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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Latest headlines:
Ukrainian drone hits Russian port, causing fire
A Ukrainian drone hit a Tamanneftegaz fuel tank in the Port of Taman, Russia, at about 2:30 a.m. local time Wednesday, Kirill Fedorov, a pro-Russian blogger, said on his Telegram channel. The Port of Taman is in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait.
The fire could be seen in a video circulating online.
Local authorities confirmed the fire, which "has been assigned the highest rank," the governor of the region said. A tank with petroleum products was hit by the drone and is burning, the governor said. No injuries were reported and there was no threat to residents, he added on his Telegram channel.
-ABC News' Tanya Stukalova
All drones targeting Kyiv shot down; 3rd attack on capital in 6 days
All drones that were used by Russians to attack Kyiv early Wednesday morning local time were shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems, the Kyiv City Military Administration said on Telegram.
There were no reported injuries or casualties, the military administration said.
This was the third attack on Kyiv in six days, the administration added.
-ABC News' Natalya Kushnir
Explosions reported in Kyiv
Explosions were reported in Kyiv around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday local time, according to Suspilne, the Ukrainian public broadcaster.
The Ukrainian Air Defense Forces were activated in response, the Kyiv City Military Administration reported.
S-300 missiles belonging to Ukrainian Armed Forces were hit in Zaporizhzhia, the spokesman of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Bratchuk, said on Telegram.
Reports of damage, and number of people injured or killed were not immediately available.
-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman and Max Uzol
Marine veteran killed while evacuating civilians in Ukraine
A 26-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran was killed in a mortar strike last month in Ukraine while working to evacuate civilians, his family confirmed to ABC News this week.
Cooper Andrews died on April 19 in the Bakhmut area, his cousin Willow Pastard, who is speaking on his family's behalf, told ABC News.
The State Department announced Monday that an American citizen died in Ukraine, though did not provide more details or an identity "out of respect for the family's privacy during this difficult time."
"We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance," a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement.
At least nine deaths of U.S. citizens who have volunteered to fight in Ukraine have been officially reported since the war began last year, according to the State Department.
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford
Lavrov 'diverted' Blinken's calls to reconsider Russia leaving START treaty
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "diverted" U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's calls to reconsider the decision to suspend Russia's participation in the New START treaty, Russia's foreign ministry told Interfax, Russian news agency.
“If they want to return to diplomacy, let them return. If they are engaged in self-promotion and such inexpensive PR, well, this is possible. True, the result will be appropriate," Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the ministry, told Russian TV channel Rossiya-1.
-ABC News' Natalia Shumskaia