Zelenskyy demands ‘action from America’ after latest Russian drone, missile attack
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(ODESA, UKRAINE) — At least two people were killed in the Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight into Tuesday morning amid another night of intense nationwide Russian drone and missile strikes.
Ukraine’s air force said in a post to Telegram that Russia launched a total of 322 “air attack vehicles” into the country, among them 315 drones and seven missiles. The air force said 277 drones were shot down or otherwise neutralized, as were seven missiles.
Kyiv’s military administration said that at least four people were injured. “The majority of the damage was sustained by civilian infrastructure,” the administration wrote in a post to Telegram.
Two people were also killed in Odesa, local authorities said, with nine others injured. Among the buildings hit in the Black Sea coastal city were a maternity hospital and an emergency medical center, officials said.
Closer to the front, local officials said that three people were killed and eight injured in the eastern Donetsk region by artillery fire and drone attacks. One person was killed and eight injured in the southern city of Kherson, local authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post to social media that Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Chernihiv regions were targeted. Russia’s bombardment included at least two North Korean-made ballistic missiles, he added.
“Residential buildings and urban infrastructure were damaged,” Zelenskyy wrote. “In Odesa, even a maternity hospital became a Russian target. Thirteen people were injured. Tragically, there are fatalities. My condolences to the families.”
“It is vital that the response to this and other similar Russian attacks is not silence from the world, but concrete action,” Zelenskyy said in his statement.
“Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace,” he continued. “Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong. Action from others around the world who called for diplomacy and an end to the war — and whom Russia has ignored. There must be strong pressure for the sake of peace.”
Ukraine continued its own drone strike campaign overnight, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. Russian forces downed 103 Ukrainian drones on Monday night and Tuesday morning, the ministry said in a post to Telegram.
Monday night’s attacks came 24 hours after Russian forces targeted regions throughout Ukraine with more than 470 attack drones — one of the largest aerial strikes of the war, according to Ukraine’s air force.
Earlier Monday, Russia and Ukraine held the first stage of a prisoner swap following an agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey.
ABC News’ Oleskiy Pshemyskiy, Morgan Winsor and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump congratulated Pope Leo on social media, saying, “It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope.”
“What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country,” Trump’s post continued. “I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
Former President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic who has spoken about his warm relationship with Pope Francis, wrote on social media, “Habemus papam — May God bless Pope Leo XIV of Illinois. Jill and I congratulate him and wish him success.”
Former President Barack Obama said, “Michelle and I send our congratulations to a fellow Chicagoan, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. This is a historic day for the United States, and we will pray for him as he begins the sacred work of leading the Catholic Church and setting an example for so many, regardless of faith.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Catholic, said in a statement, “This is a moment of profound significance for the Catholic Church, offering renewed hope and continuity amid the 2025 Jubilee Year to over a billion faithful worldwide.”
“The United States looks forward to deepening our enduring relationship with the Holy See with the first American pontiff,” Rubio’s statement said.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also a Catholic, said, “All of us hope and pray for the success of His Holiness and his vision for the Church.”
“In his own words, Pope Leo XIV said, ‘We can be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, that is always open to receive everyone,'” she said in a statement. “Let us thank God for His Holiness Pope Leo XIV and for this vision of unity.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called Prevost’s selection “the greatest moment in the history of the greatest city,” telling ABC News Live that the new pope was “born in Chicago, educated in Chicago, came back and served this city.”
Johnson praised the new pope, saying he “recognizes and understands the value of immigration.” The last pope to be named Leo, Leo XIII in 1878, was known as the “Pope of Labor,” and Johnson called Chicago the most pro-worker city in America.
“Today is truly a remarkable day” for Chicago and the world, Johnson said.
World leaders are also offering their congratulations.
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, wrote on X, “I extend my most sincere wishes to Pope Leo XIV for the beginning of his pontificate.”
“In a time marked by conflicts and unrest, his words from the Loggia of Blessings are a powerful call for peace, fraternity, and responsibility,” Meloni wrote in Italian. “A spiritual legacy that follows in the path traced by Pope Francis, and which Italy regards with respect and hope.”
