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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Russian passports pushed on occupied Ukraine

Russian officials have warned Ukrainians in occupied Kherson that they may be "deported" if they don't accept Russian passports, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said Monday.

"Russia is using passports as a tool in the 'Russification' of the occupied areas, as it did in Donetsk and Luhansk before the February 2022 invasion," the ministry on Twitter.

Residents of Kherson have been warned of penalties for those who don't accept Russian passports by June 1. Some may be removed from the territory or may have their property seized, according to the U.K.


Russia says US has denied journalist visas, vows it ‘will not forgive’

Russia said Sunday that the U.S. has denied visas to Russian journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's trip to New York.

Lavrov promised that the decision will not be forgotten by their side.

"The country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, most free, fairest has chickened out, has done a silly thing and shown what its sworn assurances on protecting freedom of speech, access to information and so on are worth," he told reporters at the airport before his flight to New York.

"Most importantly, you can be sure: we will not forget, we will not forgive this," the minister told the pool of journalists who have not been granted U.S. visas.

The journalists had planned to cover Lavrov's appearance at the United Nations to mark Russia's chairmanship of the Security Council.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the U.S.’s decision “outrageous” on Sunday, Interfax, a Russian news agency, reported.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. State Department about the claim of refused visas, according to AP.

-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva, Edward Szekeres, Natalia Shumskaia


Over 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in the EU so far

Over 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers trained in the European Union, Josep Borrell, an EU representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said Friday.

The EU has delivered over $600 million of ammunition and missiles to Ukraine, according to Borrell.

-ABC News' Oleksiy Pshemyskiy


Russian warplane accidentally fires weapon into Russian city of Belgorod: Defense ministry

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that ammunition from a Russian Su-34 military aircraft fell in Belgorod, a city in the southern region of Russia.

"On the evening of April 20, during the flight of the Su-34 aircraft over the city of Belgorod, an abnormal descent of an aviation munition occurred," the agency said.

The ministry claimed buildings were damaged but there were no immediate reports of victims. An investigation is underway, according to the agency.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky


Putin critic sentenced to 25 years

A Moscow court has sentenced one of Russia's best-known opposition leaders, whose family live in the U.S., to 25 years in prison in what is widely seen a show trial.

Vladimir Kara-Murza is the most high-profile opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin to be jailed since Alexey Navalny.

Kara-Murza's extraordinarily harsh sentence is one of the lengthiest any opposition figure has received under Putin and illustrates how repressive Russia has become during the war in Ukraine, reverting to something much closer to the USSR where no opposition is tolerated.

Kara-Murza was convicted of treason, as well as "discrediting Russia's armed forces," a new law that effectively criminalizes criticizing the war in Ukraine. He was also convicted of belonging to a banned organization. The charges are widely seen as politically motivated.

Kara-Murza is one of Russia's best-known pro-democracy figures and a veteran critic of Putin.

Kara-Murza, who holds both British and Russian citizenship, spent many years living in the United States and his wife and children still live in Virginia. He was close to the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, who championed human rights in the former Soviet Union.

Dozens of journalists and Western diplomats attended the court hearing on Monday, including the U.S. ambassador who read out a statement condemning the sentence.

"We support Mr. Kara-Murza and every Russian citizen to have a voice in the direction of their country. Mr. Kara-Murza and countless other Russians believe in and hope for a Russia where fundamental freedoms will be upheld. And we will continue to share those hopes and work for that outcome," Amb. Lynne Tracy said.

Kara-Murza previously has survived being poisoned not once but twice. In 2015 and then again in 2017, he suffered organ failure after being exposed to an unknown toxin. Independent researchers later linked the poisoning to the same team of FSB poisoners who targeted Navalny.

He chose to return to Russia after the war began, believing it was important to continue to campaign for freedom in his country and has been an outspoken critic of the invasion.

His trial was held entirely behind closed doors, but a letter containing his closing statement to the court has been released to reporters.

"I only blame myself for one thing," Kara-Murza said in the statement. "I failed to convince enough of my compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses for Russia and for the world."

"Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell