Ukraine behind killing of Russian chemical weapons general in Moscow blast, sources say
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(LONDON) — A senior Russian general was killed in a bomb blast in a residential neighborhood in Moscow, Russian media reported early Tuesday, in what Ukrainian sources told ABC News was an intelligence operation.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was killed by an explosive device that appears to have been hidden in a parked scooter and set off by remote control, Russian state-affiliated media TASS reported. The explosion also killed an aide accompanying him.
Kirillov was the head of Russia’s radiation, chemical and biological protection troops. Sources told ABC News that the Security Service of Ukraine was behind the killing.
“Kirillov was a war criminal and an entirely legitimate target, as he issued orders to use prohibited chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops,” an SBU source said. “Such an inglorious end awaits all those who kill Ukrainians. Retribution for war crimes is inevitable” the source said.
On Monday, the SBU charged Kirillov in absentia with war crimes for alleged orders approving chemical weapon use against Ukrainian troops.
Kirillov, the SBU said on Telegram, “is responsible for the mass use of banned chemical weapons” on the Ukrainian front lines.
“By order of Kirillov, more than 4,800 cases of the enemy’s use of chemical munitions have been recorded since the beginning of the full-scale war,” the SBU said.
Among the delivery methods, the SBU said, were grenades equipped with toxic substances like CS and CN irritants.
(NEW YORK) — Three Americans who the State Department said were wrongfully detained in China for years are back on U.S. soil as part of a prisoner swap, a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the deal told ABC News.
The State Department announced that Mark Swidan, of Houston, Texas, Kai Li, of Long Island, New York, and John Leung, a permanent resident of Hong Kong, would soon be “reunited with their families for the first time in many years.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he spoke to Li, Leung and Swidan during their travel back to America.
“I told them how glad I was that they were in good health and that they’ll soon be reunited with their loved ones,” Blinken said on X.
While the State Department didn’t reveal more details about the deal, a senior official told ABC News the agreement swapped three Chinese nationals who were convicted of espionage.
China agreed to lift an exit ban on an additional American who was being prevented from leaving China, according to the official. The Chinese embassy said it did not have any comment about the release.
Katherine Swidan, Mark Swidan’s mother, posted on her Facebook page an image of her son posing in a U.S. flag emboldened sweatshirt with U.S. ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and Roger Carstens the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs on the plane.
“My son Free at Last,” she said.
Harrison Li, Kai Li’s son, said in a statement posted on X Wednesday that his father and the other hostages were scheduled to land at to Joint Base San Antonio later that night.
“We are thrilled that Kai is on his way home along with [Mark Swidan] and John Leung. Thank you, [President Joe Biden], and everyone that made this day possible at long last. Please keep bringing them home,” he said in his post.
The three Americans were arrested and held on different charges that U.S. officials and humanitarian groups said were arbitrary and unlawful.
Swidan, 49, was in China in 2012 on business looking to purchase supplies for a company in Houston as well as flooring, fixtures and furniture for his own home. He was sentenced to death in April 2019 after Chinese authorities accused him of involvement with a drug manufacturing operation. The United Nations called the detention a “deprivation of liberty.”
Swidan’s mother recorded a video message in 2022, which was played during a Congressional-Executive Committee on China hearing in September, detailing her son’s chilling arrest.
“While I was on the phone with him at his hotel, I heard a lot of commotion, and he said, ‘Hold on, mom.’ And Chinese police got into his apartment. They said, ‘We need to take you in for questioning,’ and the phone hung up,” Swidan’s mother said in the video.
In a grim promise, Swidan told her he would come home “in the box of ashes, or walking off the plane, but I will come home,” Katherin Swidan said.
Li, 62, a Shanghai-born naturalized citizen who immigrated to the U.S. 35 years ago, had an export business that redistributed products from Boeing and a subsidiary. He was detained immediately upon landing in Shanghai in September 2016, according to a family representative.
Li was sentenced to 10 years for allegedly “furnishing five state secrets to the FBI,” but his family said that those “secrets” were merely “routine communications” that Li had that were “necessary to ensure compliance with US export laws.”
In testimony before the China commission in September, Harrison Li told lawmakers that his father suffered a stroke in prison, lost a tooth and was locked in a cell by himself for three years.
“I have now spent a third of my life missing my dad. Every day, I wake up and shudder at the thought of him crammed into a tiny cell with as many as 11 other people and no climate control, experiencing the mental and physical anguish,” he told the commission.
In April 2021, Leung, 78, was arrested by Chinese authorities.
He was charged with spying and sentenced to death in May 2023 after being “found guilty of espionage, sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life, and confiscated personal property of RMB 500,000,” officials said in a statement translated by ABC. News
An official with knowledge of the negotiations told ABC News the Biden administration met with Chinese officials multiple times over the years to facilitate the releases.
The State Department’s announcement that three Americans are coming home from detention in China comes two months after Pastor David Lin was released after nearly 20 years in prison.
