Dan + Shay‘s follow-up to 2021’s Good Things is shaping up to be even better things.
That’s because last year, Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney decided to go back to their beginnings as they celebrated a career milestone.
“We’ve been together for 10 years, been able to, like, live out our dreams, all this cool stuff,” Dan tells ABC Audio. “Like aren’t we the luckiest guys in the world? And [we] kinda sat back down and just got a guitar like we did when we first met. And we hit this creative stride.”
That included setting the bar high when it came to writing songs.
“We kinda set a goal,” Dan continues. “We’re like, ‘We’re gonna write 50 songs this year’ — which, like, doesn’t seem like that many for just songwriters in Nashville. We’ve got people writing 150 songs, 200 songs.”
“But with how busy we are,” he explains, “it was, like, a manageable goal. And we did, and we just blew past that. And I feel like we wrote our best material of our career so far.”
Dan + Shay currently have a top 20 hit with “You,” the latest single off Good Things.
Mel Brooks fans have been waiting over 40 years for this — the sequel to History of the World Part 1. Part 2 starts streaming Monday on Hulu.
It’s a series this time around, with Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, and Nick Kroll as executive producers, with some help from Brooks himself, Barinholtz tells ABC Audio.
“He’s a national treasure who’s 96, and we want to make sure that we’re not making him too exhausted. But he would always be there to jump on a zoom and hear a pitch or do a table read. And he’s in the show,” he explains. “…And every time you see him, to quote Wanda, his face pop up on your screen you’re just like, you look around like, is anyone else watching this? Like, this is crazy.”
Barinholtz says Brooks was one of the biggest influences on his young comedy brain, crediting the comedy legend for introducing him to the R-rated comedies he’s grown to love.
“It was because of Mel in the ’70s that I watched movies in the ’80s that weren’t not just Mel’s, but also Trading Places and Vacation and Coming to America and then in the ’90s with the Farrelly brothers and then in the 2000s with… movies like Bridesmaids and Anchorman and stuff,” he recalls. “…And Mel started that s***.”
Sykes agrees, noting, “Blazing Saddles was like my favorite movie, watched it so many times.”
“I think what, Mel teaches us is that you can be hella silly and you can also be crass, but you can also say something,” she continues. “You know, I love how he went after whoever was in charge. He was always bringing down the big guy.”
At the Oscars on March 12, legendary songwriter Diane Warren has received her 14th nomination for Best Original Song for “Applause,” from the movie Tell It Like a Woman. but while she feels the nomination is its own award, she wouldn’t mind taking home the Oscar — to keep one of her other awards company.
“I already won,” she tells ABC Audio. “[My song was] already chosen to be one of five songs chosen by the best musicians, best composers, best songwriters in music and the planet.” She adds, “Whatever happens after that happens, but what a great feeling and what a great sign of respect.”
And even though last year Diane became the first-ever songwriter in Academy history to receive the honorary Governors Award — which she calls “the big Oscar they give to, like, Orson Welles or Walt Disney” — she wants a “regular” Oscar too.
“I’d still like to win a competitive Oscar….[because] he gets very lonely,” she laughs. “He just sits there on my piano. He wants a friend!”
On the Oscar telecast Sunday on ABC, Diane will play the piano while singer/actress Sofia Carson sings “Applause.” Diane says Sofia was the perfect person to record the empowering tune because “she’s beautiful inside, and it comes out in her voice.”
In addition, Diane says Sofia is “strong,” and reveals that “record executives have told her, ‘You gotta take your clothes off’…and she’s like, ‘No, I’m doing it on my terms.’ And you know what? Look at her. She is! She’s going to be on the Academy Awards!”
Oscars aside “Applause” is also climbing the chart, so which would Diane prefer: to win on Sunday, or to see “Applause” hit number one?
“Why can’t I have both?” she laughs. “Why do you gotta choose?”
Foreigner is set to kick off their final tour this summer. While some may question whether it’s the right time for them to say goodbye to the road, the band’s current lead singer, Kelly Hansen, thinks the timing’s perfect.
“I’d rather go out at the top of our game than to be out there doing it less than it should be, as I’ve seen so many times over the years,” he tells ABC Audio. “Sometimes I’ll just see someone and I’ll just kinda go, ‘Why, why are they — is it too many divorces? Why are they still out there?’”
And the tour should certainly be a fun one for longtime fans, with Hansen noting, “I would like to be able to play some stuff that we really don’t get to play.” He says it will all depend on how long the show is, curfews and things like that.
But Kelly hints that fans may see a special guest here and there.
“All of the original Foreigner members are always welcome to join us and I know that will be taking place,” he says. “And who knows? Who knows in the musical world who might feel like it’s a good time to come and say hi with us onstage who might have been fans and never really told us. Who knows? But it should be good.”
Foreigner’s farewell tour kicks off July 6 in Atlanta, Georgia, and is currently set to wrap up September 3 in Holmdel, New Jersey. A complete list of dates can be found at foreigneronline.com.
Gary Rossington, guitarist for Southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd, passed away Sunday at the age of 71, according to an announcement on the band’s Facebook page.
“It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today,” the band shared. “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does.”
The statement added, “Please keep [his wife] Dale, [his daughters] Mary [and] Annie and the entire Rossington family in your prayers and respect the family’s privacy at this difficult time.”
Rossington, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 2006, was the last original member of Skynyrd’s lineup remaining in the group. He had been the last surviving original member of the band, following the death of Larry Junstrom in 2019.
He played guitar on many of the band’s biggest hits, including “Simple Man,” which he co-wrote with Ronnie Van Zant, as well as “Sweet Home Alabama” — which he also co-wrote — and “Tuesday’s Gone.” He played slide guitar on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s signature “Free Bird.”
Rossington was one of the passengers who survived the October, 20, 1977 Mississippi plane crash that took the lives of Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines and three others, though he broke both arms, legs, wrists, and ankles, in addition to his pelvis.
Outside of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rossington, along with Skynyrd member Allen Collins, formed the Rossington Collins Band, which released two albums in 1980 and 1981 before disbanding in 1982. He also formed TheRossington Band with his wife Dale Krantz; they released two albums in 1986 and 1988.
(CONWAY, Ark.) — It’s been more than 45 days since 14-year-old Tanvi Marupally went missing near the bus pickup area at her school in Conway, Arkansas, and there are still no publicly known leads as to where she went.
Tanvi’s parents initially told the Conway Police Department that the Indian-American teenager might have run away from home due to fear of deportation, according to police. She had run away previously at age 11 when her mother was deported, but in that instance, she was gone less than a day and was near her house for the entirety of her disappearance, officials said.
Her parents, Sridevi Eadara and Pavan Roy Marupally, have said deportation is no longer a concern. The couple expressed this assurance in a video posted to YouTube of them pleading for their only daughter to come home. Eadara, the mother, returned legally to the United States as a dependent on her husband’s visa, she told ABC News.
Eadara told ABC News that while transitioning to junior high this school year was stressful for her daughter, “she’s smart, hardworking, kindhearted, and always wanted to help people, especially in high school … all of her teachers are so proud of her.”
She also said that between Tanvi’s excitement for college and the ACT she was scheduled to take in February, it makes no sense that she’d run away.
According to CPD, Tanvi was last seen walking past her usual bus pickup area at Conway Junior High School on Jan. 17, 2023. When she did not arrive home by bus later that day, her parents contacted the police. She was not carrying any sort of trackable electronic device.
The community of approximately 65,000 people has rallied around her family and the cause to bring Tanvi home, searching the town for weeks, holding a vigil in February, and bringing home-cooked meals to Tanvi’s parents.
“You wish every community with a missing child would respond the way Conway has,” Rebecca Steinbach, spokesperson for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), told ABC News. “They’ve banded together in such a loving, positive way to bring Tanvi home.”
Eadara said, “Our family, friends and community … they are helping us … literally they are taking care of my family.”
But Steinbach fears awareness of the case has not sufficiently reached beyond the small town. She hopes NCMEC’s latest effort will spread the word further.
“Tanvi’s face will be on TV screens at gas pumps throughout the state of Arkansas and surrounding states of Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Missouri over the next month,” she said. NCMEC also has a dedicated case manager working in conjunction with law enforcement and the family to offer resources and assistance daily, according to the spokesperson.