The prime minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, posted a statement to X that the election of Pope Leo XIV was a “profound moment of joy for Catholics in the United Kingdom.”
“Pope Leo is the first American Pope,” Starmer wrote. “This is a momentous moment.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on X that Prevost’s ascension to pope reaffirms “our humanistic commitment to promoting peace and prosperity in the world.”
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, offered well wishes to Pope Leo XIV and described his election as a “historic moment for the Catholic community.”
“The white smoke rising above the Sistine Chapel signals the beginning of a new papacy – a moment of renewal, hope, and unity for more than a billion faithful worldwide,” Carney posted to X.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva congratulated Pope Leo XIV, writing on X that he hopes he continues the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis.
“We do not need wars, hatred, and intolerance,” Da Silva wrote in Portuguese. “We need more solidarity and more humanism. We need love for our neighbor, which is the foundation of Christ’s teachings.”
The Augustinian Catholic university Villanova University in Pennsylvania is also celebrating the pope, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics there in 1977.
“What a proud and extraordinary day for Villanova University and the global Church!” university president the Rev. Peter M. Donohue said in a message to the Villanova community.
“A new Pope brings fresh perspectives, renewed priorities and spiritual guidance, all of which can deepen our mission, strengthen our values and enrich our community,” Donohue said. “Known for his humility, gentle spirit, prudence and warmth, Pope Leo XIV’s leadership offers an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to our educational mission, through an Augustinian lens, as we pursue intellectual and spiritual growth.”
As the war between Ukraine and Russia rages on, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media, “Congratulations to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex on his election to the See of Saint Peter and the beginning of his pontificate.”
“Ukraine deeply values the Holy See’s consistent position in upholding international law, condemning the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine, and protecting the rights of innocent civilians,” Zelenskyy said. “At this decisive moment for our country, we hope for the continued moral and spiritual support of the Vatican in Ukraine’s efforts to restore justice and achieve a lasting peace. I wish His Holiness Leo XIV wisdom, inspiration, and strength — both spiritual and physical — in carrying out his noble mission.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message, “Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on your election as Pope. I am confident that the constructive dialog and interaction established between Russia and the Vatican will continue to develop on the basis of the Christian values that unite us. I wish you, Your Holiness, success in fulfilling the high mission entrusted to you, as well as good health and well-being.”
Amid the Israel-Hamas war, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “I send you my warmest wishes from the Holy City of Jerusalem. We look forward to enhancing the relationship between Israel and the Holy See, and strengthening the friendship between Jews and Christians in the Holy Land and around the world.”
“May your papacy be one of building bridges and understanding between all faiths and peoples,” he continued. “May we see the immediate and safe return of the hostages still held in Gaza, and a new era of peace in our region and around the world.”
After more than two months without aid entering Gaza, raising the risk of famine for millions of people, some aid trucks have begun entering the territory in the past few days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced some aid would resume entering the Gaza Strip Sunday, May 18. The Israeli government is working with the U.S. to set up aid distribution points. However, the plan faces criticism from established aid organizations. The Israeli-American system for distributing aid in Gaza is set to begin on Monday, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Some local content creators in Gaza, who gained a following with their food and recipe videos, continued posting from food kitchens amid the shortage of aid — a way to keep hope alive and find joy as war rages on, they say.
“For me, this is passion, to cook delicious things in these difficult times, and I really started feeling like a useful person in this crisis and war,” Hamada Sho told ABC News. Sho is a popular content creator on social media who makes videos from Gaza, cooking and serving food to his community in Khan Yunis.
He began working with social media before the war, previously working in marketing and development with restaurants in Gaza. After deciding to help people during the ongoing war by cooking, he started to post videos showing his cooking process in March 2024, sharing them on social media for people beyond Gaza to see what life there is like.
