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ABC News

Russia-Ukraine updates: 2 US veterans who joined Ukrainian forces missing

PHOTO: Ukrainian servicemen fire with a French self-propelled 155 mm/52-calibre gun Caesar towards Russian positions at a front line in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 15, 2022.
27:37
Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
The First Lady of Ukraine: Olena Zelenska | Robin Roberts Reporting
By Morgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, Ivan Pereira, Bill Hutchinson, Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: April 30, 2022, 6:59 PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

For previous coverage, please click here.

Two Men at War
Two Men at Wartitle
Two Men at War
A look at the two leaders at the center of the war in Ukraine and how they both rose to power, the difference in their leadership and what led to this moment in history.

Latest headlines:

  • 'Ukraine belongs to the European family'
  • Biden announces additional $1B in military, $225M in humanitarian assistance
  • Russia turns to outdated missiles
  • Ukraine pleads for heavy weapons ahead of NATO meeting
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Apr 30, 2022 6:59 PM

Angelina Jolie visits refugees in Ukraine

Actress Angelina Jolie visited Lviv, Ukraine, on Saturday, meeting with officials and posing for photos with children at a railway station.

Jolie is a special envoy for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. More than 12 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine and more than 5 million have fled to neighboring countries, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday.

The Lviv Regional State Administration shared photos of Jolie being informed about the situation in the area as did several residents of the city, including those at a bakery, Lviv Croissants, where the actress stopped.

PHOTO: In this image provided by the Lviv city hall Angelina Jolie, Hollywood movie star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, poses for photo with kids in Lviv, Ukraine, Saturday, Apr. 30, 2022.
Maksym Kozutsky/Lviv City Hall via AP
In this image provided by the Lviv city hall Angelina Jolie, Hollywood movie star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, poses for photo with kids in Lviv, Ukraine, Saturday, Apr. 30, 2022. Jolie was in Ukraine to meet the children affected by the war and visited hospitals and NGOs helping the injured and displaced.
Maksym Kozutsky/Lviv City Hall via AP

PHOTO: U.S. actor and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie gets a selfie taken with a volunteer as she visits Lviv's main railway station, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, April 30, 2022, in this handout image.
Ukrzaliznytsia/Handout via Reuters
U.S. actor and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie gets a selfie taken with a volunteer as she visits Lviv's main railway station, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, April 30, 2022, in this handout image.
Ukrzaliznytsia/Handout via Reuters

PHOTO: Angelina Jolie, Hollywood movie star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, poses for photo with her fans in Lviv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022.
Eduard Tomilchenko/AP
Angelina Jolie, Hollywood movie star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, poses for photo with her fans in Lviv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022.
Eduard Tomilchenko/AP

PHOTO: U.S. actor and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie poses with Andriy Galickiy, founder of Lviv Croissants, during her visit to Lviv, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, April 30, 2022, in this handout image.
Andriy Galickiy/Handout via Reuters
U.S. actor and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie poses with Andriy Galickiy, founder of Lviv Croissants, during her visit to Lviv, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, April 30, 2022, in this handout image.
Andriy Galickiy/Handout via Reuters

Apr 30, 2022 12:23 PM

7,000 disappearances reported since the war began, Ukraine says

In just two months, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have received over 7,000 reports of disappearances. About half of them were found, according to Mary Akopyan, Ukraine's deputy minister of internal affairs.

The number of people in Ukraine who have disappeared due to the war is unprecedented in modern world history, Hakobyan claimed in a meeting with a delegation of the International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization that addresses the issue of missing persons as a result of armed conflict, human rights violations and natural disasters.

The government received 2,000 unrecognizable bodies, 1,282 of which were later identified, according to the ministry.

An ICMP group of specialists will be arriving in Kyiv in a few weeks to provide help in identifying victims, according to the ministry.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian


Apr 29, 2022 8:02 PM

Russian troops behind schedule by 'at least several days': US

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday that Russia's military has weakened since invading Ukraine.

"They have suffered thousands of casualties. They have lost airplanes. They have lost tanks. They have certainly lost battles," he said.

Russian forces are now trying to avoid mistakes they made around Kyiv earlier in the invasion, but stiff Ukrainian resistance and a more cautious approach seem to be slowing their advance, a senior U.S. defense official said.

The Russians, who were plagued by fuel and food shortages during earlier fighting in the north, are now wary of getting too far ahead of their supply lines, the official said.