In February, the U.S. Marshals Service joined CPD in its efforts to search for the teen. But despite a multi-agency effort, the case appears to be running cold, leading some community members to criticize law enforcement’s response and begin their own sleuthing efforts.
Jenny Wallace is a lifelong resident of the Conway area, former teacher, and mom of six who organized the vigil in February and continues to advocate for more resources dedicated to finding Tanvi, as are other local parents. Tanvi’s mother confirmed Wallace has grown close to their family since her daughter’s disappearance.
Wallace told ABC News that she believes in the crucial period of the first two weeks of the case, CPD failed to address the teen’s disappearance adequately. Arkansas State Police confirmed neither an AMBER Alert nor Endangered Missing Advisory were sent out in January, which Wallace claimed she begged the police for.
In an email to ABC News on Thursday, CPD public information officer Lacey Kanipe said they were in contact with Arkansas State Police regarding issuance of an AMBER Alert, since that agency decides what cases qualify for alerts but added, “While ASP is sympathetic, ultimately, they determined that the information we have at this time does not meet the requirement for an Amber Alert.” In an email to ABC News, ASP stated, “Based on the information provided by the Conway PD on Feb. 17, the case did not meet the ASP requirement for an Amber Alert.” “We did not receive a call before Feb. 17,” they continued, which was a month after Tanvi went missing.
For cases to qualify for an AMBER Alert, the U.S. Justice Department requires specific criteria be met, including that there must be a reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred, and law enforcement must believe the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death. An EMA alert, according to ASP’s alert guidelines, can be used when law enforcement has a case that does not fully qualify for an AMBER Alert. Neither CPD nor ASP responded to inquiries as to why an EMA was not issued.
The offense description box of the January 2023 police report reviewed by ABC News labels Tanvi’s disappearance as “harassment conduct that repeatedly causes alarm,” not “runaway” or “missing person,” but the narrative section of her report states that a BOLO was sent out and she was registered into ASP’s Crime Information Center as a runaway.
In an email to ABC News, Kanipe stated: “Typically when juveniles run away the incident is categorized as harassment.”
Kanipe did not respond to requests to explain “harassment” and why it is applied to missing children.
“Initially, we reported Tanvi as wearing tan pants based on a description given to us by her parents,” Kanipe said. “We later realized that Tanvi’s parents were mistaken when we received footage from the school district, and we put out an accurate release with photos from the day Tanvi left school.”
“I think they [police] felt like this was a runaway who was going to come home and that’s how it was treated. And so we applied pressure at two weeks … and then they started canvassing,” Wallace said of her experience. “I would say more stuff is being done [by police] now,” she added. But over a month into the case, law enforcement has not informed the public of any leads.
In reply to criticism that CPD’s response to Marupally’s case has been insufficient, CPD listed its efforts, ranging from park, town, and sewage canvasses by foot and drone, interviews with those who knew Tanvi, and surveillance footage requests. “CPD began our search for Tanvi as soon as her parents notified us that she did not come home from school…,” Kanipe wrote.
“Our concern lies with Tanvi’s family and ensuring that we remain in communication with them about any updates on the investigation,” Kanipe wrote.
Nevertheless, because of Wallace’s dissatisfaction with law enforcement’s response, she says she took matters into her own hands in those first two weeks, orchestrating her own searches in the area and reviewing door camera footage from the area where Marupally went missing. She was also pleased when the family hired a private investigator.
Eadara, meanwhile, simply had a message for anyone who may have taken Tanvi and for her daughter. “I’m begging, please let Tanvi go home,” she said. “And Tanvi, please understand your mother’s pain, and let us know you’re safe.”
Officials ask that anyone with information on Tanvi’s whereabouts call 911 or the Conway Police Department at 501-450-6120.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is also taking calls and texts at 1-800-843-5678. Information can be reported anonymously.
(NEW YORK) — Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, a graduate student studying economics and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, who is Black, said she never would have entered the field if she hadn’t met Lisa Cook.
In 2017, then an undergraduate math major with little familiarity with economics, Opoku-Agyeman attended a seminar led by Cook, also Black, who at the time was an economics professor at Michigan State University.
“She was wonderful,” Opoku-Agyeman told ABC News. “I walked up to her and said, ‘Hey, can you be my mentor?'”
After graduation, Opoku-Agyeman spent a summer studying at Michigan State, where the relationship with Cook deepened from a formal mentorship to a friendship.
“She has looked out for me in this space,” Opoku-Agyeman said. ”I don’t think I would be here if she didn’t take me under her wing and usher me through some of the most difficult challenges.”
In May, Cook became a Federal Reserve governor, making her the first Black woman to hold that key position, which helps set central bank policy at a high-stakes moment when policymakers are trying to bring down inflation without causing a recession.
She is one in a series of women recently elevated to senior leadership posts in U.S. economic policymaking, including the appointment last month of Lael Brainard to lead the National Economic Council.
The rise of women at the top of economics shows how far the profession has come from a previous era when few women entered the field, economists told ABC News.
However, women continue to make up a fraction of students in the discipline, who ultimately set the course for its professional ranks; and a severe lack of minority women remains a dire concern, they said.
Esther George, the first woman to become President of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, who stepped down in January, told ABC News that the current group of women atop economic policymaking marks a major accomplishment but more progress awaits.
“It’s great,” she said, later adding: “We’re always looking at who’s graduating out of school with Ph.D.’s in economics, and notice right away there are fewer women, fewer still people of color. It really requires thinking about why that is.”
In all, two of the top three economic policymaking posts in the Biden administration are currently occupied by women, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
This year, a record number of women serve on the boards of the Federal Reserve’s 12 regional banks, a Reuters analysis last month found. Out of 108 spots on the 12 Fed bank boards, 44% are occupied by women, the analysis showed.
By contrast, women hold 28% of board seats on the Russell 3000 index of publicly traded companies, according to a report released in September by the advocacy group 50/50 Women on Boards, which drew on data from research firm Equilar.
The surge of women atop economic policymaking has coincided with a heightened focus on gender diversity at key institutions like the Federal Reserve, a shift driven in large part by women, economists said.
For example, George, the former President of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, helped women colleagues advance their careers through her position as host of a prestigious annual three-day symposium on central bank policy in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
In 2011, George launched a group called “Women of Jackson Hole” that aimed to improve the representation of women attendees and speakers at the conference.
When she began the initiative, women made up a handful of conference attendees, George said. Last year, nearly 30% of the symposium participants and more than 40 percent of the speakers were women, the symposium said.
“At first, all of us women could sit around a table for five,” George said. “When I left, we had a whole patio.”
“There’s a point at which you realize, and this was true for me: I can’t solve everything, but I ought to solve what I can.”
Stephanie Kelton, an economic professor at Stony Brook University and former economic advisor to the presidential campaigns of Sen. Bernie Sanders, applauded the rise of women at the top of the field but stressed the importance of evaluating them based on how they carry out the job.
“It’s certainly affirming and it’s overdue, and you love to see women succeed in climbing the ranks,” Kelton told ABC News. “But it also matters who these people are and what they’re going to fight for and how they understand the working of the economy.”
Despite progress in representation of women at the top of the field, men far outnumber women at the undergraduate and graduate level, leaving the profession as a whole out of balance, economists said.
Last year, the share of women granted Ph.D. degrees stood at about 34%, slightly lower than it was in 2020; while the proportion of women among undergraduate economics major degree recipients stood at nearly 36%, roughly one percentage point higher than 2020, according to an annual report from the American Economic Association, or AEA.
Women make up less than 18% of full professors in economics departments with doctoral programs, the AEA report found.
In recent years, as the field has reckoned with the lack of overall gender representation in its ranks, prominent women economists have come forward with stories of sexual harassment in the workplace, prompting a #MeToo moment for the profession.
“I fortunately didn’t have any of those kinds of experiences that seem so commonplace within our discipline, and I don’t know if we’re uniquely bad in economics, but it sure seems to be something that needs to be addressed,” Kelton said.
Anne Owen, a professor of economics and public policy at Hamilton College who formerly worked at the Fed, said the lack of women in the field makes it harder for female students to establish a “sense of belonging” that can ease challenges posed by the profession.
“Going to graduate school in economics is very difficult and you have to persevere,” she added. “It might have been easier to find a reason to persevere if there were other women pursuing the same thing I was.”