One of the videos before the blockade, posted online in February, shows Sho making a dessert with fresh fruit and cream over a base of Twinkies and then delivering the treats to children gathered on the beach as he is greeted with loud cheers.
After Israel implemented a total aid blockade on Gaza on March 2, ingredients entering Gaza also halted. Because of the lack of supplies entering the Strip, the supplies that are inside have skyrocketed in price.
“Now I can’t cook larger quantities. I can barely purchase some from the market with these unbelievable prices.” Sho said. “Whether it was rice, beans or anything, the most important thing is that people have at least one meal a day.”
The Israeli government has said the aid blockade was meant to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, in which Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages. There are still 58 hostages held captive by Hamas, 20 of whom are presumed to be alive. The war has taken a large toll on Palestinians, with over 53,000 killed in Gaza since the conflict began, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
The blockade, which began on March 2, started a day after a temporary six-week ceasefire between Hamas and Israel ended on March 1. Israeli forces resumed military operations in Gaza on March 18.
Sho works with local organizations, like Watermelon Relief, a grass-roots initiative in Gaza providing aid to displaced families, to get raw materials, which he uses to cook and provide food to refugee camps and communities in need of food, generally cooking from community kitchens.
Ahmed El-Madhoun, a coordinator for Watermelon Relief, explained that the raw food used in many of the videos posted by Sho was sourced from humanitarian aid entering the strip and traders located in Gaza.
“After Ramadan, things got worse. The border closed tighter, and food became harder and harder to find. Basic things like flour, cooking oil and even clean water,” El-Madhoun said.
Watermelon Relief had to close its kitchen due to the lack of cooking material, he added.
“No vegetables, no meat, nothing in the market. And if it’s available, it’s very expensive,” El-Madhoun told ABC News.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a system used around the world to track food insecurity and malnutrition, released an updated report on May 12, classifying the entire Gaza Strip as Phase 4, indicating that “the entire population is expected to face crisis or worse acute food insecurity.”
Twenty-two percent of Gaza will likely experience a food “catastrophe” according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.
“Our team members inside Gaza are surviving on the cheapest staples they can find—lentils, fava beans, dry chickpeas—if anything is available at all. A single sack of flour, once a basic item, now sells for up to 1,700 shekels, or nearly $480. These last supplies will not last much longer,” Mercy Corps, a humanitarian aid organization, wrote in a statement regarding the IPC report. “The people of Gaza are enduring one of the most harrowing humanitarian crises in recent history.”
As food continues to be hard to access for many in Gaza, people have begun to rely on kitchens started by organizations that can make large quantities of food and serve it to the community.
“Everyone relies on community kitchens for their food now,” said Mohammed Abu Rijela, another content creator posting videos of cooking food in Gaza.
He was a content creator before the war. After being displaced at the beginning of the war, he decided to help his community by starting community kitchens in Gaza, producing over 10,000 meals a day.
Since the blockade, the number of meals Abu Rijela was able to produce has decreased significantly.
“Instead of making 10,000 meals a day, now I make 3,000. At the same time, people’s demand increased greatly in the kitchen,” he added.
Sho’s and Abu Rijela’s viral food videos were met with backlash on social media, with commenters denying the reality of the food crisis, citing the large amounts of food in the videos as evidence of the contrary. A post Sho made in March 2025, showing him cooking a chicken shawarma, became a focus of the online backlash.
El-Madhoun, with Watermelon Relief, told ABC News that most of the videos featuring meat were likely filmed months ago.
“We have not been able to find any meat for two months,” El-Madhoun said. Some traders were able to keep some meat in their warehouses, but due to the lack of electricity, storing the meat was not possible, he added.
Sho said many of the kitchens have shut down due to the lack of food, adding he has been cooking mostly legumes, peas, beans and rice during this time of low availability. Even these ingredients are sometimes unavailable, he said.
“The prices of very basic goods are skyrocketing. And the children, 1.1 million children, are suffering from that. They don’t have enough food,” a UNICEF spokesperson in Gaza told ABC News.