Lin’s daughter, Alice, told ABC News that her family could breathe a full sigh of relief now that others were following her father back to the United States. “We’re overjoyed,” she said.
“For us, this is our first Thanksgiving where we don’t have an empty seat at the table,” Lin said.
Biden himself recently pressed for the releases in a meeting with President Xi Jinping in Peru earlier this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, according to a U.S. official.
Two of the Chinese nationals who were swapped for the Americans were sentenced in the last few years for espionage, the official said.
Yanjun Xu, 44, was convicted three years ago of conspiring to and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. Xu, who was the first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the U.S. for trial, used multiple aliases to target specific companies in the United States and abroad that are recognized as leaders in the field of aviation, prosecutors said. He was serving a 20-year sentence.
Ji Chaoqun, 33, was serving an 8-year sentence after he was convicted in 2022 on one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and one count of making a material false statement to the U.S. Army.
Chaoquun provided an intelligence officer with biographical information on certain individuals, including engineers and scientists who worked for the Department of Defense, for recruitment by the Chinese security department, according to prosecutors.
Representatives of Li and Swidan in the U.S. Congress cheered the announcement of their constituents’ returns.
“I’m overjoyed to hear Mark Swidan is finally on his way home to Texas, just in time for Thanksgiving. Mark suffered for 12 long years in a Chinese prison for a crime he clearly did not commit,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said, apparently referencing drug charges that led to Swidan’s conviction.
“After nearly a decade of imprisonment by the Chinese government, Kai Li is finally on his way back to American soil and to freedom. Over the years, I have worked closely with Mr. Li’s son, Harrison, to speak directly to the highest levels of the Chinese and U.S. governments to advocate for Mr. Li’s release and safe return to his family in Huntington, New York,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Luke Barr and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — The U.S. Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, issued a warning to citizens late on Tuesday based on “credible information” warning of an attack in the southeast of the country.
The embassy said in a post on its website that the threat was related to “popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area,” an area of famous and well-visited beaches known for its surfing.
“Due to the serious risk posed by this threat, the embassy imposed a travel restriction on embassy personnel for Arugam Bay effective immediately and until further notice,” the embassy wrote.
U.S. citizens, it added, “are strongly urged to avoid the Arugam Bay area until further notice.”
The embassy did not offer any more information about the nature or source of the threat.
The notice urged citizens to report all suspicious activity to local authorities, keep a cell phone or other form of communication close by and monitor local media for updates.
The State Department lists Sri Lanka as a “Level 2” nation in its risk advisory guide, meaning Americans there should “exercise increased caution.”
The State Department’s latest advisory for Sri Lanka was issued on Oct. 2 and noted that protests relating to the “economic and political situation in Sri Lanka can erupt at any time.”
“In some instances, police have used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters,” it added. “U.S. citizens are reminded to avoid all gatherings, even peaceful ones, that could turn violent with little or no warning.”
“Terrorist attacks have occurred in Sri Lanka, with little or no warning,” it added, targets having included tourist hotspots, transportation hubs, shopping areas, government facilities and entertainment venues, among others.
“The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in remote areas,” the advisory said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
APRIL 2024: Demonstrators marched on the Northrop Mall before setting up tents on the lawn. A few hundred people gathered outside Coffman Memorial Union to call for a cease fire in Gaza before marching on the Northrop Mall and setting up an encampment on the lawn Monday afternoon, April 29, 2024 on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. Israel/Hamas war protest. (Photo by Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — A demonstration at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Monday led to 11 arrests after pro-Palestinian protesters barricaded an administrative hall on campus, locking staff members inside the building.
The protesters blocked the entrance and exit of Morrill Hall, which houses the offices of the university president, Rebecca Cunningham.
According to a statement from the university issued Monday night, the protest began with a peaceful assembly on a lawn in front of the campus’ Coffman Memorial Union at about 3 p.m. local time.
However, “A group of these individuals quickly moved north, up the Northrop Mall, and entered Morrill Hall,” according to the university.
“Once inside the building, protesters began spray painting, including covering lenses of all internal security cameras, breaking interior windows, and barricading the building’s entrance and exit points,” the statement said.
The protest’s escalation was first announced as a SAFE-U Emergency Alert at 4:34 p.m., advising students, “If you are currently in Morrill Hall and able to safely exit the building, please do so immediately. Others are advised to avoid this area until further notice.”
The university has said that “a number” of staff were present, and many were unable to exit the building “for an extended period of time.”
Police officers arrived on the scene and began to detain protestors around one hour after the first alert was issued, according to the university’s statement.
“With necessary support from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, UMPD entered the building at approximately 5:40 p.m. and arrested 11 people,” it said.
By 9:10 p.m. there was another SAFE-U Emergency Alert stating that the University of Minnesota Police Department had cleared Morrill Hall and “the situation has been resolved for this evening.”
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities stated that as of Monday night, “The full extent of the damage is unknown.”
No additional information is currently available, but the university has clarified that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