The disparity in representation is even more pronounced among minority women. In 2016, minority women received 5.1% of all economics degrees conferred that year, an AEA report found.
Opoku-Agyeman, the graduate student at Harvard Kennedy School, said the lack of diversity in economics exposes her to moments of subtle but harmful forms of disrespect, such as people questioning her ability. Further, the status quo leads to policy outcomes that fail to fully consider the perspectives of minority groups, she added.
“We’re not doing ourselves any favors when we have a homogeneous looking group of people overseeing policymaking and how our economy functions,” she said. “Because the policies being enacted are being enacted on folks who don’t look like one group.”
Still, she said she draws encouragement from the rise of women in leadership positions, especially Cook.
(WASHINGTON) — The Equal Rights Amendment was first drafted and introduced in Congress in 1923 — and now, a century later, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to at last enshrine its guarantees of gender equality in the Constitution.
“I’m dismayed that in 2023, we still have to fight to be seen as full citizens given the contributions of women as defenders of our democracy and all the contributions that we make to civic life, to culture, to our economy,” Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who is leading the effort in the House to ratify the ERA, told ABC News in a segment on “This Week” on Sunday.
Congress passed the ERA in 1972 with support from members of both parties, following efforts by leading female legislators like then-New York Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress.
The amendment states that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”
But after passing the House and Senate, the proposed amendment fell short of the three-fourths majority of states — 38 — needed to ratify it before a seven-year deadline set by Congress. Although lawmakers voted to extend the ratification deadline by an additional three years, no new states signed on amid a campaign by conservative activists led by Phyllis Schlafly to stop the amendment.
Schlafly and others argued at the time that rather than extend legal protections for women, the ERA would force them to be treated like men in other ways — such as pushing them into the military draft. Some also said the amendment would expand abortion access, upend child support requirements or encroach on the sex-separation of bathrooms.
“The majority of women simply don’t want it,” Schlafly argued in 1976.
Complicating matters further, five states later voted to rescind their earlier support for the amendment, though such a move has disputed legal value.
The ERA has seen revived public interest in recent years, following the #MeToo movement, women’s marches and the record number of women running and winning seats in Congress.
Nevada voted to ratify the amendment in 2017, Illinois did so in 2018 and it reached the 38-state threshold needed when Virginia voted to do the same in 2020.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the congressional deadline on the ERA was legally binding, so the later three ratifications were not valid. Illinois and Nevada sued to demand publication of the measure as the 28th Amendment but failed to show why the deadline that Congress set shouldn’t be enforceable.
Lawmakers and advocates backing the ERA now argue that Congress has the power to lift the deadline because they had the power to impose it in the first place. Pressley told ABC News that it was the “only thing standing in our way.”
“What I think it does is put the ball back in Congress’ court, and that’s where we’ve been playing for quite some time,” said Zakiya Thomas, president and CEO of the ERA Coalition.
Some activists renewed their push to codify the ERA in light of the Supreme Court’s decision last year overruling Roe v. Wade’s national guarantee to abortion access.
“Especially now, it’s important to reintroduce this … in the midst of draconian, very dangerous and targeted attacks against women and the LGBTQ community,” Pressley said. “And really, it’s always time to uplift and to center the humanity and dignity of all people and we need that to be enshrined in the Constitution. I want to vote on this now.”
Last week, the Senate held its first hearing on the ERA in 40 years.
“Here we are, a century after its first introduction, 2023,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “It’s time to get the job done. In fact, it’s long overdue.”
The amendment could have real world implications. Jadonna Sanders is a sergeant paramedic with the Washington, D.C., fire department. She has filed a federal lawsuit against the district’s Fire and EMS department alleging gender discrimination and demanding equal pay.
“This is the same story everywhere you go, especially with women who are in a profession such as firefighting, police, you know, where men dominate,” Sanders said.
Officials have pushed back on her claims.
“The department has a long history and a recent history of … hiring women, promoting women,” the department’s chief, John Donnelly, said last year. “Those things seem foreign to me, but we’ll look into them.”
The compensation gap between men and women is just one of several areas that advocates say the ERA would shore up. In 2022, women earned 82 cents on average for every dollar earned by men — a disparity almost unchanged over two decades.
But the battle in Congress is still breaking down along usual party lines.
“The people who are pushing politically to pass this are hanging their head on if it became law, every pro-life measure in this country would fall,” the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking Republican member, Lindsey Graham, said during last week’s hearing. Others in the GOP say there is no legislative authority to “revive” the amendment.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is one of few Republicans on board with the ERA, hoping this latest push builds momentum.
“What has happened in the states should not die here in the Senate,” Murkowski said in recent remarks, noting that “we still have a long ways to go when it comes to achieving equality for women.”
In the House, where the Republican majority has declined to take up the bill, Pressley hopes to keep the fight alive.
“It’s long past time,” she told ABC News.
“Equality for all people? Certainly there should be nothing partisan about that.”
(WASHINGTON) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday had sharp words for the chorus of Republican-led critics to his response to the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February.
In an interview with CNN, Buttigieg offered his most vociferous defense to date, seeking to rebut claims that the Biden administration doesn’t care about the blue-collar town by casting his detractors as the ones truly out of touch.
“It’s really rich to see some of these folks — the former president [Donald Trump], these Fox hosts — who are literally lifelong card-carrying members of the East Coast elite, whose top economic policy priority has always been tax cuts for the wealthy, and who wouldn’t know their way around a T.J. Maxx if their life depended on it, to be presenting themselves as if they genuinely care about the forgotten middle of the country,” Buttigieg said.
The transportation chief, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who also ran for president in 2020, took specific aim at Trump, who visited East Palestine last month.
While in East Palestine, Trump praised local responders and said, “What this community needs now are not excuses … but answers and results.”
Trump also said his trip pressured Buttigieg to subsequently make his own appearance.
“That’s bull—-,” Buttigieg told CNN. “We were already going to go.”
He said it was “somewhat maddening” that Trump would visit East Palestine after easing environmental and rail regulations during his time in the White House “and then show up giving out bottled water and campaign swag.”
Buttigieg has been the target of a fusillade of conservative attacks since last month’s train derailment and concerns over the spread of the noxious chemicals that were on board.
He conceded to CNN that he should have gone to the site of the crash sooner, saying, “Sometimes people need policy work, and sometimes people need performative work. And to get to this level, you’ve got to be ready to serve up both.”
Transportation secretaries do not typically visit train derailments, as some Biden administration supporters have noted. But being there in person was valuable, Buttigieg said: “I think it was important to hear and see how the community was responding, what they were worried about it just a different way that you can sense on paper.”
But Republicans have kept up their scrutiny, which follows past criticism of how the secretary handled issues like Southwest’s holiday season flight meltdowns.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and others have said Buttigieg should resign. Some have personally targeted the first openly gay Cabinet member to be confirmed by the Senate, with attacks on his sexuality.
Donald Trump Jr. insisted that Buttigieg was only tapped for his job because he was “that gay guy,” while Fox News host Tucker Carlson has referred to him as “flamboyantly incompetent” to the point of “evil.”
Buttigieg’s Democratic defenders say those attacks are off base and that while Buttigieg could have made the trip earlier, Republicans are overestimating his ability to ameliorate the issue while using his past presidential bid as low hanging fruit for attacks.
“Maybe they think that because he ran for president, he’s an easy target to hit,” outgoing Labor Secretary Marty Walsh told CNN. “People always say, ‘What’s Secretary Buttigieg going to do next? What’s Buttigieg going to do next?’ We’ve talked. What he’s going to do next is be secretary of transportation.”
(NEW YORK) — One year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, both sides are still fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops have liberated nearly 30,000 square miles of their territory from Russian forces since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, but Putin appears to be preparing for a long and bloody war. Tens of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have already died on the battlefield, while Ukrainian civilians continue to be terrorized by Russian missiles.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 05, 5:20 PM EST
13 found dead after strike hits Zhaporizhzhia
Thirteen people have been found dead since a rocket struck an apartment building in Zhaporizhzhia, Ukraine, authorities said.
The governor there has called for a national day of mourning on Monday.
The State Emergency Situation of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia initially posted on their Telegram account Friday that seven people were dead.
So far, 11 people have been saved, and 20 people were able to evacuate the building.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Mar 03, 2:21 PM EST
Merrick Garland makes unannounced visit to Ukraine
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Friday at the invitation of the Ukrainian prosecutor general to join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other international partners at the United for Justice Conference.
Garland attended several meetings while he was there.
-ABC News’ Alexander Mallin
Mar 03, 2:09 PM EST
US announces $400 million more in military aid for Ukraine
The U.S. Department of Defense announced $400 million in new military aid for Ukraine, including eight folding armored bridges for the first time.
This is the Biden administration’s 33rd drawdown of equipment from Department of Defense inventories for Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Mar 03, 2:08 PM EST
5,000 remain in Bakhmut as Russian shelling intensifies
Around 5,000 people still remain in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, including 37 children, according to Donetsk Oblast Regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.
The losses in Bakhmut stand at the rate of one Ukrainian solider to seven Russian soldiers, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilo said on TV.
Russian forces fighting for control of Bakhmut intensified shelling at access roads to the west, making it harder for Ukrainian forces to move in and out, Reuters reported Friday.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd
Mar 03, 12:20 PM EST
Blinken, Ukrainian foreign minister discuss Lavrov meeting
The State Department said Friday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba about the brief conversation that took place at the G-20 summit between Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“The Secretary underscored to Foreign Minister Kuleba the United States’ enduring support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s brutal attacks, including the ongoing targeting of civilian infrastructure and resulting civilian casualties,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Mar 02, 3:48 PM EST
US to announce more weapons for Ukraine on Friday
The U.S. will announce another assistance package for Ukraine on Friday, White House spokesperson John Kirby announced Thursday afternoon, but did not detail the exact size of this next round of support.
“You’ll see us tomorrow, just unilaterally, the U.S. will have another round of assistance for Ukraine coming tomorrow. And it will include mostly ammunitions and munitions that the Ukrainians will need for the systems that they already have, like the HIMARS and the artillery.”
The new aid comes as President Joe Biden meets with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House Friday to discuss ongoing support for Ukraine as Russia’s invasion continues.
Kirby said the leaders would discuss the “kinds of capabilities that Ukraine continues to need in the weeks and months ahead.”
He also said this will be a “true working visit” between Biden and Scholz and they are expected to discuss “recent engagements with Ukrainian officials, including the President’s trip to Kyiv and meeting with President Zelenskyy, as well as Chancellor Schultz’s meeting with President Zelensky in Paris last month.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Mar 02, 3:12 PM EST
Lavrov ‘diverted’ Blinken’s calls to reconsider Russia leaving START treaty
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “diverted” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s calls to reconsider the decision to suspend Russia’s participation in the New START treaty, Russia’s foreign ministry told Interfax, Russian news agency.
“If they want to return to diplomacy, let them return. If they are engaged in self-promotion and such inexpensive PR, well, this is possible. True, the result will be appropriate,” Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the ministry, told Russian TV channel Rossiya-1.
-ABC News’ Natalia Shumskaia
Mar 02, 12:36 PM EST
Blinken, Lavrov hold ‘on the go’ talk at G-20 meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had an “on the go” talk during the G-20 Meeting of Foreign Ministers in India, but there were no negotiations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS, a Russian news agency, Thursday.
“Blinken asked for a contact with Lavrov. Sergey Viktorovich [Lavrov] had communication on the go during the second session. But there were no negotiations, no meeting or so on,” the diplomat said.
Blinken had said earlier in the day during a press conference he had “spoke briefly” with Lavrov and discussed ending the war, as well as Russia rejoining the New START Treaty on nuclear arms.
“I told the foreign minister what I and so many others said last week at the United Nations and what so many G-20 foreign ministers said today: End this war of aggression, engage in meaningful diplomacy that could produce a just and durable peace,” he said. “The United States stands ready to support Ukraine through diplomacy to end the war on this basis.”
A senior State Department official downplayed any hopes that the conversation moved the needle on any of the topics.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova and Shannon Crawford
Mar 01, 5:12 PM EST
Ukraine says it’s shot down 80% of Russian missiles
Ukraine has shot down 80% of Russian missiles, according to Commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Air Force Serhiy Nayev.
Nayev made the assessment in a Facebook post on Wednesday about the effectiveness of the air defense system.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Feb 28, 4:59 PM EST
Ukrainians to send more forces to Bahkmut
Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of Ukraine’s Eastern Group of Forces, will send additional units to Bahkmut, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar.
“Bakhmut has been the epicenter of hostilities for several months now. The enemy has concentrated its key efforts there because it aims to reach the borders of the Donetsk region. The situation there is really tense and difficult,” Malyar said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy echoed that statement in his nightly address.
“The most difficult situation is still Bakhmut and the battles that are important for the defense of the city,” he said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Will Gretsky
Feb 28, 2:31 PM EST
Belarusian president, Putin ally, arrives in China for state visit
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived on a state visit to China on Tuesday, according to Sputnik, a Russian state-owned news agency.
During his planned three-day visit, Lukashenko will hold a series of meetings with top Chinese officials, according to Sputnik.
Belarus has been an unofficial ally of Russia since the war began.
Lukashenko’s visit comes at a time when Western officials have issued warnings about the Chinese government possibly aiding Russia in its invasion.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said they have intelligence showing China is preparing to send lethal aid to Russia.
Last week, the Chinese foreign minister visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia. During remarks at that meeting, Putin said he is planning for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Russia this spring.
-ABC News’ Natalia Shumskaia
Feb 28, 2:17 PM EST
Putin admits Russian military losses
Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Russian military losses from its ongoing invasion of Ukraine during his annual meeting with the federal security service Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, comrade officers, we know that there are losses in our ranks,” Putin said.
Putin called on the FSB to provide “support” to the families of soldiers who have died in the war.
“We will always remember their heroism and bravery,” he added.
Putin did not say how many soldiers have died in the war and the Russian Ministry of Defense hasn’t disclosed an exact number of losses since September 2022 when Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said just shy of 6,000 troops had died.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other State Department officials said Russia has likely suffered 200,000 injured or dead soldiers since the start of the war.
Putin also called on the FSB to make sure its border guard “undertake special efforts to control the Russian state border with Ukraine.”
A “special group” is currently deployed at the Russia-Ukraine border, made up of border agencies, the FSB air arm, the Russian Armed Forces and the Russian National Guard, according to Putin.
“Your mission is to prevent any incursions by sabotage groups and stop any attempts to smuggle weapons and ammunition into Russia,” Putin told the FSB board.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova and Anastasia Bagaeva
Feb 27, 1:44 PM EST
Ukrainian forces shoot down 11 drones as Russia launches overnight attacks
Air raid sirens blared for more than five hours in several locations across Ukraine starting late Sunday and lasting until the early morning hours.
Ukrainian air forces shot down 11 out of 14 that Russia launched from the north last night, according to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Over the past 24 hours, Russians have launched five missiles and 13 air strikes, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Russian troops also launched more than 50 rocket attacks primarily in Kherson and Donetsk regions, which led to “dead and wounded civilians, destroyed civilian houses and damaged civilian infrastructure,” according to Ukrainian officials.
Shelling from Russian forces was recorded in more than 25 settlements in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, Ukrainian officials said.
Feb 27, 11:58 AM EST
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen makes surprise visit to Kyiv
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Kyiv Monday and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reaffirm the U.S.’s financial support to Ukraine.
Yellen announced $1.25 billion in economic and budgetary assistance, which helps the Ukrainian government continue to run, funds payroll for soldiers on the front lines and shores up critical infrastructure, according to the Treasury Department.
“I bring to Kyiv a clear message from President Biden and the American people: We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Yellen said in her remarks during her sitdown with Zelenskyy.
Yellen told Zelenskyy that the U.S. will provide over $8 billion in this type of assistance “over the coming months,” according to the Treasury Department. A readout of the meeting stated the U.S. will provide $9.9 billion total during the first three quarters of 2023.
Feb 25, 2:27 PM EST
Russian strike damages clinic, injuring one: Ukrainian official
One person was injured after a Russian missile hit a medical clinic in the town of Krasnotorka, Ukraine, in the eastern Donetsk oblast, Ukrainian regional military chief Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a Facebook post.
Feb 24, 6:20 PM EST
Zelenskyy says he’s open to meet with Chinese president
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a press conference in Kyiv on Friday he would like to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Zelenskyy said he’d like to talk about the Chinese government’s offer to discuss a peace agreement in detail, “because it’s about our country.” However, the president noted that the Chinese government hasn’t directly talked to Ukrainian’s government.
“The first point of their plan is ‘recognition of national sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ but they didn’t even mention the country. I hope they meant us, Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “If it’s us, everybody understands that territorial integrity can be achieved by withdrawal of Russian troops from all occupied territories.”
Zelenskyy said it is “priority number one” for him to prevent China from providing Russia with weapons for the ongoing conflict.
“I believe China is going to side with the idea of fair peace, peace and fairness which is our side,” he added.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Feb 24, 5:42 PM EST
Nearly 200k Russian troops killed or wounded so far: Western officials
Western officials have provided a more detailed look at the scope of losses for Russia since its invasion began a year ago.
The range of Russian casualties is believed to be between 180,000 and 200,000, which includes killed and wounded figures, a U.S. official told ABC News. The official cautioned that this number is all inexact but also includes Wagner forces.
The ratio of wounded to killed soldiers is three to one among estimated Russian casualties of 175,000 to 200,000, Western officials told ABC News on Feb. 21.
On the Ukrainian side, there are “at least 100,000” Ukrainian casualties in the war so far with a ratio of 20 wounded soldiers to every dead soldier, Western officials said on Feb. 21.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Elle Kaufman and Zoe Magee
Feb 24, 3:19 PM EST
White House says Iran’s support for Russia is expanding
The White House is now warning that Iran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine is “expanding” with the country sending additional military aid in November with the expectation that more will be obtained.
“In November, Iran shipped artillery and tank rounds to Russia for use in Ukraine,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said Friday. “Russia is planning to cooperate with Iran to obtain more military equipment.”
In return, Kirby said that Russia “has been offering Iran unprecedented defense cooperation, including on missiles, electronics and air defense.”
“We believe that Russia might provide Iran with fighter jets. Iran is also seeking to purchase additional military equipment from Russia including attack helicopters, radars and combat trainer aircraft. In total, Iran is seeking billions of dollars of military equipment from Russia,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Feb 24, 2:34 PM EST
Ukraine accuses Russia of conducting ‘state sponsored kidnapping of children’
Ukraine accused Russia of conducting state-sponsored kidnapping of children, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement to the United Nations Security Council on Friday.
“The magnitude of the humanitarian crisis brought on by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine cannot be overstated. I would like to highlight here one of numerous horrendous facts – Russia is now implementing in Ukraine probably the largest instance of state sponsored kidnapping of children in history of our modern world,” Kuleba said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Feb 24, 12:21 PM EST
Zelenskyy hopes China will not supply Russia with weapons
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters he wants to believe China won’t supply Russia with weapons in the ongoing conflict.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the U.S. and NATO have intelligence that China is getting ready to possibly supply Russia with weapons. China has denied these claims.
Zelenskyy said it is “priority No. 1” for him to prevent China from providing Russia with weapons.
“This is very important. This is priority No. 1 for me and I am doing my best to prevent that from happening. It is important for us,” he said.
He added, “I believe China is going to side with the idea of fair peace, peace and fairness which is our side.”
Feb 24, 12:01 PM EST
After a year, is the US strategy to help Ukraine win or force a stalemate?
One year ago, with Ukraine’s borders surrounded by what seemed to be a superior military force, many U.S. officials and analysts predicted a swift Russian blitz to Kyiv.
But after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his more than 150,000 arrayed troops across the border, it soon became clear that a dual reassessment was in order: The Russian invaders were less potent than advertised, and the Ukrainians were unexpectedly stubborn and wily in the defense.
Some of the Russian troops weren’t even aware they were on a combat mission until Ukrainian bullets came cracking past them, according to U.S. officials. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces stalled a massive Russian supply convoy through direct attacks and by destroying a key bridge. Only one week into the invasion, Putin’s men were plagued with food and fuel shortages, morale running similarly low.
Kyiv stood.
“Putin assumed that Ukraine was an easy target, Putin assumed that Kyiv would easily fall, and Putin assumed that the world would stand by,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during a speech in Brussels last week. “But the Kremlin was wrong on every count.”
Ukrainian forces were armed with more than grit.
They also had years of U.S. and NATO military training, plus American-made weapons, like anti-armor Javelins and anti-aircraft Stinger missiles. These made Russian vehicles vulnerable to ambush, and left Russian helicopter and jet pilots wary of flying over Ukrainian positions. Indeed, many airmen did not return from their sorties.
Despite astonishing losses of soldiers and vehicles, Putin has shown no inclination to end the conflict anytime soon. And despite its tenacity, Ukraine has also taken significant casualties, and is not able to produce enough of its own weapons and ammunition to keep up the fight.
Ukraine, after thwarting the advance on its capital, and later routing Russian forces from Kharkiv, now largely faces a battle of supply.
“When this war began, Russia had a larger population, a much bigger defense budget, a bigger military, bigger industrial base. So, this became an industrial war and a war of industrial bases,” said Seth Jones, director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “This is why Western industrial support has been so critical.”
A key question now is, despite massive military aid packages and a promise to send even more, could the U.S. strategy ultimately result, not in a Ukrainian victory, but a stalemate in a years-long war of attrition?
Feb 24, 11:31 AM EST
If Ukraine’s partners keep their word on aid, Ukraine will ‘definitely win,’ Zelenskyy says
Asked if he believes in victory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country “definitely” will if fellow nations keep their word about help and aid.
“Luckily, we’re not alone, so all of us should stay focused,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine has “put forward its peace plan, peace formula,” which is “supported by many nations.”
Rather than having bilateral peace negotiations, Zelenskyy suggested a “peace forum with participation of many countries from different continents.”
“I’d like to see China, India, other countries approving post-war security guarantees,” Zelenskyy said.
Feb 24, 10:27 AM EST
US adds 200 export control restrictions on Russia
On the anniversary of the war, the U.S. Commerce Department is adding nearly 200 additional export restrictions on Russian entities for the invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. has already sanctioned Russia and Belarus with export controls because of the war. The new controls levied Friday limit semiconductor exports to Russia as well as oil and gas exports.
The U.S. said previously that its export controls have impacted on Russia’s military.
“Thanks to President Biden’s leadership and the collective efforts of the Global Export Control Coalition, we have further degraded Russia’s military capabilities by denying access to many components used for aircraft and tanks, as well as semiconductors and other items needed for advanced military applications,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves said in a statement.
Feb 24, 10:17 AM EST
Ukraine’s surprising resistance and the rise of its unlikely wartime hero
As tens of thousands of invading Russian troops and tanks thundered across his nation’s border in February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received an offer from the United States to evacuate him and his family out of the country.
But in the biggest moment of his yet budding political life, with a world superpower bearing down with brutal force, Zelenskyy rejected the offer to escape, replying, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”
A year later, he and his country are still standing strong, forcefully pushing back against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggressive campaign to pummel Ukraine into submission.
Zelenskyy set the defiant tone for his country just hours after the war started. He shed his suits and ties for military fatigues and combat boots, and boldly posted a selfie video message to the frightened citizens of his nation. Standing on a street outside his office in the capital city of Kyiv, members of his cabinet and military advisors at his side, the then-44-year-old Zelenskyy stared into the camera and announced he and his leadership team were staying put.
“We are all here defending our independence and we are defending our country and we will keep doing that,” he said.
It was a dramatic rallying cry that echoed around the world and began the transformation of Zelenskyy into a wartime hero with some admirers even comparing him to Great Britain’s Winston Churchill standing up to Nazi Germany during World War II.
Feb 24, 9:46 AM EST
Poland delivers 1st Leopard tanks to Ukraine
Poland announced Friday that it has provided Ukraine with its first Leopard tanks to aid the fight against Russia.
“The Leopard tanks will definitely stand up well in your formation on the battlefield. They will work great,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to Kyiv to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Poland delivered four Leopard 2A4s — a model of the latest version of the German main battle tank — to Ukraine, with more expected to be on the way, according to Morawiecki.
“We will also soon hand over more and we urge our partners from the European Union and NATO to do the same,” Morawiecki said.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Feb 24, 9:23 AM EST
Kuleba says Ukraine will do ‘whatever it takes’ to defeat Russia
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Friday that his country will do “whatever it takes” to defeat the Russian invaders.