A UNRWA senior communications officer and spokesperson, speaking in Geneva on May 20, described the slow arrival of aid as: “Not enough. Five trucks, nowhere near. Not enough.” The comment came as humanitarian agencies have received permission from Israel for “around 100” more aid trucks to enter the Strip, five of which were let in on Monday.
In a press release on May 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) called the situation in Gaza “one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time.”
“We do not need to wait for a declaration of famine in Gaza to know that people are already starving, sick, and dying, while food and medicines are minutes away across the border,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
(VATICAN CITY) — Who was the very first pope? How many popes have there been? Has anyone ever refused the office?
For an institution that has existed for nearly 2,000 years, most people know very little about the papacy and its history. Here are some of the most commonly asked questions – and a few answers you may find surprising.
Who can be pope?
Canon law says any unmarried, baptized male Catholic, clergy or not, is eligible to be pope. That said, only cardinals have been elected for the last 600-plus years, so being considered for the position in this case is very much the result of whom you know.
Who was the very first pope?
The first pope was St. Peter, after whom St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City is named. St. Peter wasn’t elected, however, being said by the church to have been appointed by Christ. In fact, all popes were essentially appointed for about the first thousand years; even if the church selected a successor, that selection had to be approved by a secular party or parties – think monarchs, heads of state and other power brokers – a process that made choosing the next pope both fractious and extremely political.
It’s generally accepted that the papal election process as we currently recognize it began with Pope Nicholas II, the 155th pope, who in 1059 issued a landmark bull, or edict, that contained major church reforms, among them giving the sole power of papal election to the College of Cardinals – a responsibility they retain to this day.
How many popes have there been?
Pope Francis, elected in 2013, who died on Monday, was the 266th pope in the Catholic Church’s roughly 2,000-year history, which spans three millennia. However, that count comes with qualifications.
There were nearly 40 popes who were considered to be illegitimate for various reasons, mostly because they were appointed by secular rulers or warring factions within the church itself, and so aren’t officially counted by the Vatican. The last of these so-called antipopes was Felix V, whose roughly nine-and-a-half-year reign ended in 1449.
There also were five interregnums – that is, periods without a pope and no active papal selection process – the first in the late 13th century and the most recent ending in March 1800, totaling 10 years and 50 days.
Has anyone ever rejected being elected pope?
Has anyone ever rejected being elected pope?It’s rare, but it has happened. The first person known to have done so was St. Philip Benizi, in 1271, who reportedly was so opposed to being elected that he ran away and hid until another candidate was chosen. The late 16th century St. Charles Borromeo, one of the few cardinals to be canonized, also refused the papacy, though in less dramatic fashion.
Most recently, when Cardinal Giovanni Colombo, the 76-year-old archbishop of Milan, began receiving votes during the conclave in October 1978, he reportedly made it clear that he would refuse the papacy if elected. Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyla, Archbishop of Kraków, was ultimately elected pope and took the name John Paul II.
Why do popes change their names, and do they have to?
Short answer? Tradition. In fact, immediately after affirming that he accepts his election, the ceremonial second question a new pope is asked is, “By what name shall you be known?”
That said, no pope is required to change their name upon election, and for more than a thousand years, few did. The first pope to change his name was the Roman-born 56th pope, John II, elected in the year 533, who felt that using his birth name – Mercurius – was inappropriate because of its association with the Roman god Mercury. He chose John II in honor of his predecessor, Pope John I, the 53rd pontiff.
Even so, the practice of choosing a papal name remained inconsistent for the next 1,000 years, with most popes using their baptismal names. Taking a papal name became more common as the centuries passed, with some non-Italian popes doing so for no more complex a reason than to make it something easier for Romans to pronounce.
Pope Marcellus II, elected in 1555, was the last to use his baptismal name. His successor, Giovanni Pietro, chose the papal name Paul IV, and the practice has continued uninterrupted since. The tradition is now seen as a way for the new pope to signal which of his predecessors he will emulate.
