Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin says war was ‘unleashed’ on Russia

The Russian president delivered his annual Victory Day speech.

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.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's forces are readying a spring counteroffensive, but Putin appears to be preparing for a long and bloody war.

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WSJ reporter in Russia formally charged with espionage

American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has now been formally charged with espionage, according to Russian state media. The move by Russia comes as a campaign to free him swells, with Senate leaders issuing a bipartisan demand to free him.

The formal charging shows Russia is pressing ahead with putting the journalist on trial, despite a growing outcry that has seen dozens of global media outlets demand his release.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday issued an unusual bipartisan statement calling for Gershkovich’s immediate release, saying "journalism is not a crime."

They also demanded Russia allow consular access to Gershkovich, who U.S. diplomats have still not been allowed to visit 10 days since his arrest, in violation of international rules.

The U.S.’s National Press Club has also now awarded Gershkovich its highest honor for press freedom, praising him for his brave commitment to reporting on Russia despite the risks.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell


Pentagon reviewing reported leak of classified Ukraine war planning documents to social media

The Pentagon is investigating the reported leak of classified U.S. and NATO documents posted on Twitter and Telegram, a spokesperson said.

The New York Times first reported the investigation.

"We are aware of the reports of social media posts, and the Department is reviewing the matter," Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement provided to ABC News.

The war plans provided statistics on Ukrainian troop and casualty numbers as well as information about weapons deliveries and Ukrainian troop schedules, the New York Times reported.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez


Blinken says he views WSJ reporter as 'wrongfully detained' in Russia

At a press conference following a bilateral NATO meeting in Brussels, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters the U.S. is going through a formal process to determine whether it will designate Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as wrongfully detained in Russia, but said he has no doubt that is the case.

"In Evan’s case, we are working through the determination on wrongful detention, and there's a process to do that, and it is something that we are working through very deliberately but expeditiously as well," Blinken answered a WSJ reporter who had asked about the determination.

"I'll let that process play out. In my own mind, there's no doubt that he's being wrongfully detained by Russia, which is exactly what I said to Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov when I spoke to him over the weekend and insisted that Evan be released immediately," Blinken added.

Blinken said he expected the formal process to be "completed soon."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford


Zelenskyy invited to NATO summit in July

NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that he invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11 and 12.

Zelenskyy will meet with alliance member states, according to Stoltenberg.

-ABC News' William Gretsky


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