Elation for families of living hostages, while those of deceased decry delay
People sing songs and cheer in Hostages Square, after it was announced that all living hostages had been released and arrived back in Israel on October 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has brought an end to the two years of war that followed the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. (Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The families of the living hostages released by Hamas are reacting following their release from captivity after being held for over two years.
As part of a monumental Gaza ceasefire agreement, seven hostages — Eitan Mor, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Matan Angrest, Omri Miran, Alon Ohel and Guy Gilboa-Dalal — were the first return home to Israel.
The family of Omri Miran released a statement on Monday after he was handed over to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip.
“After more than 700 long, painful, and agonizing days, Omri will finally receive from Roni and Alma a healing embrace,” Miran’s family said of his two little girls, ages 2 and 4. “We want to thank the people of Israel from the bottom of our hearts for standing by us in the darkest hours and on days when this moment seemed like a distant and impossible wish. This moment, today, is not a personal victory but a victory of an entire people.”
“We also want to express our deep gratitude to the security forces and the heroic IDF soldiers. We are at the beginning of a complex and challenging, yet moving, journey of recovery.,” the statement continued. “We remain committed to the struggle — until the last hostage returns, and until the complete recovery of our beloved country. May Omri’s return mark the beginning of this recovery and the unity of our people.”
Eitan Mor’s family also released a statement, saying “this is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
“In praise and thanksgiving to God, we are happy to announce that our Eitan is home! Our beloved Eitan, how we waited for you, how we waited to see you finally after two years. We saw you for the last time today, on Hoshana Rabbah, two years ago, and we embrace you today back into the family,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Hostage Families Forum says they have learned that only 4 of the 28 bodies of hostages still believed to be in Gaza will be returned on Monday and are accusing Hamas of violating the deal, saying “we expect Israel’s government and the mediators to take immediate action to rectify this grave injustice.”
“The hostage families were shocked and dismayed to learn that only 4 bodies of deceased hostages will be returned today, out of 28 held by Hamas,” the statement said. “This represents a blatant breach of the agreement by Hamas. We expect Israel’s government and the mediators to take immediate action to rectify this grave injustice.
“The families of the deceased hostages are enduring especially difficult days filled with deep sorrow,” the statement continued. “We will not abandon any hostage. The mediators must enforce the agreement’s terms and ensure Hamas pays a price for this violation.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Andriy Zhyhaylo/Oboz.ua/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — During his visit to the U.K. on Monday, President Donald Trump expressed further frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s continued long-range attacks on Ukraine.
The president said he would shorten the 50-day window offered to Putin earlier this month in which to agree to a ceasefire deal or face punishing sanctions and tariffs.
“I’m disappointed in President Putin, very disappointed in him,” Trump told reporters. “So we’re going to have to look and I’m going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to lesser number, because I think I already know the answer what’s going to happen.”
“I’m going to make a new deadline of about 10 or 12 days from today,” Trump said later in the press conference. There’s no reason in waiting.”
“I want to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made,” Trump added.
Trump’s remarks came hours after Polish and allied NATO aircraft were scrambled in response to a large Russian drone and missile attack launched into Ukraine on Sunday night, per a statement from Polish military’s Operational Command.
“Polish and allied duty aircraft have been scrambled and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness,” the command said in a statement posted to X in the early hours of Monday morning, as hundreds of drones and missiles targeted sites across Ukraine.
The alert lasted for around three hours, after which the command posted another statement saying that “deployed forces and resources have returned to standard operational activities.”
NATO’s Air Command and Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighters stationed in Poland took part in the response, the Polish Operational Command said.
An official at Lithuania’s Defense Ministry confirmed to ABC News that a drone also crossed into Lithuania from Belarusian airspace. Russian forces regularly route drones through Belarusian airspace to attack Ukrainian targets from the north. A search for the drone was still underway as of Monday morning, the official said.
Russia launched 324 drones and seven missiles into Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said in a statement published on Telegram.
Of those, 309 drones and two missiles were shot down or suppressed, it said, with 15 strike drones and two missiles impacting across three locations.
At least eight people were injured in Kyiv after a Russian drone hit a residential highrise, the head of the city’s military administration said in a post to Telegram.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, wrote on Telegram that the most recent barrage was evidence of Putin’s lack of commitment to a proposed ceasefire.
“This is how Putin responds to calls to end the war and sit at the negotiating table,” he wrote. “Russian air attacks are still ongoing, with civilian infrastructure, homes and people, including in Kyiv, already affected.”
“There is no alternative to sanctions, strengthening Ukraine’s long-range capabilities and tough actions against Putin’s circle and Putin himself,” Yermak wrote. “He wants nothing but war and Ukraine’s defeat. And there will be no defeat.”
