Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin suspends key US-Russia nuclear treaty in speech denouncing West
President Vladimir Putin said he'd sought an "open dialogue" with the West.
Almost a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout the east and south.
Putin's forces pulled out of key positions in November, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the southern port city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.
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Treasury sanctions 4 Russians for carrying out human rights abuses
The U.S. Department of Treasury issued sanctions against four Russians accused of forcibly seizing personal data and conducting interrogations and searches against Ukrainian citizens to determine if they have any connections to the Ukrainian government or military.
There are also allegations that deportations, disappearances and torture have also been carried out.
Two of those sanctioned "oversaw the filtration of city government officials and other civilians from Mariupol, Ukraine, including through the filtration center in Manhush, Ukraine. Witnesses have reported insufficient food supplies, overcrowded cells, and beatings at the Manhush filtration center. One witness overheard Russia’s soldiers discussing shooting people who underwent filtration at Manhush," according to a press release from the Treasury.
The Treasury is also sanctioning members of Russia's Central Election Commission for overseeing the sham referenda held in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine in September, during which Ukrainians were forced to vote for annexation.
-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky
10 civilians killed in Russian air strike, Zelenskyy says
A Russian airstrike that struck Kurakhov, a city in Donetsk Oblast in southeastern Ukraine, has killed 10 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Wednesday.
Civilian areas such as a market, gas station, bus station and a residential building were among the targets that were struck, Zelenskyy said.
Putin says Russia will not be the first to use nuclear weapons in war with Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday the threat of nuclear war is increasing but Russia will not be the first to use nuclear weapons.
Putin, speaking at Russia's Human Rights Council, said nuclear weapons should act as a deterrent in conflicts, not provoke them.
"We consider weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons, it is all built around the so-called retaliatory strike. When we are struck, we strike back," Putin said.
“I have already said: we don’t have our own nuclear weapons, including tactical ones, on the territory of other countries, but the Americans do. Both in Turkey and in a number of other European states ... we haven't done anything yet," Putin said.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Time's 2022 'Person of the Year'
Time named Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Spirit of Ukraine as the 2022 "Person of the Year."
More than a dozen Ukrainians who embodied the spirit of Ukraine were also named: Dr. Iryna Kondratova, who helped mothers give birth during shelling in the hospital basement; Oleg Kutkov, an engineer who laid the groundwork for the essential connectivity; Olga Rudenko, editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Independent; and Levgen Klopotenko, a Kyiv chef who converted his restaurant into a relief canteen.
“This year’s choice was the most clear-cut in memory. Whether the battle for Ukraine fills one with hope or with fear, the world marched to Volodymyr Zelensky’s beat in 2022," Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal said in a statement.