(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with troops crossing the border from Belarus and Russia. Moscow’s forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.
Russian forces retreated last week from the Kyiv suburbs, leaving behind a trail of destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, U.S. and European officials accused Russian troops of committing war crimes.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 07, 1:52 pm
House votes to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, ban Russian energy imports
The House voted 420-3 Thursday on the Senate-passed bill to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus.
Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky voted against the bill, which would allow the Biden administration to raise tariffs on certain goods but have a limited economic impact on Russia.
The bill stalled in the Senate for weeks over Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s concerns about human rights language being too broadly written.
The House also approved the symbolic ban on Russian energy imports into the U.S. The Biden administration has already implemented the ban through executive order.
-ABC News’ Ben Siegel
Apr 07, 12:50 pm
‘Big Russian offensive’ expected in Donbas: NATO SG
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Thursday that there’s no indication of a Russian retreat. Instead, he said Russia is regrouping and repositioning forces to the east, warning that “a big Russian offensive” is expected in the Donbas region in southeastern Ukraine.
Stoltenberg also warned that the war could last for “months and possibly also for years.”
“If the war is going to drag on and be long, then the risk is first and foremost for the people of Ukraine,” he said, acknowledging that as long as the war continues, there will be a risk of escalation beyond Ukraine.
“And that’s exactly what NATO is focused on — is to prevent that escalation,” he said.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Apr 07, 12:06 pm
UN votes to suspend Russia from Human Rights Council
In an unprecedented move, the U.N. General Assembly has voted to suspend Russia from the body’s Human Rights Council, marking the first time a permanent member of the U.N.’s Security Council has ever been removed from a post within the international organization.
To pass, the measure needed two-thirds approval from the voting members of the General Assembly. Ninety-three countries voted in favor of the resolution. Twenty-four voted against it and 58 abstained.
Before the vote, a chorus of countries aligned with Russia aired their grievances, including Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Syria and Cuba.
China’s U.N. envoy Zhang Jun said it would side with Russia out of opposition to “exerting pressure on other countries in the name of human rights,” saying the measure would “deprive a country’s legitimate membership in the Human Rights Council.” Jun also expressed disapproval for the sanctions the West has levied against Russia.
Russia’s suspension is the result of a U.S.-led effort launched as a direct response to horrific images of corpses left behind in Bucha and other towns after Russian forces withdrew. While Russia has denied responsibility, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield has said Russia must be held accountable.
The Human Rights Council is currently investigating allegations of war crimes, though Russia voted against the inquiry, calling it a “waste of resources.”
This is only the second time that any country has had its membership revoked from the Human Rights Council. Libya was suspended in 2011 because of violence towards protestors by military forces loyal to then-leader Muammar Gaddafi.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Apr 07, 11:59 am
Senate unanimously passes bills to ban Russian oil imports, end normal trade relations with Russia
The Senate has unanimously passed two pieces of legislation aimed at further damaging Russia’s economy.
The first bill, passed by a rare 100-0 vote on the Senate floor, suspends Russia’s and Belarus’ permanent normal trade status with the U.S.
“No nation whose military is committing war crimes deserves free trade status with the United States,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor Thursday.
The second bill, which also passed unanimously, codifies what the administration has already announced: a ban on the import of Russian oil to the U.S.
Negotiations over both pieces of legislation stalled for weeks as senators fought over certain provisions. Schumer on Wednesday called it a “big, big deal” that the bills would pass before the Senate departs for Easter recess at the end of the week.
Both bills were previously passed by the House, but have since been modified by the Senate. So the legislation now heads back to the House where members will take up the bills Thursday.
-ABC News’ Allie Pecorin
Apr 07, 11:23 am
Russia accused of deporting Mariupol residents to Russian territory
Ukrainian officials claimed Thursday that Russian troops are deporting health care workers and other residents in the beiseged port city of Mariupol to Russia-held territory.
Mariupol City Council said in a statement that “the occupiers have forcibly removed” staff and patients from a hospital and taken them to Russia-controlled separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said in another statement that, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, at least 40,000 Mariupol residents have been deported to other cities, mostly in Russia. He noted that his administration is creating a database of deported residents as part of efforts to bring them home.
Mariupol, a strategic southeastern port city in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, has been largely reduced to rubble after more than a month of heavy Russian bombardment. According to the Ukrainian military, fierce fighting against Russian forces continued Thursday in Mariupol as well as the cities of Popasna, Rubizhne and Severodonetsk in the neighboring Luhansk Oblast of eastern Ukraine.
Apr 07, 11:10 am
Ukrainian official tells Blinken time is of essence with weapons
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday that time is of the essence in providing weapons to Ukraine.
