More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Apr 12, 2023, 7:12 PM EDT
Singer Brad Paisley visits Ukraine for 1st time with Senate delegation, meets with Zelenskyy
Country singer Brad Paisley visited Ukraine for the first time on Wednesday and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to see firsthand what's happening in the war-torn country, according to Ukrainian fundraising platform UNITED24.
Paisley, who serves as a global ambassador for UNITED24 and its campaign to help rebuild Ukraine, performed his song "Same Here" while in St. Michael’s Square in Kyiv.
Brad Paisley performs in front of destroyed Russian military equipment at the Mikhailovsky Square in Kyiv on April 12, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
Paisley, who went with a bipartisan U.S. Senate delegation, also played for American troops in Poland, UNITED24 said.
“It’s an emotional experience seeing all of this firsthand," Paisley said during a press conference. "For me, looking around this city and being here for the first time, I’m absolutely struck by the resilience of life and the beautiful nature of the way this city is trying to thrive in the middle of conflict."
Apr 12, 2023, 6:20 PM EDT
2 US citizens died while fighting in Ukraine, State Dept. says
Two Americans have died while volunteering to fight in Ukraine, the U.S. Department of State said Wednesday.
Edward Wilton and Grady Kurpasi died in combat during the conflict, bringing the total number of Americans killed to at least eight.
Wilton, 22, died on April 7 fighting in Bakhmut, his half brother Parker Cummings told ABC News. He was from Marianna, Florida.
Wilton served in the U.S. Army, Cummings said, and informed his half brother about his plans to fight in Ukraine through a message sent from a plane en route to Poland on April 10, 2022.
“My brother was very selfless. My brother was very honorable and traditional," Cummings told ABC News. "He cared more about freedom for all than for his own safety. Edward was a true hero and he will be missed until we see him again.”
Grady Kurpasi in Ukraine in an undated photo.
Kurpasi Family
Joshua Cropper, who told ABC News he fought with Wilton in Ukraine’s International Legion between April and early July 2022, said of Wilton: “He was so young, but immensely brave. Fearless. We’d need three guys to do any task, he's always going to have his hand up. He was as mature as anybody I've ever known.”
Kurpasi was reportedly last seen in April 2022 and was widely reported to be missing last June.
As recently as last fall, his family said they believed he was in critical condition in a Russian-controlled hospital in Donetsk, but it’s not clear exactly when he was confirmed dead or if he was ever hospitalized.
Edward Wilton is seen in this undated photo.
Courtesy The Wilton Family
A GoFund Me page organized on behalf of Kurpasi's wife provides few details on his time in Ukraine, but states that he “ended up leading a squad into battle and was killed in action.”
“We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine. We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement when asked about his case. “When a U.S. citizen dies overseas, including in Ukraine, the Department of State supports the legal representative and family of the deceased in numerous ways, including by providing information on the disposition of remains and estates and issuing a consular report of death.”
The spokesperson added: “The U.S. government takes its role in such a situation very seriously, providing all appropriate assistance through the legal representative, next of kin or their designee.”
Regarding Wilton, a State Department official confirmed that a U.S. citizen died near Bakhmut and said they're in touch with the family and providing all appropriate consular services.
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford and Chris Looft
Apr 12, 2023, 2:50 PM EDT
Efforts to pressure Russia to release WSJ reporter 'senseless and futile,' Russia says
Days after the U.S. designated Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as wrongfully detained in Russia, Russian officials referred to pressure from the U.S. to release him as futile.
"Any attempts to put pressure on the Russian authorities and the court, insisting on a 'special treatment' for U.S. citizens who have violated Russian law, are senseless and futile," the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
-ABC News' Natalia Shumskaia
Apr 11, 2023, 1:56 PM EDT
Biden speaks to Evan Gershkovich's parents
After some missed calls, President Joe Biden finally connected with the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Tuesday.
"He felt it was really important to connect with Evan's family," she told reporters on Air Force One as the president travels to Ireland.
Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Gershkovich's detention is "pretty fresh" and officials are still trying to get consular access to Gershkovich, which they have not been able to do.
The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, detained on suspicion of espionage, leaves a court building in Moscow, March 30, 2023.
Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters, FILE
He would not get into any specific conversations the U.S. is having with Russians about releasing Gershkovich or if a prisoner swap is a possibility.
"I just want to make a couple of things clear that is, the determination of wrongful detention, it doesn't start the clock necessarily on communicating with the Russians about getting him released," Kirby said. "We're very early in this process here and I certainly, I think you can understand why I wouldn't talk about any discussions we might be having with the Russians about his release or Paul [Whelan]'s release. We certainly wouldn't do that."
Kirby said the administration is "certainly having discussions about what we can do to get him released."
"I don't want to go into details about these internal deliberations, having things out in the public sphere viscerally might actually make it harder to get Evan and Paul home, and that's what we're focused on," Kirby said.