after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Zelenska said that conceding territory to Russia won’t stop the war.
“You just can’t concede … parts of your territory. It’s like conceding a freedom,” Zelenska, 44, said in the interview, airing on Good Morning America Thursday. “Even if we would consider territories, the aggressor would not stop at that. He would continue pressing, he would continue launching more and more steps forward, more and more attacks against our territory.”
Jun 02, 4:34 am
Russia takes most of key city in Donbas
Russian forces have taken control of most of Sieverodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Thursday in an intelligence update.
“The main road into the Sieverodonetsk pocket likely remains under Ukrainian control but Russia continues to make steady local gains, enabled by a heavy concentration of artillery,” the ministry said. “This has not been without cost, and Russian forces have sustained losses in the process.”
Sieverodonetsk, an industrial hub, is the largest city still held by Ukrainian troops in the contested Donbas region of Ukraine’s east, which comprises the self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
“Crossing the Siverskyy Donets River — which is a natural barrier to its axes of advance –- is vital for Russian forces as they secure Luhansk Oblast and prepare to switch focus to Donetsk Oblast,” the ministry added. “Potential crossing sites include between Sieverodonetsk and the neighbouring town of Lysychansk; and near recently-captured Lyman. In both locations, the river line likely still remains controlled by Ukrainian forces, who have destroyed existing bridges.”
Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk are the last major cities in the Luhansk area still controlled by Ukraine.
“It is likely Russia will need at least a short tactical pause to re-set for opposed river crossings and subsequent attacks further into Donetsk Oblast, where Ukrainian armed forces have prepared defensive positions,” the ministry added. “To do so risks losing some of the momentum they have built over the last week.”
Jun 01, 9:27 pm
Ukraine’s first lady tells ABC News that giving up land is ‘like conceding a freedom’
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska spoke about the state of the ongoing conflict with Russia and where the Ukrainian people currently stand as a country.
In her first televised solo interview since the invasion began, Zelenska, 44, told Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts that conceding territory to Russia won’t stop the war.
“You just can’t concede…parts of your territory. It’s like conceding a freedom,” Zelenska said. “Even if we would consider territories, the aggressor would not stop at that. He would continue pressing, he would continue launching more and more steps forward, more and more attacks against our territory.”
The interview with Zelenska will air Thursday, June 2, on Good Morning America and across ABC News. GMA airs at 7 a.m. ET on ABC.
