(BELVIDERE, Ill.) — Over a thousand automotive workers in Illinois will clock out of a Jeep assembly plant for the last time Tuesday, stopping what a local union president described as the “heartbeat” of the small city.
In December, multinational automotive giant Stellantis announced that they would be “idling” their Belvidere, Illinois, assembly plant on Feb. 28, indefinitely laying off 1,350 employees. The factory, which had served as an economic engine for the town of Belvidere since the 1960s, also spawned thousands of local jobs; according to a union official, 400 additional jobs for different companies supplying the plant have also been cut due to the factory’s idling.
“It’s like living a nightmare every day,” said Kevin Logan, the president of Belvidere-based United Auto Workers Local 1268.
Stellantis’ decision to leave Belvidere leaves many of the city’s 25,000 residents with an uncertain future, with some former employees driven to relocate to fully obtain benefits and those left behind unsure about the long-term viability of their community without the factory that served as the town’s economic anchor.
“You’re either forced to take a pay cut or uproot your entire family,” said Jeremy Snow, co-owner of an auto-repair shop in Belvidere. He later added, “I just feel like there’s definitely a million ways they could have done better, and they didn’t care.”
Stellantis, which recorded $17.8 billion in net profit in 2022, said it would idle the facility in part because of the increased cost of “the electrification of the automotive market,” in addition to the pandemic and the global microchip shortage. In a statement to ABC News, a company spokesperson said they would make “every effort to place indefinitely laid off employees in open full-time positions as they become available.”
The plant — associated with Chrysler for decades — churned out millions of vehicles, including the Dodge Dart and Chrysler New Yorker. Before its idling, the plant was most recently used to assemble the Jeep Cherokee. According to Logan, the final decision to idle the factory follows a slow bleed of layoffs in the last four years, including the loss of about 1,500 workers in 2019, 1,200 in 2021 and 500 in 2022.
Logan said the “nightmare” began on Dec. 9, when he received a phone call from a Stellantis representative who informed him that in fifteen minutes, an announcement would be made on the plant’s floor telling the employees about the fate of the factory. Since then, Logan said local management has primarily been “kept in the dark” about the factory’s future.
Logan said he was given the same reasons for the factory closure – a combination of the cost of electrification, COVID, and the chip shortage – though he said he struggles to rationalize how such a profitable company, along with the tax incentives for American manufacturing, would still decide to shutter a state-of-the-art facility.
“It really pisses me off that they’re not going to keep it here at this facility,” he said, adding. “They’re turning profits with these companies, yet they aren’t making enough profit to sustain the product here and keep people working.”
In a statement to ABC News, Stellantis said that they have not yet announced the next production location for the next-generation Jeep Cherokee; however, citing internal discussion at the factory, Logan expressed concern that production might move to Stellanti’s 1.6 million-square-foot Toluca, Mexico, assembly plant, where Jeep already produces their Compass compact SUV.
A Stellantis spokesperson said that “government regulations and societal pressure” have led to the push for electrification, which she said is 40 percent more expensive to implement.
“This means we will need to rethink and restructure our operations everywhere in the world, including in North America,” she wrote.
The decision to shutter the factory is also expected to impact suppliers in the town and region, including seven union-staffed facilities that supply tires, headliners, shocks, seats and engines, as well as clean facilities and transport cars. Across these facilities, Logan cited an additional 400 layoffs.
A spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity said the state government is working to assist furloughed workers and identify new opportunities for the Belvidere plant. Stellantis could not provide any details about plans to repurpose the facility.
While the town has other employment opportunities, such as a large General Mills facility, the Stellantis plant’s loss leaves employees and residents with an unstable future, local business owners said.
Some employees could move to another Stellantis plant in neighboring states so they can complete the years of work required to obtain full benefits, as those opportunities become available. The move comes with a relocation bonus, Logan said. But, for many, the prospect of moving their family is a high cost, Snow said.
“Can you imagine an option where you’ve worked for a company for, let’s say, 17, 18 years, when you’re two years away from a pension … and your only option to keep your pension is to move to Toledo, Ohio, 600 miles away, to try to just keep your job,” Snow said.