Referring to the scrambling of NATO aircraft and the drone crossing into Lithuania, Yermak added, “The Russians and their satellites are testing NATO’s reaction. Drones entering the airspace of the Baltic countries are signals that cannot be ignored.”
Zelenskyy also posted to Telegram noting that Kyiv is “constantly strengthening the Ukrainian air shield and it is very important to maintain full understanding among partners about how exactly they can help. Step by step, we are closing the funding gap for drone production and this week I will have new talks with partners regarding this task.”
“Restoration and rescue work is currently underway everywhere it is needed,” the president added of the overnight drone and missile impacts. “This particularly concerns electricity supply. Necessary assistance is being provided to the wounded.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight.
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Michelle Stoddart, Lalee Ibssa and Fidel Pavlenko contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — A supply of U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine could help “push Russia back,” Margus Tsahkna — the foreign minister of NATO ally Estonia — told ABC News, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had “sort of made a decision” on whether to green-light the long-range weapon for Ukrainian use.
Tsahkna said in an interview Tuesday that Trump approving the supply of the cruise missile to Kyiv would send “a very strong message” to Moscow.
“Whatever we can give — without any restrictions — to Ukraine, it is helping to win the war and push Russia back,” Tsahkna said. “So, if President Trump and the U.S. is deciding to take down restrictions from military support, as well Tomahawks, it’s just helping Ukraine to win and push Russia back.”
“It’s up to the U.S. to decide that,” Tsahkna said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that Kyiv is seeking access to the American-made long-range missile, different variants of which have ranges of up to 1,550 miles, according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Russia’s most populous and politically important cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and a host of important air, naval, oil refining and drone production facilities would be within range if the longest-range version of the Tomahawk is supplied to Ukraine.
There remain major obstacles to any Ukrainian use of Tomahawks. For one, the main launch platforms for the cruise missile are naval vessels — most commonly submarines — and bomber aircraft, neither of which Ukraine possesses.
Only in recent years has the U.S. developed a small and very limited capability of firing Tomahawks from large launch vehicles, known as the Typhon missile system. Germany and the Philippines have reportedly expressed an interest in obtaining the Typhon, but to date, only the U.S. operates the platform. The small numbers of such launch vehicles in the U.S. military’s inventory makes it likely that they would not be on the battlefield anytime soon if approved by President Trump.
NATO allies have said little on the potential for Ukrainian Tomahawk use, or allied support for their supply.
“I think I want to find out what they’re doing with them,” Trump said of Ukraine’s Tomahawk request on Monday. “I would ask some questions. I’m not looking to escalate that war.”
The Kremlin has warned that a Tomahawk supply to Ukraine would do just that.
“This will lead to the destruction of our relations, or at least the positive trends that have emerged in these relations,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a video clip released on Sunday by Russian state television.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow is “carefully analyzing” related developments.
“The question, as before, is as follows: Who can launch these missiles, even if they are on the territory of the Kyiv regime — can only Ukrainians launch them, or should the U.S. military do so?” he asked.
“Who sets the targets for these missiles — the American side or the Ukrainians themselves?” Peskov added. “Therefore, a very thorough analysis is needed here. We have certainly heard the statements, they are very serious, and we are studying them.”
“Even if this happens, there is no panacea that can now change the situation on the front lines for the Kyiv regime, there is no magic weapon, be it Tomahawks or missiles — they will not be able to change the dynamics,” Peskov said.
Officials in Kyiv said they disagree.
The Tomahawk “is extremely important as a deterrent weapon, because the presence of this weapon for Russia will be a clear signal that we have something to respond with if they continue this terror,” Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to the head of Zelenskyy’s office, said in a television appearance.
Andriy Kovalenko — the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council — said in posts to Telegram that the Tomahawk would represent “not tactical deterrence, but a strategic turning point.”
“As soon as Moscow and St. Petersburg fully and consistently feel the war, it will mean either a search for a replacement for Putin by the elites and an exit from the war, at least temporarily, or Putin himself will do everything to stop the war,” Kovalenko suggested.
But significant practical challenges remain.
Ivan Stupak, a former officer in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), suggested in an interview with ABC News that the Tomahawk is the latest headline-grabbing “wonder weapon” that would have a limited battlefield effect, even if the White House decided to approve its transfer to Ukrainian arsenals.
It is not clear how many Tomahawks the U.S. military could spare for Ukrainian use. The rate of Tomahawk production has ranged from 55 to 90 annually in recent years, according to Reuters. The Pentagon has already said it plans to purchase just 57 missiles in 2026.
The intensity of the war in Ukraine dwarfs those numbers. Recent months have seen Russia launch between 100 and 200 missiles of all types into Ukraine each month, per Ukrainian air force data analyzed by ABC News. On a nightly basis, Ukraine launches dozens of long-range drones into Russia, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow.
Stupak, who has advised Ukrainian parliamentarians on security matters during Russia’s full-scale invasion, said he was skeptical that the U.S. would deliver enough Tomahawks to turn the tide of the war.
U.S. control over target selection may limit their effectiveness further, Stupak said, as may American concerns about sensitive technical data falling into Russian hands if any Tomahawks were captured.
Along with the issue of launch platforms, there would be a need for training. Unless American military personnel are on the ground to assist in their usage — and Trump has already publicly ruled out deployed U.S. troops to Ukraine — Ukrainian operators will also need significant training to be able to use the weapon.
Ukraine is already using shorter-range Western-supplied cruise missiles — the Storm Shadow/SCALP British-French cruise missile, which have a maximum range far shorter than the Tomahawk at around 155 miles.
The extent of allied involvement in their use is unclear, but Germany’s then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz was widely criticized for hinting in 2024 that British and French personnel were involved in “target control.”
Yuriy Boyechko, the CEO of the Hope For Ukraine humanitarian organization, told ABC News he was skeptical of any Tomahawk proposal.
“Ukraine currently does not possess the specialized launch equipment or the trained personnel needed to field the Tomahawk missile system,” he said. “Right now, Ukraine is under daily mass attacks and needs quick, practical solutions to protect civilians and to conduct offensive operations deep into Russian territory.”
The “only solution” for Kyiv, Stupak suggested, is for Ukraine to continue its own cruise missile and ballistic missile production drive.
(LONDON) — Russia launched drones and a missile into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, the air force in Kyiv said, as the country kicked off independence day celebrations marking the anniversary of its 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 72 drones and one Iskander-M ballistic missile into the country in its latest overnight barrage, of which 48 drones were intercepted or suppressed. The missile and 24 drones impacted across 10 locations, the air force said.
On Sunday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office published a statement to mark 34 years of independence, in which Zelenskyy said the previous 1,278 days of war with Russia constitute the country’s “war for independence.”
Ukraine marks its independence day amid U.S.-led efforts to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, which began in February 2022 and followed nearly a decade of cross-border aggression and land grabs by Moscow.
Zelenskyy posted to social media to share a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, in which the American leader said that the Ukrainian people “have an unbreakable spirit, and your country’s courage inspires many. The United States respects your fight, honors your sacrifices, and believes in your future as an independent nation.”
“Now is the moment to bring an end to the senseless killing,” Trump continued, calling for a “negotiated settlement that leads to a durable, lasting peace that ends the bloodshed and safeguards Ukraine’s sovereignty and dignity.”
Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his letter. “We appreciate your kind words for the Ukrainian people, and we thank the United States for standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in defending what is most valuable: independence, freedom, and guaranteed peace,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“We believe that by working together, we can put an end to this war and achieve real peace for Ukraine,” he added.
Ukraine continued its own long-range attacks on Russia overnight, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. Russian forces shot down 95 Ukrainian drones over 14 regions during the latest exchange, the ministry said in a Sunday morning statement.
At least one drone was shot down on approach to Moscow, local officials said, with at least six shot down over the Leningrad region and St. Petersburg, according to the Defense Ministry.
Two people were injured by drone attacks in the western Russian region of Bryansk, according to local authorities, with damage reported to homes and cars.
There were reports of explosions related to drone attacks at the Syzran oil refinery in Samara region, as well as a fire at the Novatek gas terminal at the port of Ust-Luga, west of St. Petersburg.
Sources inside the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told ABC News that drones struck the Ust-Luga port, targeting the Novatek gas facility.
The SBU previously struck Ust-Luga in January 2025. The terminal handles Russian oil and gas exports including via the country’s so-called “shadow fleet” of tankers used to evade international sanctions.
The SBU described Saturday night’s attack as “a gift for Russia on Ukraine’s independence day.”
Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya, reported temporary flight restrictions at at least 11 airports across Russia, including in Pskov, Saratov, Volgograd and St. Petersburg.
In the western Kursk region, officials said a downed Ukrainian drone caused a fire at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant. “Upon impact, the drone detonated, resulting in damage to an auxiliary transformer,” the plant’s press service wrote on Telegram.
The statement said that radiation levels were normal and there was no immediate danger.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a post to X that its Director General Rafael Grossi stressed that “every nuclear facility must be protected at all times.”
