North Korea tests ‘several’ missiles, South Korean military says
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(SEOUL and TOKYO) — North Korea launched “several short-range ballistic missiles,” that landed in the Sea of Japan Tuesday morning local time, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The missiles “flew approximately 250 km,” the officials said.
“North Korea’s missile launch is a clear provocative act that seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, and we strongly condemn it,” the officials added.
Tuesday’s test launches marked the second missile test of the year, following the Jan. 6 launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, a test that coincided with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to South Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said at the time that the “performance of our latest hypersonic intermediate-range missile system is globally significant and cannot be ignored,” according to state media.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japanese cabinet secretary, said during a press conference on Tuesday that Japan, the United States and South Korea are “working closely together, including sharing missile alert data in real time, to ensure a thorough response.”
“I will refrain from making a definitive assessment at this point, but no missiles have been confirmed to have landed in our territory or exclusive economic zone, and no damage has been reported,” he said.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
Emergency responders are dispatched to the scene after a Russian attack that killed at least 13 people in Glukhiv, Sumy Oblast. The number of victims increased to 13, including 3 children. Search and rescue efforts continue for those trapped under the rubble of the partially destroyed dormitory building. (Photo by Ukraine State Emergency Service / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON and KYIV) — Russia on Thursday launched an intercontinental ballistic missile toward southeastern Ukraine, officials in Kyiv said, but a U.S. official told ABC News that Russia launched “an experimental medium-range ballistic missile against Ukraine” near Dnipro.
The official said the United States briefed Ukraine and other close allies and partners in recent days on Russia’s possible use of this weapon in order to help them prepare. According to the official, Russia likely only possesses “a handful” of these experimental missiles.
Two U.S. officials previously told ABC News it was not an ICBM but instead an intermediate-range ballistic missile, or IRBM.
Ukraine’s military was “95% sure” the strike was with an ICBM, a Ukrainian official told ABC News, but added that they were still examining the missile parts on the ground and had not yet reached a final conclusion.
“Today it was a new Russian missile. All the parameters: speed, altitude — match those of an intercontinental ballistic missile,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media. “All expert evaluations are underway.”
Moscow did not immediately confirm the launch, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declining to comment, saying questions about it should instead be directed to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in remarks Thursday following the missile launch, said Russia has the right to use its weapons against the military facilities of countries employing their weapons against Russia.
The Ukrainian Air Force announced Thursday morning it had tracked the launch of the ICBM, along with six additional missiles, all of which were targeting the Dnipro region. The ICBM appeared to have been launched from the Astrahan region, in Russia’s southwest, Ukrainian military officials said.
All of the missiles were launched in about two hours, beginning at about 5 a.m. local time, Ukraine said.
All were targeted at businesses and critical infrastructure, but only the missile that Ukraine identified as an ICBM struck the city, Ukraine said. The six other missiles were shot down. There were no reports of casualties or significant damage, officials said.
The U.S. officials said the assessment of the launch, the type of missile and warhead, and the damage in Dnipro was continuing. The distance from what Ukraine said was the launch point to the strike location in Dnipro is about 600 miles, a distance shorter than what an ICBM would be expected to travel.
Two experts told ABC News the projectile, seen in video circulating online, looks likely to be “a ballistic missile with MIRV-ed capabilities.”
The launch of an ICBM, if confirmed as such, would arrive amid concerns that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could further escalate. This week, Ukraine’s military for the first time launched U.S.-made ATACMS missiles toward targets within Russia, days after U.S. President Joe Biden allowed for such use of the long-range weapons.
Kyiv on Tuesday launched six of the ATACMS at targets within Russian territory, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Zelenskyy said he would not confirm if Ukraine had used ATACMS to conduct a strike on an ammunition depot in the Bryansk region of Russia, but said Ukraine has ATACMS and “will use all of these” against Russia.
Within hours of Russia announcing it had struck down five of the ATACMS on Tuesday, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had updated the country’s nuclear doctrine, a move that lowered the bar for Russia to respond with nuclear weapons. Russian ICBMs are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, although it appeared the missile fired on Thursday was not equipped with one.
Following that warning, Ukraine on Wednesday fired long-range British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia for the first time, a Ukrainian military unit involved in the operation told ABC News. At least 10 of those missiles hit an estate in the village of Marino, the unit said.
They were targeting a command post where North Korean army generals and officers were present, the unit said. More than 10,000 North Korean troops are said to be operating alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region.
Ukraine’s 413th Separate Unmanned Systems Battalion, which helped provide fire control for the strikes, told ABC News that there was intelligence showing high-ranking North Koreans were present.
Zelenskyy cast the Russian strike on Thursday as a result of Russia and its leader being “terrified.”
“Obviously, Putin is terrified when normal life simply exists next to him. When people simply have dignity. When a country simply wants to be and has the right to be independent,” Zelenskyy said. “Putin is doing whatever it takes to prevent his neighbor from breaking free of his grasp.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Lauren Minore, Yulia Drozd and Natasha Popova contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — At least five people have been hospitalized and 62 others detained after a night of violence targeting Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam Thursday evening, authorities said.
The violence occurred after a UEFA Europa League match between the Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club and the Dutch Ajax Football Club in Amsterdam on Thursday.
The Israeli National Security Headquarters told Israeli citizens staying in Amsterdam to “avoid movements in the street and shut oneself in hotel rooms.”
The Dutch Prime Minister, Dick Schoof, said the situation is now calm and that he is “horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli citizens.” Israeli PM Netanyahu said he had been in touch with Schoof and called for increased security for Jewish communities in the Netherlands.
Tensions were rising in the lead up to the game last night, Amsterdam police on Wednesday night had reported a group of people pulled a Palestinian flag off the face of a building in the center of the city, and that police “prevented a confrontation” between a group of visitors and taxi drivers.
The Amsterdam Police have not yet commented on the incident but announced Wednesday evening that a “number of safety measures” had been taken before the match to ensure “that everything proceeds safely and orderly,” in a post on X.
Officials in Amsterdam said there will now be extra police on the move in the coming days and extra attention “for the extra security of Jewish institutions and objects.”
Amsterdam authorities will be holding a press conference at 12 p.m. on Friday where additional measures that will be taken today and in the coming days will be announced.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — A man killed by explosions outside of Brazil’s Supreme Court in Brasilia on Wednesday night is suspected to have been trying to launch an attack, a presidential official said, as authorities investigate the incident just days ahead of the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
In a statement, the court said two “loud bangs” were heard Wednesday evening prompting ministers and staff to be evacuated from the area. The incident occurred at the end of the court’s Wednesday session.
The presidential office official said the suspect was named as Francisco Wanderley Luiz. The man was seen leaving his car carrying a small bag at around 7:30 p.m. local time.
The official said Luiz tried to gain access to the Supreme Court building but failed to do so. Luiz then detonated the device he was carrying, killing himself.
Military police told ABC News that explosives and a timer were found on the dead man’s body. They said the first explosion went off in a street next to the Congress building. The second explosion — which killed the suspect — went off at the entrance of the Supreme Court building, military police said.
The prosecutor’s office said the incident is being investigated as a terror attack and that the suspect is believed to have been acting alone as a “lone wolf.”
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Aicha El Hammar Castano contributed to this report.