Snow also cited concerns about property values, arguing that many people originally moved to Belvidere because of the plant. He added that residents have been more reluctant to spend money following the announcement.
“If nothing else, we’re losing long-term relationships with clients because they’ve got to move out of state to find work,” said Joe Santiago, another Belvidere small business owner.
When looking for someone to blame for the plant’s demise, some look directly at Stellantis.
“It feels like we had oil underneath the town, and now the oil is gone, so now they’ve just gonna leave their equipment and leave,” Snow said. “And that’s sort of what it feels like, they’ve drained us, they’re done with us, they don’t care what happens to our market, our families, our children, our schools.”
However, Santiago pointed more toward the high taxes in Illinois, the influence of unions, and the lack of overall business competitiveness in the state, though he added that Stellantis’ moves over the last year have been “haphazard, to say the least.”
“I hear more people who want to move out of state than I see people wanting to come to Illinois to work, which is unfortunate,” he said.
The plant’s closure may serve to further weaken the concept among locals that members of the working class, many of whom don’t have specialized training or a college degree, could rely on a stable manufacturing job as a gateway to a stable life.
“When you grew up in a plant town or around the plant town, everybody always says, ‘Man, if you can get into there, you’re set for life,'” Snow said.
Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott recently teamed up with Ghost for a new version of “Spillways,” a track from the Swedish rockers’ 2022 album, Impera. Well, it sounds like this may not be the last time we see Elliott and Ghost’s Tobias Forge collaborate.
“It has come up in the last while, and I’d be more than happy to,” Elliott tells NME. “Next time though, when we’ve both got some time off, I want us to actually find some neutral place where we can get together in a room with a little recorder, a couple of guitars, pen, paper, our brains, a bottle of wine and see what we come up with.”
Elliott says it would be fun to write a song with Forge, noting, “I don’t want to do it for a job, I just want to write together to see what we’d get. I want to play around and see where it goes.”
Rep. Cori Bush, D-Missouri, left, told ABC’s Devin Dwyer, right, she believes her state does not have legal standing to challenge the Biden administration’s student debt forgiveness plan in federal court because it is not directly harmed. — ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing arguments in two cases challenging President Joe Biden’s $400 billion student loan forgiveness program.
Critics of the Biden administration’s plan to cancel federal student loan debt for more than 40 million Americans say it’s expensive, unfair and an abuse of executive power.
As supporters of the program protested outside, Chief Justice John Roberts and other conservative justices zeroed in on the issue of executive authority and separation of powers, questioning whether Congress needed to sign off on such broad relief.
“Congress shouldn’t have been surprised when half a trillion dollars is wiped off the books?” Roberts asked Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, arguing for the Biden administration.
“We take very seriously the idea of separation of powers and that power should be divided to prevent its abuse,” Roberts added, making a comparison to the Supreme Court’s decision to block former President Donald Trump’s unilateral attempt to dismantle the DACA program for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
Prelogar, in turn, argued that the education secretary has the authority to provide relief under the HEROES Act, a 2003 law aimed at ensuring federal student loan borrowers would not be economically devastated during a national emergency, in this case, the COVID pandemic.
“Well, of course, we think Congress did address this expressly here,” Prelogar said. “And Congress directed that in the context of a national emergency — that is the limitation of the HEROES Act — so the secretary can’t invoke this whenever he wants, there has to be that predicate: war or military operation or national emergency.”
The group of six GOP-led states on Tuesday challenging the program before the Supreme Court, were questioned by liberal justices to answer the critical question of how, exactly, they are harmed.
“You can’t just go to the court and say I don’t like this, or I think this might be a problem,” said David Nahmias, a staff attorney with the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice. “In order to sue, you have to show that you are going to be threatened with a certain impending injury.”
The states have alleged a future financial injury from lost revenue on student-loan discharges; fewer loans on the books, they say, would mean fewer taxes to collect.
The state of Missouri argues that it would be uniquely harmed by the impact of large-scale debt cancellation on Missouri’s Higher Education Loan Authority, or MOHELA, which is the nation’s largest loan servicer.
Nebraska Solicitor James Campbell, arguing on behalf of the states, said Tuesday that the plan would cut MOHELA’s operating revenue significantly.
The Biden administration says the states’ claims are highly speculative and indirect, undermining their legal standing to bring the case in the first place.
“MOHELA isn’t here,” said Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. “It has the ability to sue and be sued; it has been set up as a separate entity. Usually we don’t allow one person to step into another’s shoes and say, ‘I think this person suffered harm’ even if that harm is very great.”
Justice Amy Coney Barrett also pressed Campbell on MOEHLA’s absence, asking, “Do you want to address why MOHELA’s not here?”
Campbell responded that MOHELA “MOHELA isn’t here because the state is asserting its interests. MOHELA doesn’t need to be here because the state has the authority to speak for them.”
“If MOHELA is really an arm of the state … why didn’t you just strong-arm MOHELA and say, ‘You have to pursue this suit?'” Barrett asked.
“The basic threshold issue is, is Missouri, is Nebraska – are these states injured today?” said South Texas College of Law professor Josh Blackman.
Lower courts and legal scholars from across the ideological spectrum have divided on the question of injury, setting the stage for the justices to have the final say on whether the Biden debt relief plan inflicts clear harm on state governments.
“The answer is tricky because in recent years the states have been given latitude,” said Blackman. “This might be a case of the court scaling back on that broad authority, although I’m not sure.”
The U.S. Education Department last year, citing a need to protect borrowers from excessive economic hardship during the pandemic, invoked emergency powers to waive repayment terms for some federal student loans. The agency offered to absolve as much as $20,000 of federal debt for more than 40 million eligible borrowers.
The move drew an immediate legal challenge from Republican attorneys general in six states — Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina — who saw it as a costly bailout to college students at the expense of other American taxpayers.
“Joe Biden had no legal authority whatsoever. I think the larger issue is it’s unfair to people who paid off their loans. It’s unfair to people who didn’t take out loans,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, Missouri’s Republican former attorney general who first brought the case, told ABC News in an interview.
“It’s adding to our debt,” Schmitt added. “I think the reason why this case is before the Supreme Court and why Missouri and the other states are ultimately going to win is because Missouri has a loan servicing organization called MOHELA that derives revenue from interest.”
MOHELA, a state-created company which manages more than 5 million federal student loan accounts totaling $148 billion, is at the heart of Missouri’s case and what the federal appeals court singled out as a lynchpin in their decision.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals based in St. Louis, which put the Biden debt relief plan on hold last year, cited “threatened financial harm” to Missouri explicitly because of its ties to MOHELA.
MOHELA has contributed $6 million to state student aid programs in the current fiscal year, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development told ABC.
State law also requires MOHELA to pay $350 million to help fund improvements to state colleges and universities.
“The court has identified it as a public entity that administers student loans. It provides college assistance programs for people across the state of Missouri and so the state has an interest in it,” MIssouri’s new attorney general Andrew Bailey told ABC in an interview.
But liberal and conservative legal scholars say financial fallout from a MOHELA-Missouri link is too weak and speculative to justify the states’ Supreme Court case.
“The relationship between Missouri and MOHELA, as our research has shown, in the law that created MOHELA, is such that harm just cannot, cannot happen,” said Nahmias, who filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of Missouri consumer advocates.
“MOHELA is completely separate and distinct from the state of Missouri. Its operations are distinct from Missouri. Its treasury and finances are completely walled off from the Missouri treasury,” he said.
MOHELA, which did not respond to our repeated requests for comment or an interview, is notably not challenging the Biden loan forgiveness plan.
Missouri Rep. Cori Bush says the company is being used as a pawn and that allegations fewer MOHELA-serviced loans would financially harm her state is exaggerated.
“The money that [MOHELA is] supposed to be paying to the state – again, they owe over, what, about $105 million – they have not kept that up,” Bush said in an interview. “So to say that you have borrowers who need to pay what they owe. Well, MOHELA does not pay what they owe.”
MOHELA financial records reviewed by ABC News confirm the loan servicer has not made a payment to the state fund for higher education capital improvements since 2008 and may not make any future payments – even if the Biden debt relief plan is struck down.
“The states have shown no link between debt cancellation and the effect of debt cancellation on MOHELA’s effect to even pay into the fund, even if they wanted to,” said Nahmias.