“This war has no timeline. It has only [one] result in the end and that’s victory, because we stand for the right cause,” Kuleba told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos during an interview on Good Morning America.
“We defend ourselves. We are liberating our territory with generous support of many countries of the world, with the United States being at the top of it,” he added. “I want to convey the words of gratitude from the people of Ukraine to the people of America for standing by us in this very just struggle for freedom and peace.”
Kuleba noted that “ammunition, tanks, long-range missiles, planes” are the “most-wanted weapons” on Ukraine’s list.
“I have no doubt that we will prevail,” he said. “But, you know, for David to be able to defeat Goliath, David needs a sling. And all of these weapons, it’s all about this sling that will help us to win.”
Kuleba said Ukrainians are fighting for “territorial integrity.”
“If you are attacked, you have to fight. You have to take up the fight and defend your country,” he added. “And this is the feeling that drives us through all of this endless suffering.”
When asked whether there’s any kind of peace proposal that could be accepted by both sides, Kuleba said: “As of now, we are irreconcilable.”
“Because while we defend our territory, [Russian President Vladimir Putin] wants to grab our territory. While we want accountability for numerous atrocities committed by the Russian army in Ukraine, Putin wants to escape responsibility,” he explained. “This aggression of Russia will go down in textbooks as the most apparent case of aggression in modern history. So the truth is on our side and this is why we feel so empowered to fight and to win.”
Feb 24, 7:58 AM EST
Blinken talks status of Russia-Ukraine war
Speaking to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed where things stand in the Russia-Ukraine war on Friday, one year after it began.
“Ukraine is still standing, it remains free, it remains independent,” Blinken said. “Putin’s first objective was to erase Ukraine from the map, to erase its identity, to absorb it into Russia. That has failed and will never succeed.”
“Now, there’s a fierce battle going on for the territory that Russia has seized,” he added. “Ukraine’s gotten about 50% of what Russia’s taken since last February and now, there’s a fight for the rest.”
When asked how long Ukraine can hold on, with its economy devastated and Russian President Vladimir Putin seemingly preparing for a long war, Blinken said he thinks “the Ukrainians are the ones who are going to fight to the finish.”
“There’s one big difference: The Ukrainians are fighting for their country, for their land, for their future; the Russians are not,” he noted. “And at the end of the day, assuming the support continues from so many countries around the world — material support, military, economic, humanitarian — Ukraine will succeed.”
Blinken said it’s “hard to predict” when the war will end.
“No one wants peace more than the Ukrainians, but it has to be a just and durable peace,” he added. “Just in terms of reflecting the basic principles that are at the heart of the U.N. Charter, which is territorial integrity of countries, their sovereignty. And durable in the sense that wherever it lands, we don’t want it to land in place where Russia can simply repeat the exercise a year or two or five years later.”
Feb 24, 7:36 AM EST
Blinken warns China is ‘contemplating lethal assistance’ for Russia
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Friday that China is “actively thinking about” providing lethal assistance to Russian forces in war-torn Ukraine.
“We’re very concerned that they’re thinking about it. Up until now, Chinese companies have provided non-lethal support,” Blinken told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos during an interview on Good Morning America.
“From Day One, President Biden warned President Xi not to provide material lethal assistance to Russia for use against Ukraine or to engage in the systematic evasion of sanctions. And the information we have suggests that they’re now actively thinking about it, which is why we’ve been public about warning them not to,” he added. “It could make a material difference in Russia’s capacity on the ground at a time when we want to bring this war to an end, not add fuel to the fire and have it continue.”
The U.S. government has “shared a lot of information with other countries, with allies and partners,” regarding the fact that China is now considering lethal assistance, according to Blinken.
“We always have to get the balance right between making sure that we’re protecting the way we get our information and releasing it,” he said. “But we thought it was really important to make clear that China’s looking at this. And what they’re hearing not just from us but from many other countries around the world is: Don’t do it.”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a position paper on Friday, calling for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, the resumption of peace talks, an end to unilateral sanctions and the consideration of sovereignty, territorial integrity and security concerns of all countries. Blinken told ABC News that the U.S. government is “taking a look at it.”
“No one wants peace more than the Ukrainians and any proposal that can advance peace is something that’s worth looking at,” he said. “But, you know, there are 12 points in the Chinese plan. If they were serious about the first one, sovereignty, then this war could end tomorrow.”
“China’s been trying to have it both ways,” he added. “It’s on the one hand trying to present itself publicly as neutral and seeking peace, while at the same time it is talking up Russia’s false narrative about the war, it is, as I said, providing non-lethal assistance to its companies and now contemplating lethal assistance.”
Feb 24, 6:52 AM EST
How the Russia-Ukraine conflict became a cultural war
In the basement of the Syayvo bookstore in Ukraine’s capital, hundreds of Russian language books stand piled, waiting to be pulped.
The books — ranging from everything between the classics of Russian literature to works translated into Russian and Soviet-era textbooks — have been donated by Ukrainians who have turned away from Russian culture to embrace their own since the invasion last year.
They are set to be recycled and turned into Ukrainian language texts or other products, with all profits going to support the war effort, Nadia Kibenko, the 32-year-old store worker who is handling the books, told ABC News. They have recycled 75 tons — around 150,000 volumes — since last July, she said. As a child, Kibenko grew up in a Ukrainian speaking household but, more often than not, only had the choice to read in Russian.
“We do not burn books,” Kibenko told ABC News during a recent interview in Kyiv. “We just give them second life.”
The cultural battleground is not just symbolic. Witnesses from the Russian occupied territories say that, in schools, Ukrainian language books were thrown out and replaced by Russian ones as new curricula taught Putin’s view that Ukrainians and Russians are “one people.”
A report published in December by PEN America, a New York-based literary and human rights organization, said that “culture was on the frontlines” and Putin “seeks not only to control Ukrainian territory, but to erase Ukrainian culture and identity.”
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
Feb 24, 6:13 AM EST
US announces $2 billion more in military aid for Ukraine
The United States announced an additional $2 billion military aid package for Ukraine on Friday, as the Eastern European country marks the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The new aid package includes more missiles for Ukraine’s U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), additional 155mm artillery ammunition, more Switchblade one-way drones and other military equipment, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
“One year into a war of aggression waged by a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, our allies and partners worldwide stand united and resolute,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “Putin’s reckless, illegal war is not just an all-out assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty and a historic threat to European security. It is also a direct attack on the system of rules, institutions, and laws that the world built at such great cost after World War II — a system that rejects aggression and respects the rights of all countries, big and small.”
The additional aid is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) plan, meaning this equipment and artillery have to be made from scratch before being delivered, which will take time. This is different from the other aid packages that come from existing U.S. military stockpiles and get delivered faster.
With the new aid package, the Biden administration has now provided $31.8 billion in assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s war began on Feb. 24, 2022.
“Putin thought that Ukraine’s defenses would collapse, that America’s resolve would falter, and that the world would look the other way. He was wrong,” Lloyd said. “One year later, Ukraine’s brave defenders have not wavered, and neither has our commitment to support them for as long as it takes. Despite the Kremlin’s campaign of cruelty, the people of Ukraine have shown stunning bravery, skill, and fortitude. Today and every day, we stand by the courageous Ukrainians fighting to defend their country, and we mourn with those who have lost their loved ones in Moscow’s monstrous and unnecessary war.”
“Difficult times may lie ahead, but let us remain clear-eyed about what is at stake in Ukraine,” he added. “And let us remain united in purpose and in action — and steadfast in our commitment to ensure that a world of rules and rights is not replaced by one of tyranny and turmoil.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Feb 24, 5:37 AM EST
US announces fresh sanctions targeting Russia
The United States announced Friday a series of fresh sanctions against those who are supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The White House said the new sanctions target more than 200 people and companies in Russia and other countries around the world. The Biden administration will also target a dozen Russian financial institutions as well as Russian officials and will restrict U.S. companies from exporting products to around 90 companies in Russia and other countries, including China, according to the White House.
The products that will be limited, such as semiconductor chips, are being used for “sanction evasion and backfill activities in support of Russia’s defense sector,” the White House said.
The U.S. will also increase tariffs on Russian metals, minerals and chemicals, which will eventually cost Moscow some $2.8 billion, according to the White House.
“These sanctions, export controls, and tariffs are part of our ongoing efforts to impose strong additional economic costs on Russia,” the White House said. “We will continue to work with our allies and partners to use all economic tools available to us to disrupt Russia’s ability to wage its war and degrade its economy over time.”
The announcement came on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Feb 24, 5:05 AM EST
No end in sight as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters 2nd year
As tens of thousands of Russian troops lined up along Ukraine’s eastern and northern borders for “military exercises” last February, some international observers warned that Russia was about to do the unthinkable.
U.S. President Joe Biden had declassified intelligence in the weeks prior that showed an attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty was imminent. That intel was shared with allies, in an attempt to rally support and to stop the war, but the effort proved unsuccessful. The invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022.
The following four seasons have seen some of the bloodiest fighting on European soil in generations. Tens of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian troops have been killed. And Ukrainian civilians have been terrorized by missiles aimed at energy infrastructure, city centers and apartment buildings.
This month marks both the 9-year anniversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which he illegally annexed in 2014, and the first anniversary of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The ends to which he’d go in his mission to capture Ukraine have become clear in the last year.
-ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey
Feb 24, 4:26 AM EST
Ukraine braces for Russian missile strikes on 1-year anniversary of war
There was a somber mood over Kyiv on Friday morning as the country marks the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion while bracing for a potential barrage of missile strikes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with the country’s top general and the defense minister, took part in a military ceremony in Sofia Square in the historical center of the capital city. Zelenskyy and Poland’s president also visited a memorial wall for fallen Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukrainians are anticipating Russian missile strikes to mark the anniversary, amid warnings from the Ukrainian Air Force that there is a high risk of them. But so far it has been quiet, with no major strikes beyond routine shelling in northern and eastern Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 3:19 PM EST
China pushes back against US claims it may supply weapons to Russia
The United States’ claims that they have intelligence showing China plans to provide weapons to Russia to assist in the ongoing war in Ukraine will impede the “political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis” and “will also further damage” China-US relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a press conference Thursday.
Wenbin called US claims of intelligence “nothing more than catching up on the wind, slandering and discrediting China.”
“Since the outbreak of the crisis in Ukraine, China has been steadfast in dialogue. While standing on peace, it has persuaded and introduced peace in its own way and played a constructive role in resolving the crisis in line with the situation,” Wenbin said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Karson Yiu
Feb 23, 2:37 PM EST
Eiffel Tower lit up in blue and yellow
The Eiffel Tower in Paris has been lit up in blue and yellow in honor of the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Alexandra Faul
Feb 23, 2:19 PM EST
13 million people have been displaced due to the war in Ukraine
A year into the war in Ukraine, 13 million people have been displaced, including nearly 8 million refugees across Europe and more than 5 million internally displaced in Ukraine, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement Thursday.
“The vast majority of refugees and internally displaced Ukrainians – some 77% and 79%, respectively – want to return home one day, however, only 12% of both refugees and [internally displaced people] plan to do so in the next three months,” the UNHCR said in a press release.
-ABC News’ Zoe Magee
Feb 22, 1:16 PM EST
Air raid sirens go off across Ukraine; 4 airstrikes in Kharkiv injure 2
Air raid sirens went off across Ukraine on Wednesday due to jets taking off in Belarus.
There were four strikes from Russian S-300 missiles on industrial infrastructure facilities in central Kharkiv, the head of Kharkiv’s Regional Military Administration Oleh Synegubov said.
Two men, ages 46 and 57, were injured from the attacks. They have both been hospitalized.
In Izyum, a city in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, a 55-year-old civilian stepped on a “petal” mine. He was hospitalized with an explosive wound, Synehubov said.
One person was killed and another person was injured from fighting in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Tuesday, the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
-ABC News’ Natalia Kushnir
Feb 22, 11:24 AM EST
US believes Russia held failed ICBM test 2 days before Biden visited Ukraine
The United States believes that Russia carried out a test launch of an intercontinental missile on Saturday that appears to have failed, a U.S. official said.
Russia notified the U.S. ahead of the SARMAT ICBM launch, per agreements said the official.
The failed test launch would have taken place two days before President Joe Biden arrived in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on an unannounced trip, as he made his way to Poland to meet with NATO allies and to give a speech marking a year of war.
Ukrainian officials on Sunday publicly claimed Russia was preparing to stage large scale nuclear exercises including a launch to coincide with Biden’s trip.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Patrick Reevell
Correction: This post initially stated the test happened on Monday when Biden was in Ukraine. It has been updated to reflect that the test actually happened on Saturday.
Feb 20, 5:39 AM EST
Biden in Kyiv says Putin was ‘dead wrong’
U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “dead wrong” when he started the war in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
“When Putin launched his invasion nearly one year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided,” Biden said in a statement. “He thought he could outlast us. But he was dead wrong.”
The White House released the statement from Biden as he made an unannounced visit to the war-torn country, arriving in Kyiv on Monday morning.
“As the world prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, I am in Kyiv today to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” Biden said.
“Today, in Kyiv, I am meeting with President Zelenskyy and his team for an extended discussion on our support for Ukraine. I will announce another delivery of critical equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments,” he continued. “And I will share that later this week, we will announce additional sanctions against elites and companies that are trying to evade or backfill Russia’s war machine. Over the last year, the United States has built a coalition of nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific to help defend Ukraine with unprecedented military, economic, and humanitarian support — and that support will endure.”
Biden added: “I also look forward to traveling on to Poland to meet President Duda and the leaders of our Eastern Flank Allies, as well as deliver remarks on how the United States will continue to rally the world to support the people of Ukraine and the core values of human rights and dignity in the UN Charter that unite us worldwide.”
Feb 20, 5:21 AM EST
Biden makes surprise visit to Ukraine
U.S. President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to war-torn Ukraine on Monday, arriving in Kyiv as Washington signals its ongoing support ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Biden’s visit came ahead of a planned meeting with NATO allies in Poland. He is expected to give a speech at the Royal Castle Arcades in Warsaw on Tuesday evening to offer an appraisal of international support during the first year of the war and to address “how we will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement earlier this month.
Biden also plans to meet in Poland with leaders of the Bucharest Nine, a group of eastern NATO allies formed in 2015 in response to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a dramatic visit to the United States in December, his first known international trip since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. Zelenskyy met with Biden at the White House in Washington, D.C., before addressing members of U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill.
Feb 19, 1:03 PM EST
Russia planning nuclear exercises to disrupt Biden’s Europe visit, Ukrainian military says
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency has accused Russia of planning to stage “large-scale nuclear exercises” to coincide with President Joe Biden’s visit to Europe next week.
The GUR said Russia is preparing for test launches of nuclear capable missiles from land and sea, the agency said in a statement Sunday on its official Telegram channel.
The GUR said a nuclear armed submarine has been placed on the “highest level” of combat readiness and that strategic bombers have been moved to a base in Tambov, Russia.
The agency claimed the exercises are intended disrupt President Joe Biden’s European trip.
“Such actions of the military and political leadership of the Russian Federation, in particular, are an attempt to hinder Joe Biden’s visit to Europe, which is scheduled for February 20-22, through direct nuclear blackmail and to weaken international support for Ukraine,” the GUR statement said.
– ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 18, 11:41 AM EST
Harris meets with British, Finnish, Swedish PMs
Vice President Kamala Harris met with the British, Finnish and Swedish prime ministers before departing Munich on Saturday.
Amid concerns in Europe that Republican lawmakers could dampen U.S. aid to Ukraine, the Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, thanked Harris for saying U.S. support for Ukraine would persevere domestic political differences.
Both Marin and Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, spoke with hope about joining NATO. But in recent days, there have been signals from NATO, the Finnish and the Swedish that perhaps they will not join at the same time as they had hoped due to continued Turkish objections over Swedish membership.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Feb 17, 3:41 PM EST
White House previews Biden trip to Poland
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby provided a preview Friday of President Joe Biden’s upcoming trip to Poland, saying the president’s main message will be continued support from the United States in the face of Russian aggression.
“On Tuesday evening, local time, President Biden will deliver remarks in Warsaw on how the United States has rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and democracy. President Biden will make it clear that the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine, as you’ve heard him say many times, for as long as it takes,” Kirby said of Biden’s major planned address.
“As we approach the one-year mark since this invasion, we can proudly say that our support for Ukraine remains unwavering and our alliances and our international coalition in support of Ukraine remain stronger than ever,” he added.
Biden is scheduled to arrive in Poland on Tuesday morning and meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda. On Wednesday, he’ll meet with leaders from the so-called Bucharest Nine –Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia — which are nine NATO countries in Eastern Europe.
Kirby was asked about Biden meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, or traveling anywhere besides Warsaw, like the border town of Rzeszow, but he shot down both ideas.
“There is no meeting with President Zelenskyy scheduled for the trip right now,” he said. “Right now, the trip is going to be in Warsaw.”
Feb 17, 2:11 PM EST
Harris meets allies amid pressure over Ukraine aid
Vice President Kamala Harris met with the leaders of France and Germany Friday as part of a U.S. diplomatic push in Munich to show strong, continued support for Ukraine.
Questions lingering over the leaders in Munich include how long the West can maintain its support for Ukraine –- amid declining public and political support at home –- and how Ukraine will withstand the expected Russian offensive.
A White House official said that at the meetings, the vice president planned to “recognize the courage and resilience shown by the people of Ukraine; reaffirm the support of American people for Ukraine; commend the international community on the historic actions taken since February 2022; celebrate Transatlantic unity and clarity of purpose; reaffirm our security commitments to our European allies; and condemn Russia’s continued illegal and brutal actions while calling for accountability and justice.”
She also planned to discuss “relations with China and actions to address the climate crisis,” the official said.
Feb 17, 1:20 PM EST
Belarus ready to make Russian attack planes, president says at meeting with Putin
Belarus is ready to make Russian attack planes, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
“Belarus has been making up to a thousand components for MC-21 and Superjet 100 planes. There used to be repair plants, but now they also make component parts,” Lukashenko said.
“We are even ready to make it in Belarus with a little support from Russia,” Lukashenko said.
Feb 16, 5:28 PM EST
Ukrainian vice prime minister tells remaining civilians in Bakhmut to evacuate
Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk called on the roughly 6,000 civilians still in Bakhmut to evacuate “immediately.”
Officials said they don’t want the people still in the city to put themselves and their children at risk and don’t want them to interfere with the Ukrainian army. Five civilians were killed and nine others were injured on Thursday, according to the vice prime minister.
“Frankly speaking, I am very surprised that 6,000 civilians are still working there,” Vereshchuk said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Feb 16, 3:25 PM EST
Belarus will fight alongside Russia if it is attacked, president warns
Belarus would only join the war in Ukraine, fighting alongside Russia, if it is attacked, President Alexander Lukashenko told state-run Belta news agency.
“We don’t want a war. And in no case are we going to send our troops into the territory of Ukraine. Unless you commit aggression against the territory of Belarus from there. Here is my answer. It was given a long time ago,” Lukashenko said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Lukashenko’s threat in an interview with the BBC.
“I hope [Belarus] won’t join [the war],” he said. “If it does, we will fight and we will survive.”
Allowing Russia to use Belarus as a staging post for an attack again would be a “huge mistake,” he added.
Russian forces launched part of their full-scale invasion from Belarus 12 months ago. They drove south toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, but were fought back and made to retreat within weeks, after suffering heavy casualties.
Lukashenko is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Tanya Stukalova
Feb 16, 3:11 PM EST
Zelenskyy rules out territorial deal with Putin in BBC interview
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out giving up any of his country’s territory in a potential peace deal with Russia.
In a BBC interview to mark a year since Russia’s full-scale invasion, he warned conceding land would mean Russia could “keep coming back,” while Western weapons would bring peace closer.
However, he does believe Ukrainian forces can keep resisting Russia’s advance until they are able to launch a counteroffensive — although he repeated his calls for more military aid from the West.
“Of course, modern weapons speed up peace. Weapons are the only language Russia understands,” Zelensky told the BBC.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Feb 16, 12:13 AM EST
Russian strikes hit infrastructure in Lviv, Ukrainians shoot down eight Russian missiles: Officials
An infrastructure object was hit in Lviv in the early morning hours of Thursday, the head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, said on Telegram.
There were no casualties, and the fire from the impact has since been put out, Kozytskyi said.
Six Kalibr missiles were also shot down over the Mykolaiv region, and two Kalibr missiles were shot down over the Kherson region overnight, Odesa Military Administration spokesman Serhii Bratchuk posted on Telegram.
All eight of the missiles were fired from a Russian ship in the Black Sea, Bratchuk said in the post.
Feb 15, 2:48 PM EST
6 ‘reconnaissance’ balloons shot down over Kyiv
Authorities in Kyiv are investigating who owns six balloons that were in Ukraine’s airspace and what the balloons were doing over Kyiv. The balloons were shot down by Ukrainian air defense.
After a preliminary assessment, authorities think the balloons had intelligence gathering equipment.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Feb 14, 11:43 AM EST
If Bakhmut falls, won’t have ‘strategic impact’ on Ukraine war: White House
White House spokesman John Kirby said during a briefing Tuesday that the U.S. could not “predict one way or the other” whether Bakhmut will fall to the Russians and if it does fall, “on what timeline.”
“We’re watching this every day, and it is certainly true that the Russians are continuing to make incremental progress there,” Kirby said. “Again, I can’t predict one way or the other whether it falls or it doesn’t fall or on what timeline. They have made incremental progress again in just the last 24, 48 hours.”
He added that the U.S. did not think Russia obtaining control of Bakhmut would have any “strategic impact” on either the overall war or even fighting in that part of the country.
The U.S. thinks Russia — and specifically the Wagner Group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, which is doing much of the fighting for Bakhmut — wants to take over and benefit financially from gypsum and salt mines located in the area, Kirby said.
“Even if Bakhmut were to fall, it would not have a strategic impact on the overall war,” Kirby said. “I would go so far as to say it won’t even have, necessarily, a strategic impact on the fighting in that part of the country. We think one of the reasons why Prigozhin is so interested in Bakhmut is because there’s a gypsum mine there, and up in Soledar, there’s a salt mine. And it’s entirely possible that Mr. Prigozhin sees some economic benefit to him and his company to take Bakhmut and to take and hold Soledar.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Feb 11, 9:43 AM EST
US surveillance data ‘crucial’: Ukrainian commander
Ukrainian Lt. Gen. Serhiy Nayev told ABC News in an interview that the U.S. provides “surveillance data,” allowing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to more accurately pinpoint Russian targets within Ukraine’s borders.
“This help is crucial for us,” he said.
Nayev said he was in “constant contact” with American generals stationed in other parts of Europe. An exchange of data between the Ukrainians and Americans helped the Ukrainian military to pinpoint targets using US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems.
“This work goes perfectly in real time,” he said.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Dragana Jovanovic and Ale Pavone
Feb 10, 3:09 PM EST
Biden to visit Poland on eve of first anniversary of invasion of Ukraine
President Joe Biden will visit Poland on Feb. 20, on the eve of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Biden will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda as well as the leaders of the Bucharest Nine, a group of our eastern flank NATO allies, and he’ll deliver remarks to mark the one-year anniversary, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
“President Biden will deliver remarks ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, addressing how the United States has rallied the world, to support the people of Ukraine, as they defend their freedom and democracy, and how we will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Jean-Pierre said.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Feb 10, 12:25 PM EST
Russian missile comes within 22 miles of Romanian border with Ukraine
Romania, a member of NATO, said Friday a Russian missile had come within 22 miles of its border but that it did not cross into the country’s territory, countering a claim made by the Ukrainian military.
“The Romanian Air Forces’ air surveillance system detected on Friday, February 10th, an aerial target launched by a Russian Federation’s ship, navigating in the Black Sea, nearby the Crimean Peninsula. The target is most likely a cruise missile, which flew over the air space of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and reentered the Ukrainian air space without ever infringing Romania’s air space,” Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr said in a statement Friday.
Ukrainian officials had said earlier Friday that two Russian missiles crossed into the airspace of Moldova and Romania before entering Ukraine and being directed at targets in the country.
“Several Russian missiles passed through the airspace of Moldova and Romania. These missiles are a challenge to NATO and collective security. This is terror that can and must be stopped,” Zelenskyy said Friday.