PHOTO: Firefighters try to put out a fire following an explosion in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 28, 2022. Russia mounted attacks across a wide area of Ukraine on Thursday, bombarding Kyiv during a visit by the head of the United Nations.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Firefighters try to put out a fire following an explosion in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 28, 2022. Russia mounted attacks across a wide area of Ukraine on Thursday, bombarding Kyiv during a visit by the head of the United Nations.
Emilio Morenatti/AP

Another factor slowing their progress is that their tactic of launching artillery and airstrikes to soften areas before moving ground troops forward is not working well.

"Their ground movements are fairly plodding because the artillery and airstrikes that they're launching against Ukrainian positions are not having the effect that they want them to have," the official said. "Ukrainians are still able to resist."

PHOTO: A Ukrainian military vehicle drives to the front line during a fight with Russian forces near Izyum in Kharkiv Oblast, eastern Ukraine, on April 23, 2022.
Jorge Silva/Reuters
A Ukrainian military vehicle drives to the front line during a fight with Russian forces near Izyum in Kharkiv Oblast, eastern Ukraine, on April 23, 2022.
Jorge Silva/Reuters

The Pentagon believes Russian forces are behind schedule by "at least several days" on their various lines of approach, the official said.

"We believe they meant to be much further along in terms of the total encirclement of Ukrainian troops in the east, and they have not been able to link north with south. In fact, they're nowhere close to linking north and south as the Ukrainians continue to fight back," the official said.

But Russia retains certain advantages in the eastern Donbas region, where its forces have high numbers and benefit from shorter lines of communication because they're fighting closer to their own border.

And while there is already fighting in Donbas, the Pentagon believes Russia is still setting conditions "for a sustained and larger and longer offensive" in the region, the defense official said.

"It could go on for some time. We've described it as a potential knife fight, and I think it's beginning to shape up to be exactly that," the official said.

PHOTO: A Ukrainian multiple rocket launcher BM-21 "Grad" shells Russian troops' position, near Lugansk, in the Donbas region, on April 10, 2022.
Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images
A Ukrainian multiple rocket launcher BM-21 "Grad" shells Russian troops' position, near Lugansk, in the Donbas region, on April 10, 2022.
Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images

Almost 20 shipment flights have arrived from seven different nations in the last 24 hours carrying mines, small arms ammunition, rockets and body armor, according to the official.

Over the next 24 hours, more than 12 flights carrying U.S. military aid for Ukraine are expected to arrive in the region, including howitzers, 155mm artillery rounds and the first shipment of Phoenix Ghost drones, the official said.

-ABC News' Matt Seyler



Apr 29, 2022 7:39 PM

American killed while fighting in Ukraine

U.S. citizen Willy Joseph Cancel was killed in Ukraine while fighting alongside Ukrainian troops against invading Russian forces, his family confirmed to ABC News early Friday. The news was first reported by CNN.

Cancel, a 22-year-old former U.S. Marine, "was eager to volunteer" when he learned about the war in Ukraine, according to his wife, Brittany Cancel.

"He went there wanting to help people, he had always felt that that was his main mission in life," Brittany Cancel told ABC News in a statement. "My husband was very brave and a hero."

PHOTO: Willy Joseph Cancel is seen here in an undated file photo.
Courtesy Brittany Cancel
Willy Joseph Cancel is seen here in an undated file photo.
Courtesy Brittany Cancel

Before going to Ukraine, Cancel was working as a detention officer in Kentucky. He also had dreams of becoming a police officer or firefighter, according to his wife.

"I did not expect to be a widow at 23 years old or for our son to be without a father," she said. "All I want is for him to come home, and to give him the proper burial he deserves."

An official with the U.S. Department of State told ABC News on Friday morning that they "are aware of these reports and are closely monitoring the situation," but declined to comment further "due to privacy considerations."

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told MSNBC later on Friday that the department is "in the process of reaching out to the family ... to learn more details, to ascertain how we might be in a position to best support the family."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki expressed her condolences to Cancel's family at Friday's briefing, saying he "certainly sounded like a very passionate young man."

"A wife is mourning and our hearts are with them," she said.

Psaki also urged Americans not to travel to Ukraine.

"We know people want to help, but we do encourage Americans to find other ways to do so rather than traveling" to Ukraine, she said.

-ABC News' Caroline Guthrie and Conor Finnegan


Apr 25, 2022 7:01 PM

Russian forces target railways, killing at least 5

Russian forces have carried out five strikes targeting Ukraine railway stations, according to the head of the state-run Ukrainian railways, Oleksandr Kamyshin.

The hardest hit were the towns of Zhmerynka and Kozyatyn, where five people were killed and 18 were injured, according to Serhii Borzov, the head of the Vinnytsia regional military administration.

No casualties were reported in the other railway strikes, which were in the Lviv, Rivne and Zhytomyr regions, officials said.

-ABC News' Natalya Kushnir, Fidel Pavlenko and Christine Theodorou


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