Asked about MOHELA’s lack of contributions, Attorney General Bailey said it’s “an issue that the [Supreme] Court is going to have to sort out.”
“The Fifth Circuit [U.S. Court of Appeals] sided with us on this issue, and so we’re optimistic about our chances at the U.S. Supreme Court,” he said.
Some top conservative legal scholars, however, have warned the justices in court filings that – while they don’t like the debt cancellation plan – allowing Missouri to challenge it could set a dangerous precedent.
“If these states are granted standing here, it could lead to far broader ability of the states to haul the federal government into court,” Blackman said.
It’s a high-stakes decision that many say will turn on whether the justices believe debt relief for millions of Americans hurts MOHELA, which in turn hurts Missouri.
“The court may very well say, look, no money’s been paid out [by MOHELA] in a very long time. This is too speculative of an injury,” Blackman said. “Or, the court could say the chance that even $1 might be paid at some point in the future might be enough” to establish harm.
Meantime, many of nearly half a million Missourians with federal student loans who applied for relief under the Biden plan are watching the case with anticipation.
“I spend a lot of time worrying about how I’m going to pay that money back,” said Anna Bain, a sophomore journalism major at the University of Missouri-Columbia, holding $12,000 in student debt.
“The soaring costs of higher education these days is so insane and so unacceptable for so many people,” Bain said. “I think that everyone has a right to say how their taxes are being spent. But I feel like taxes are for the greater good and this is for the greater good.”
While he appears to be on the path to the Oscars podium for his work in The Whale, Brendan Fraser detoured with a stroll down memory lane during an appearance onThe Kelly Clarkson Show Tuesday.
Clarkson asked the actor if it was true he “almost died” on the set of the 1999 blockbuster The Mummy during a scene where his swashbuckling adventurer, Rick O’Connell, was nearly executed by hanging. “Nearly,” Fraser admitted, explaining he was “choked out by accident.”
In the sequence, he’s dropped from the gallows and left to struggle with the noose around his neck while Rachel Weisz‘s Evelyn literally bargains for his life.
Fraser got to his feet and mimed the situation, explaining he was on his toes, with the noose around his neck.
Director Stephen Sommers then said, “‘Hey, it doesn’t really look like you’re choking — can you sell it?'” Fraser recalled. “And I was like, ‘All right, fine.’ So I thought, ‘One more take, man.'”
He adds, “And the camera swooped around and I went up on the toes, and the guy holding the rope above me, he pulled it up a little higher and I was stuck on my toes — I had nowhere to go but down. And so he was pulling up and I was going down.”
Fraser continued, “The next thing I knew, my elbow was in my ear, the world was sideways, there was gravel in my teeth and everyone was really quiet.” The actor said he was slapped backed to consciousness by a cheery British stunt coordinator singing his name. “‘Brendan? Brendan, wake up!'”
He explained the stunt guy noted, “‘Congratulations, you’re in the club — the same thing happened to Mel Gibson on Braveheart!'” Fraser shouted his response: “Thanks, I think?! I wanna go home!”
If ever one was thinking of putting Jonathan Majors and Issa Rae together for a romantic comedy, Jon already has a plot.
“I think we should definitely do the, like, we grew up together, and then I come back home, and it’s like ‘Oh, okay.’ We can start with that,” he tells Variety. “And then we gotta do — I wanna do the run through Central Park, you know what I mean? A run through Central Park, chasing her to the airport, trying to be there at the airport. She said she’s going to the airport, then book it. … Say we live in Harlem, then we’ve got Central Park, going down, then you’re running through LaGuardia trying to find [her].”
After sharing his idea, Jonathan looked at the camera and told Issa, “Let’s do it. You wanna do it? Let’s do it.”
The question about Jon’s rom-com plot stemmed from his The Cut interview in which he said he’d like to play in a romantic comedy, as well as his onstage chemistry with Issa at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday. After they presented an award together, the award show’s social media page captioned their photo, “Somebody write the script.”
Only time will tell whether the rom-com comes to life. Until then, Jonathan’s new film, Creed III, comes out in theaters Friday.
Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images for Music Matters 2012
Marty Friedman is open to playing with Megadeth again after he reunited with Dave Mustaine and company earlier this week during the band’s concert at Tokyo’s famed Budokan venue.
Speaking with Consequence, Friedman shares, “I think the door has always been open.”
“It’s really just a matter of doing something that has meaning to it,” Friedman says. “Meaning for them and meaning for me. So, Budokan is sort of a no-brainer. But if something were to come up that would be a good thing for them and a good thing for me, and add value to it, then I’m all for it.”
“As far as I’m concerned, their band is just kicking so much a** right now — I can’t imagine them needing me for anything,” the guitarist laughs. “But Budokan was wonderful. There’s other things in the future. My door’s open and we’re on great terms, and I love all the guys in the band. It’s very casual.”
Friedman played in Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. During the Budakon show, which marked Friedman’s first performance with Megadeth in 23 years, he joined the group for the songs “Symphony of Destruction,” “Countdown to Extinction” and “Tornado of Souls.”
A disappointing phone call led to the reminder that God believed in his capabilities, so DJ Khalednamed his last album God Did. He explained the story in detail Monday while on The Jennifer Hudson Show.
“I was on the phone when somebody was just telling me something so disappointing … when you hear something like that you look at the phone like, ‘What’s this person saying?’” he recalled.
“I was like, ‘Damn, they ain’t believe in us … then I was like, ‘God did!’ Like, haha!” he continued. He said it reminded him to keep his head up and know that “God got us and what you just heard … that’s not true.”
After Khaled’s experience, he took to social media and started using his catchphrase, “They don’t believe in us … God Did,” which he says fans began to repeat when seeing him outside.
“I’m like, ‘Oh man, how beautiful it is they connecting with it,’” he said. “If I can help to remind people that God is the greatest? Beautiful!”
God Did, released back in August, earned five nominations at the 65th annual Grammy Awards, including for Best Rap Album. He performed the title track alongside collaborators Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, JohnLegend and Fridayy to close the awards show.
grandson has premiered a new single called “Eulogy.”
“‘Eulogy’ was written in the aftermath of a bad mushrooms trip this summer, which led me to scrapping my album and admitting to myself and others that I was struggling with fantasies of self harm,” the “Blood//Water” artist says. “It’s easy to feel nihilistic or cynical about the future, and there’s a strange comfort in indulging in the depressing absurdity of day to day life with the only people in the world that understand you.”
“Eulogy” is the first new grandson tune since 2021, which saw the release of singles including “Drop Dead” featuring Travis Barker and Kesha and the Jessie Reyez collaboration “Rain” for The Suicide Squad soundtrack. grandson’s most recent album is his 2020 full-length debut, Death of an Optimist.
Along with the new tune, grandson has announced a U.S. headlining tour, running from May 12 in San Diego to July 11 in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. K.Flay will also be on the bill for select dates.
Tickets go on sale Friday, March 3, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit grandsonmusic.com.
If you are in crisis or know someone in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or by visiting 988lifeline.org. You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
John Fogerty regained control of the worldwide publishing rights to his music with Creedence Clearwater Revival last month and he couldn’t be happier.
“Finally getting ownership of my songs now, you can see it’s correcting something that has been wrong in my life for most of my life — you know, since my early twenties,” he tellsVarietyin a new interview in which he delves into his 55-year fight to get those rights back.
The news comes as many of Fogerty’s peers are actually selling their publishing rights, and the irony isn’t lost on him.
“It is ironic, certainly, that everybody else is selling and I end up buying my songs, but of course it makes perfect sense,” he says. “It has been such a wrong use of music business law, all these years. To finally own ‘Proud Mary’ is a big deal.” Fogerty adds, “I understand other people, especially older people, wanting to sell. But that’s not my frame of mind, certainly at the moment, anyway.”
How he got the rights back is long and involved, and at one point had him refusing to perform any CCR songs. But now that it’s over, he isn’t dwelling on what he’s been through.
“I am now, at this point in my life, looking to all the positiveness of this blessing, and I’m not turning around and looking at the horror that was the past,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer shares. “It is a blessing, for sure — it could have been a situation that never changed, but it did change, and I’m really happy.”
He adds, “I don’t know what simple phrase would work here. ‘Good things come to those who wait’ — maybe that’s one.”
(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:
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.