“We have no doubts that in the end, Ukraine will get everything that it needs, and we will overcome all of the reluctance and hesitation coming from some allies when it comes to specifics weapons, but the issue of timeline is crucial,” Kuleba said, eliciting an affirmative hum from Blinken. “I’m looking forward to our conversation today to discuss the timeline of supplies of the weapons which are needed to defend Ukraine.”
Kuleba praised the U.S. as a “real” friend for its “ironclad support” and “leadership” in imposing sanctions on Russia and “reaching out” to countries that haven’t taken a firm stance against Russia’s invasion.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Apr 07, 10:29 am
Video shows trenches, tank tracks in radioactive Red Forest
Video has emerged purportedly showing trenches and tank tracks in Ukraine’s radioactive Red Forest.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense released the footage on Wednesday, claiming it as evidence that Russia ordered its soldiers to dig fortifications in the Red Forest near the shuttered Chernobyl nuclear power plant while occupying the area.
“Complete neglect of human life, even of one’s own subordinates, is what a killer-state looks like,” the ministry said in a post on Twitter alongside the video.
The Red Forest is the most radioactively contaminated part of the exclusion zone surrounding Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
Apr 07, 10:28 am
Russia claims attacks on more fuel depots in Ukraine
Russia claimed Thursday that its forces destroyed more fuel depots in Ukraine overnight.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that “high-precision air- and sea-based missiles” struck four fuel storage facilities “during the night” near the Ukrainian cities of Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv and Chuhuiv, from which the ministry claimed “Ukrainian forces were supplied with fuel” near Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Donbas.
Apr 07, 10:27 am
Russian forces ‘facing morale issues and shortages,’ UK says
Russia’s military remains focused on progressing its offensive operations in eastern Ukraine, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Thursday in an intelligence update.
According to the ministry, Russian forces continue to conduct artillery and air strikes along the line of control in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure targets are likely intended to degrade the ability of Ukraine’s military to resupply as well as to increase pressure on the Ukrainian government, the ministry said.
“Despite refocusing forces and logistics capabilities to support operations in the Donbas,” the ministry added, “Russian forces are likely to continue facing morale issues and shortages of supplies and personnel.”
Apr 07, 9:08 am
US Senate votes to resurrect WWII-era program to help Ukraine fight Russia
The United States Senate unanimously approved major legislation late Wednesday to resurrect a World War II-era policy that gives President Joe Biden the authority to expedite the delivery of weapons and other supplies to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.
The so-called Lend-Lease program was created during the Second World War and allowed the U.S. to swiftly resupply allies without bureaucratic barriers in the fight against Nazi Germany. The bill that passed in the Senate on Wednesday night would enable the U.S. to stay physically out of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine while providing allies with weapons and military equipment.
In a brief, late-night speech on the Senate floor in Washington, D.C., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military forces of carrying out “genocide” in Ukraine, calling the alleged atrocities “pure evil.”
“When we murder wantonly innocent civilians because of who they are, whether it be their religion, their race, or their nationality, that is genocide,” Schumer said, “and Mr. Putin is guilty of it.”
The Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, as it’s called, would be specific to Ukraine and Eastern European nations to help remove obstacles to lending arms. The legislation would not create a new program, but would streamline the president’s current authority to lend the defense articles needed by Ukraine and Eastern European countries and expedite the delivery of defense articles to Ukraine. It would remain in effect through fiscal year 2023, according to a press release from the office of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation and a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Shaheen introduced the bill with Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in January. It will now be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Apr 07, 5:21 am
Ukraine’s NATO agenda: ‘Weapons, weapons and weapons’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba said his country had a “simple” agenda for Thursday’s NATO meeting.
“It has only three items on it. It’s weapons, weapons and weapons,” Kuleba told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday.
NATO foreign ministers are meeting this week to discuss the situation in Ukraine, including whether to implement new sanctions and supply additional weapons, said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who spoke alongside Kuleba.
“So we are providing support, but, at the same time, working hard to prevent the escalation of the conflict,” Stoltenberg said.
Kuleba called on “all allies to put aside their hesitations” in aiding Ukraine.
“We are confident that the best way to help Ukraine now is to provide it with all necessary to contain [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, and to defeat Russian army in Ukraine, in the territory of Ukraine, so that the war does not spill over further,” Kuleba said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet with Kuleba on Thursday, according to his office.
“The G7 is committed to holding President Putin to account for his unprovoked war of choice and ensuring he endures a strategic defeat in Ukraine,” Blinken said on Twitter on Thursday.
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