However, although most popes select a predecessor’s name, they are not obliged to do so. Pope Francis bucked that tradition when he was elected, instead choosing his name to honor St. Francis of Assisi, the 13th century cleric now celebrated in the church as the patron saint of animals and the environment. Pope Francis said St. Francis inspired him as “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation.”
Interestingly, there have only been two popes to take a double papal name, both of them in the 20th century and both back-to-back. John Paul I was the first to do it, in August 1978, and was also the first to intentionally include the designation ‘the first’ in his papal name. Upon his unexpected death less than two months later, John Paul I’s successor, Karol Wojtyla, chose the name John Paul II to honor him.
What are the most-used papal names?
With 266 popes and 2,000 years of history, there are plenty of papal names from which new popes can choose. There are, however, some clear favorites.
The most popular papal name, by far, is John: 23 popes have taken it. The first was John I, the 53rd pontiff, in 523; the most recent was John XXIII, the 261st pope, elected in October 1958.
In second place is Gregory, with 16 uses, the first in 590 and the most recent in 1831. Benedict is tied for second, also with 16 uses, with the most recent being Pope Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI. Some purists, however, insist there were only 15 Benedicts, purposely omitting Benedict X, who was elected in 1058 but later determined to be an antipope and replaced in less than a year by Nicholas II.
Following Gregory and Benedict, there have been 14 Clements, 13 Innocents, 13 Leos, and 12 popes to use Pius. It’s single-digits from there on, with 44 out of 266 papal names used only once. Chief among the single-use names is Peter, being St. Peter, the first pope – a name that, per tradition, is unlikely ever again to be used.
Who was pope for the longest/shortest time?
The church officially recognizes St. Peter, the first pope, as the longest-serving, with at least 34 years. However, many historians dispute that as impossible to verify, and instead say the longest-serving pope was Pius IX, who held the office just shy of 32 years, until his death in February 1878.
The record for shortest time as pope goes to Urban VII, who died of malaria in September 1590 after just 13 days in office.
Who was the youngest/oldest pope?
At 81 years old, Pope Gregory XII was the oldest pope at time of election, in November 1406. The youngest was John XII, who is believed to have been just 18 years old when he was elected in 955 as the 130th pope.
The longest-lived pope, active or former, was Benedict XVI, who resigned the papacy in February 2013 at age 85 and was 95 years old when he died Dec. 31, 2022. Having turned 78 just three days before he was elected pope in April 2005, he also was the fifth-oldest pope in history when he accepted the office.
Of the nine popes who reigned in the 20th century – beginning with Leo XIII, whose papacy ended in 1903 – their average age at the time of election was 65. Of those, John XXIII was the oldest, at 76, and John Paul II the youngest, at 58. The average age of the 62 popes elected since 1400 is 62.4 years. Any age data prior to 1400 is considered largely unreliable.
Bonus fact: Who makes the pope’s clothes?
The liturgical garments – such as robes, stoles and hats – worn by the pope and other Christian church officials are known as vestments. Since 1798, the pope’s vestments have been manufactured by the Gammarelli family tailors in Rome, who first made the garments for Pope Pius VI. They also make off-the-rack liturgical garments for clergy other than the pope, but the election of a new pope requires special attention.
While a new pope is being chosen, the Gammarellis prepare three sets of vestments in small, medium and large sizes so they will be ready to be worn immediately by the new pope, who makes his first public appearance within hours of election. Once he’s elected, the Gammarellis make bespoke vestments for him, though the pontiff has the option of obtaining his vestments elsewhere if he so chooses.
Despite the care taken, those ready-to-wear initial papal vestments didn’t always do the trick. Pope John XXIII, who was five feet, six inches tall and weighed close to 200 pounds when elected in 1958, donned the small-size vestments by mistake for his first public appearance, requiring attendants to slit them up the back so that they appeared to fit from the front. Conversely, the athletic Pope John Paul II – five feet, ten inches tall and broad-shouldered – is said to have barely been able to fit into the large-sized vestments for his first public appearance.
ABC News’ Phoebe Natanson contributed to this report.
