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Tag: vladimir putin
1 year after Evan Gershkovich’s arrest in Russia, Biden vows to “continue working every day” for his release
Washington — President Biden pledged Friday to “continue working every day” to secure the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich from Russian detention, as the American journalist’s time imprisoned in Russia hit the one-year mark.
“We will continue to denounce and impose costs for Russia’s appalling attempts to use Americans as bargaining chips,” Mr. Biden said in a statement released Friday that also mentioned the case of Paul Whelan, another U.S. citizen who has been held in Russia since 2018.
Gershkovich — whom the U.S. State Department deemed “wrongfully detained” soon after his arrest — is still awaiting a trial on espionage charges that the White House, his family and his employer all insist are fabricated, but which could still see him sentenced to decades in prison.
The U.S.-born son of Soviet emigres covered Russia for six years, as the Kremlin made independent, on-the-ground reporting increasingly dangerous and illegal.
NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/Getty
His arrest in March 2023 on charges of spying — the first such charge against a Western journalist since the Soviet era — showed that the Kremlin was prepared to go further than ever before in what President Vladimir Putin has called a “hybrid war” with the West.
The Journal and the U.S. government dismiss the espionage allegations as a false pretext to keep Gershkovich locked up, likely to use him as a bargaining chip in a future prisoner exchange deal.
Putin said last month that he would like to see Gershkovich released as part of a prisoner swap, but the Biden administration has said Moscow rejected the most recent exchange offer presented to it.
The 32-year-old, who has been remanded in custody until at least the end of June, faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
The Gershkovich family said in a letter published by the Wall Street Journal on Friday that they would pursue their campaign for his release.
“We never anticipated this situation happening to our son and brother, let alone a full year with no certainty or clear path forward,” they said. “But despite this long battle, we are still standing strong.”
Gershkovich reported extensively on how ordinary Russians experienced the Ukraine conflict, speaking to the families of dead soldiers and Putin critics. Breaking stories and getting people to talk was becoming increasingly hard, Gershkovich told friends before his arrest.
But as long as it was not impossible, he saw a reason to be there.
“He knew for some stories he was followed around and people he talked to would be pressured not to talk to him,” Guardian correspondent Pjotr Sauer, a close friend, told AFP. “But he was accredited by the foreign ministry. I don’t think any of us could see the Russians going as far as charging him with this fake espionage.”
Speaking to CBS News’ Leslie Stahl last week, the reporter’s sister Danielle said the family back in the U.S. was still worried, despite Gershkovich’s repeated assurances to them of his accreditation, which he thought would keep him safe, as it always had.
But as Stahl reported, what used to be unprecedented in Russia has become almost routine under Putin. Gershkovich is only the most recent American to inadvertently become a pawn on Putin’s geopolitical chessboard against the West.
Whelan, a U.S. Marine veteran, has been jailed in Russia for five years. Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina was arrested in January, accused of treason for helping Ukraine. And basketball star Brittney Griner, imprisoned for nine months on drug charges, was finally freed in an exchange for a notorious arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death.”
Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces have almost no artillery remaining in fight against Russia
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Zelenskyy on Ukraine’s ability to win war against Russia
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Eye Opener: Investigators reveal new details about the Baltimore bridge collapse
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warns Putin’s war could spread to NATO territory
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy warns Putin will push Russia’s war “very quickly” onto NATO soil if he’s not stopped
Eastern Ukraine — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met our CBS News team at an undisclosed, bombed-out building in the far east of his country. Bombed-out buildings aren’t hard to come by here.
With spring approaching, Zelenskyy said Ukraine‘s forces had managed to hold off Russian advances through the worst of the winter months.
“We have stabilized the situation. It is better than it used to be two or three months ago when we had a big deficit of artillery ammunition, different kinds of weapons,” he said, “We totally didn’t see the big, huge counteroffensive from Russia… They didn’t have success.”
“We need help now”: Zelenskyy says Russian offensive looming
But Zelenskyy acknowledged that the invading Russian troops and their seemingly endless supply of missiles and shells had destroyed “some villages.”
“We didn’t have rounds, artillery rounds, a lot of different things,” he said, stressing that while his troops have managed to keep the Russians largely at bay up to now, they’re not prepared to defend against another major Russian offensive expected in the coming months.
That, he said, was expected around the end of May or in June he said.
“And before that, we not only need to prepare, we not only need to stabilize the situation, because the partners are sometimes really happy that we have stabilized the situation,” Zelenskyy said of the U.S. and Ukraine’s other backers. “No, I say we need help now.”
In what has become a grinding artillery war of attrition, Russia not only has the upper hand with more firepower, but also firepower with a longer reach.
“In Bakhmut and Avdivka and Lysychansk and Soledar and so on, it was really hard to fight the adversary, whose artillery shell can fire 20-plus kilometers, and [our] artillery shell is 20-minus,” he said.
With heavily armed soldiers keeping watch on the horizon, we joined Zelenskyy as he inspected freshly dug underground bunkers in Ukraine’s northeast, on the outskirts of the city of Sumy, no more than 15 miles from the Russian border.
The entire area is on a war footing in response to a significant buildup of Russian troops just across that border, and attacks on nearby villages, Zelenskyy told us.
“Usually, when they attack by artillery and destroy the villages, after that, they always tried to occupy,” he said. “We don’t know what will be tomorrow. That’s why we have to prepare.”
Zelenskyy on the stalled U.S. aid, and why Ukraine needs it
He said what’s needed most are American Patriot missile defense systems, and more artillery. While he’s grateful for the billions of dollars in U.S. support his country has already received, he said the nature of the funding dedicated by the American government to help Ukraine must be put into perspective.
“Dozens of billions remain in the U.S.,” he said. “Let’s be honest, the money which is allocated by the Congress, by the administration, in the majority of cases, 80% of this money — well, at least more than 75% — stays in the U.S. This ammunition is coming to us, but the production is taking place there, and the money stays in the U.S., and the taxes are staying in the U.S.”
“Yes, it’s a huge support coming to us, but we need [it],” added the president.
With lawmakers in the U.S. still wrangling after months of partisan gridlock over a $60 billion aid package, Zelenskyy acknowledged that the war in Gaza had refocused global attention — and U.S. aid — away from his country’s struggle.
“First and foremost, we understand that this is a humanitarian disaster,” he said. “Of course, it took the attention from Ukraine in the information field. It’s a fact, and when you lose the attention from your region to other regions, then it’s obvious that you don’t see the view focused and it’s good for Russia.”
And the shift in the world’s attention is not all that President Vladimir Putin has sought to exploit, Zelenskyy said. It came as no surprise to him when the Russian leader pointed a finger at Ukraine, claiming it had somehow supported the terrorist attack near Moscow that killed 139 people on March 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the carnage, and U.S. officials say they’ve seen nothing to cast doubt on that claim.
“Even after ISIS took responsibility!” marvelled Zelenskyy, dismissing Putin’s insinuations as “ridiculous.”
“He doesn’t care whether it’s a terrorist act, an economic act, the oil industry or any of these spheres,” Zelenskyy said the Russian leader, accusing him of “using that to unite his society as much as possible — even what has taken place in Moscow, with so many casualties and wounded people, he’s using all of that just for the one objective to justify that Ukraine does not exist.”
We asked whether the war could be won with Putin still in power. Zelenskyy accepted that it would be a huge challenge, but said that village by village, winning the war would weaken Putin at home, and he warned that if Ukraine does lose, Putin won’t stop there.
Russia’s war “can come to Europe, and to the United States”
“For him, we are a satellite of Russian Federation. At the moment, it’s us, then Kazakhstan, then Baltic states, then Poland, then Germany. At least half of Germany,” he said, reiterating a warning over what he sees as Putin’s intentions that he first issued to CBS News several years ago, before Russia’s full-scale invasion even began. At that stage, Ukraine had already been fighting Russian and Russian-backed forces for years, after they pushed into the east of the country and unilaterally annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
Zelenskyy said Putin was determined to restore the former Soviet Union to its imperial glory — and its geographical borders.
“Even tomorrow, the missiles can fly to any state,” the Ukrainian leader told CBS News on Wednesday. “This aggression, and Putin’s army, can come to Europe, and then the citizens of the United States, the soldiers of the United States, will have to protect Europe because they’re the NATO members.”
Calling Russia’s invasion of his country a war “against the democracy, against the values, against the whole world,” Zelenskyy said there may be some in the West who were tired of hearing the message, “but only those are tired who are not at war, who don’t know what war is, and who have never lost his or her children.”
“The USA is helping Ukraine and we are grateful for their support, for this multilateral support, but the United States don’t have the war going on,” he said. “But it can come to Europe, and to the United States of America. It can come very quickly to Europe.”
“The 80s and then the end of the 90s – he will never forgive that,” Zelenskyy said, suggesting his Russian counterpart bears a lingering grudge over the collapse of the pre-Cold War world. “He believes in that. We don’t need to change his opinion. We need to change him. We need to replace him.”
Charlie D’Agata
Former CIA deputy director examines Moscow concert hall attack
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Putin blames Ukraine for deadly Moscow attack
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4 accused in Russia concert hall attack appear in court, apparently badly beaten
Moscow — Four men accused of staging the Russia concert hall attack that killed more than 130 people appeared before a Moscow court Sunday showing signs of severe beatings as they faced formal terrorism charges. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.
A court statement said two of the suspects accepted their guilt in the assault after being charged in the preliminary hearing, though the men’s condition raised questions about whether they were speaking freely. There had been earlier conflicting reports in Russian media outlets that said three or all four men admitted culpability.
Moscow’s Basmanny District Court formally charged Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, with committing a group terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The court ordered that the men, all of whom are citizens of Tajikistan, be held in pre-trial custody until May 22.
Russian media had reported that the men were tortured during interrogation by the security services, and Mirzoyev, Rachabalizoda and Fariduni showed signs of heavy bruising, including swollen faces,
Rachabalizoda also had a heavily bandaged ear. Russian media said Saturday that one of the suspects had his ear cut off during interrogation. The Associated Press couldn’t verify the report or the videos purporting to show this.
The fourth suspect, Faizov, was brought to court from a hospital in a wheelchair and sat with his eyes closed throughout the proceedings. He was attended by medics while in court, where he wore a hospital gown and trousers and was seen with multiple cuts.
Court officials said Mirzoyev and Rachabalizoda admitted guilt for the attack after being charged.
The hearing came as Russia observed a national day of mourning of the attack Friday on the suburban Crocus City Hall concert venue that killed at least 137 people.
Rescuers continued to search the damaged building and the death toll rose as more bodies were found as family and friends of some of those still missing waited for news. Moscow’s Department of Health said Sunday it had begun identifying the bodies of those killed via DNA testing, adding the process would take at least two weeks.
The attack, which has been claimed by an ISIS affiliate, is the deadliest on Russian soil in years.
Finger pointing in full force
Russian authorities arrested the four suspected attackers Saturday, with seven more detained on suspicion of involvement in the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address to the nation Saturday night.
Putin appears to be trying to tie Ukraine to the attack, something its government firmly denies.
He called the attack “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and said Russian authorities captured the four as they were trying to escape to Ukraine through a “window” prepared for them on the Ukrainian side of the border.
A United States intelligence official told CBS News the U.S. has intelligence confirming that ISIS was responsible and U.S. intelligence has no reason to doubt those claims.
The U.S. Embassy in Russia had also previously advised Americans to stay away from concert venues because of the potential of a terrorist attack. The U.S. intelligence official confirmed to CBS News that the U.S. provided intelligence to Russia regarding the potential for an attack, under the intelligence community’s Duty to Warn requirement.
“ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Russian media broadcast videos that apparently showed the detention and interrogation of the suspects, including one who told the cameras he was approached by an unidentified assistant of an Islamic preacher and paid to take part in the raid.
Putin didn’t mention ISIS in his speech, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault to stoke fervor for Russia’s war in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year.
The raid was a major embarrassment for Putin and happened just days after he cemented his grip on the country for another six years in a vote that followed the harshest crackdown on dissent since the Soviet times.
Some commentators on Russian social media questioned how authorities, who have relentlessly suppressed any opposition activities and muzzled independent media, failed to prevent the attack despite the U.S. warnings.
ISIS, which fought against Russia during its intervention in the Syrian civil war, has long targeted Russia. In a statement posted by the group’s Aamaq news agency, the ISIS Afghanistan affiliate said it had attacked a large gathering of “Christians” in Krasnogorsk.
The group issued a new statement Saturday on Aamaq, saying the attack was carried out by four men who used automatic rifles, a pistol, knives and firebombs. It said the assailants fired at the crowd and used knives to kill some concertgoers, casting the raid as part of ISIS’ ongoing war with countries it says are fighting against Islam.
In October 2015, a bomb planted by ISIS downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, killing all 224 people on board, most of them Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.
The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Russia’s volatile Caucasus and other regions in past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
As Russia mourns, frantic families of the missing seek answers
Events at cultural institutions were canceled Sunday, flags were lowered to half staff and television entertainment and advertising were suspended, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. A steady stream of people added to a makeshift memorial near the burned-out concert hall, creating a huge mound of flowers.
“People came to a concert, some people came to relax with their families, and any one of us could have been in that situation. And I want to express my condolences to all the families that were affected here and I want to pay tribute to these people,” Andrey Kondakov, one of the mourners who came to lay flowers at the memorial, told the AP.
“It is a tragedy that has affected our entire country,” kindergarten employee Marina Korshunova said. “It just doesn’t even make sense that small children were affected by this event.” Three children were among the dead.
Igor Pogadaev was desperately seeking any details about his wife, Yana Pogadaeva, who went to the concert. The last he heard from her was when she sent him two photos from the Crocus City Hall music venue.
After Pogadaev saw the reports of gunmen opening fire on concertgoers, he rushed to the site, but couldn’t find her in the numerous ambulances or among the hundreds of people who had made their way out of the venue.
“I went around, searched, I asked everyone, I showed photographs. No one saw anything, no one could say anything,” Pogadaev told the AP in a video message.
He watched flames bursting out of the building as he made frantic calls to a hotline for relatives of the victims, but received no information.
As the death toll mounted Saturday, Pogodaev scoured hospitals in the Russian capital and the Moscow region, looking for information on newly admitted patients.
His wife wasn’t among the 182 reported injured, nor on the list of 60 victims authorities had already identified, he said.
The Moscow Region’s Emergency Situations Ministry posted a video Sunday showing equipment dismantling the damaged music venue to give rescuers access.