Visitors to the Franklin Park Zoo walk past the signs advising safe distancing near an entrance to the zoo, May 28, 2020, in Boston. A Worcester man has been arrested, Monday, Feb. 21, 2022 for trying to enter a tiger enclosure after breaking into Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo. When questioned by Massachusetts State Police, the man only said that he was very interested in tigers.Steven Senne/AP
BOSTON (AP) — A man who authorities say tried to enter the tiger enclosure at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo over the holiday weekend was released on personal recognizance at his arraignment Tuesday.
Matthew Abraham, 24, of Worcester, appeared in court to face charges of misdemeanor trespassing and breaking and entering. Not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf and he was ordered to stay away from the zoo.
Zoo New England, which operates the zoo, in a statement Tuesday, said Abraham “was seen in an outdoor non-public area behind the tiger exhibit” Monday morning.
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When he was spotted by staff, he climbed over a gate and left the area. Zoo Security was called and they searched the area until they located him. State police responded and removed him from the property.
State police said Abraham climbed over a gate into the zoo at around 9 a.m., scaled several fences and ignored warning signs.
Abraham’s attorney told the judge that he intended to seek a private mental health evaluation for his client.
Abraham, a college student, in interviews with multiple TV stations called the entire episode a misunderstanding. He said the zoo’s gates were open, he didn’t realize he was in a restricted area, and there was always a fence between him and the animal.
He said he is fascinated with tigers and just wanted to look it in the eye.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony to sign documents, including a decree recognising two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities, with leaders of the self-proclaimed republics Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin seen in the background, in Moscow, Russia, in this picture released February 21, 2022. Sputnik/Alexey Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS
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LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognised the independence of separatist enclaves in eastern Ukraine and ordered in “peacekeeping” troops, the big question is: where will he stop?
Western countries have been warning for weeks that Moscow may be preparing for a possible all-out massed invasion to conquer its neighbour. Russia denies this, and Putin’s moves so far have stopped well short of such a scenario.Report ad
But a televised address by Putin on Monday night – in which he characterised the Ukrainian state and its leaders as illegitimate – added to fears that he may aim to subjugate Ukraine by force.
Following are three possible scenarios:
1. SECURE THE EXISTING SEPARATIST ENCLAVES, THEN PAUSE THERE
While many commentators believe that sending troops into the separatist enclaves could be a first step towards a wider invasion, others note that it could also be a place to stop – or at least pause in terms of action on the ground – while trying to apply pressure to Ukraine in other ways.Report ad
“That gets him out of the ‘backed into a corner, has to invade’ scenario. He’s done something. He can claim a victory for his domestic audience,” said Tim Ripley, author of “Little Green Men: Putin’s Wars Since 2014”.
Ripley said he believes the most likely next steps – rather than immediately trying to take more territory – would be a “rolling campaign” to exert pressure on Ukraine in other ways, such as a naval blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea. The goal would be to intimidate Ukrainians by maintaining a constant crisis, while showing that Kyiv’s Western allies were “a paper tiger”, capable of offering little real help.
Meanwhile, Russia has already achieved some big objectives, such as forcing NATO allies to publicly acknowledge they will not send troops to defend Ukraine, and securing permission from neighbouring Belarus to station a large force there indefinitely.
“Belarus was quite a big move aimed at changing the balance in the region…. It transforms how NATO has to defend the Baltic states completely,” Ripley said.
2. SEEK TO EXPAND THE SEPARATIST TERRITORY, WHILE LIMITING CONFLICT TO EASTERN UKRAINE
The separatists in eastern Ukraine control less than half of the two provinces they claim, and Ukrainian forces have opposed them across a heavily fortified frontline frozen by a much-violated ceasefire since 2015.
Without launching a massed invasion of Ukraine as a whole, Russia could try to expand separatist territory. Moscow has given mixed signals in the past 24 hours about whether its recognition of the separatist enclaves also amounts to accepting their claims to more territory in Ukraine.
One target could be Mariupol, eastern Ukraine’s main port, which the separatists stopped short of attacking in 2014-2015. Capturing it would let Moscow link Russian-controlled Crimea over land to the separatist enclaves and secure complete control over the coast of the Sea of Azov, a strategic objective in itself and one that would also exert economic pressure on Kyiv.
But a war over incremental territory in eastern Ukraine, while likely to bring down tough international sanctions on Russia, would achieve only limited strategic gains. By itself, it would fall short of Moscow’s perceived aim of installing a more compliant government in Kyiv.
“Capturing six villages outside Donetsk: it doesn’t change the price of eggs at all,” notes Ripley.
3. LARGE-SCALE INVASION
Western countries, especially the United States and Britain, have been warning for several weeks now of the likelihood of a much larger operation by Russia to capture all of Ukraine, or at least move on Kyiv to overthrow the government there.
Some commentators saw Putin’s defiant televised speech on Monday night as evidence he will not be satisfied unless Ukraine is led by a government that acknowledges Russian hegemony.
“…It seems likely that Putin has much more in mind than simply taking a nibble out of Ukraine’s east and taking formal responsibility for territories he already de facto controlled,” wrote Shaun Walker, a journalist for Britain’s Guardian newspaper and author of “The Long Hangover, Putin’s New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past”.
“Putin’s final words, that if Kyiv did not stop the violence they would bear responsibility for the ‘ensuing bloodshed’, were ominous in the extreme. It sounded, quite simply, like a declaration of war.”
BOSTON (WHDH) – A Worcester man accused of breaking into the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston in an apparent attempt to gain access to the tiger enclosure has pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with the alleged incident.
Matthew Abraham, 24, was arraigned Tuesday in Dorchester District Court on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct.
Abraham broke into the zoo by climbing over a gate around 9 a.m., according to state police.
“A lady let me in and after I was let in, I saw the caretaker by the tiger and I’m interested in the psychology of predatory animals such tigers and lions,” Abraham said.
A preliminary investigation indicated that he scaled multiple fences in his attempt to get to the tigers, ignoring multiple posted signs advising the public to stay out of that area, state police said. When asked why he did it, troopers said Abraham stated that he had an interest in the animals.
“I thought that since there was a fence, I wasn’t encroaching on his territory and I thought I would be OK,” said Abraham. “I just wanted to get close to it.”
Security staff detained Abraham as he tried to get into the tiger enclosure, state police said. Boston EMS responded to the zoo to evaluate him and determined he was mentally competent, state police added.
“The tiger was in his cage,” Abraham said. “The tiger saw me and growled at me and that was all…I didn’t realize I was trespassing or anything.”
A judge ordered Abraham to stay away from the zoo until further notice.
He is due back in court in April.
(Copyright (c) 2022 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, YURAS KARMANAU and AAMER MADHANI15 minutes ago
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President Joe Biden speaks about Ukraine in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
MOSCOW (AP) — President Joe Biden announced the U.S. was ordering heavy financial sanctions against Russian banks and oligarchs on Tuesday, declaring that Moscow had flagrantly violated international law in what he called the “beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
“None of us will be fooled” by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims about Ukraine, the U.S. President said. And he said more sanctions could be on the way if Putin proceeds further.
Biden said he was also moving additional U.S. troops to the Baltic states on NATO’s eastern flank bordering Russia.
Biden joined the 27 European Union members who unanimously agreed on Tuesday to levy their own initial set of sanctions targeting Russian officials over their actions in Ukraine.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian lawmakers on Tuesday authorized President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside the country — a move that could presage a broader attack on Ukraine after the U.S. said an invasion was already underway there.
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Several European leaders said Russian troops rolled into rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine after Putin recognized their independence. But it was unclear how large the deployment was, and Ukraine and its Western allies have long said Russian troops were fighting in the region, allegations that Moscow always denied.
Members of Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council, voted unanimously to allow Putin to use military force outside the country — effectively formalizing a Russian military deployment to the rebel regions, where an eight-year conflict has killed nearly 14,000 people.
Putin said the crisis could be resolved if Kyiv recognizes Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, renounces its bid to join NATO and partially demilitarizes. The West has decried the annexation of Crimea as a violation of international law and has previously flatly rejected permanently barring Ukraine from NATO.
Asked whether he has sent any Russian troops into Ukraine and how far they could go, Putin responded: “I haven’t said that the troops will go there right now.” He added coyly that “it’s impossible to forecast a specific pattern of action –- it will depend on a concrete situation as it takes shape on the ground.”
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Biden scheduled an address for later Tuesday, but Germany made the first big move. It took steps to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia — a lucrative deal long sought by Moscow but criticized by the U.S. for increasing Europe’s reliance on Russian energy.
The rest of the European Union soon followed, with a first set of sanctions aimed at the 351 Russian lawmakers who voted for recognizing separatist regions in Ukraine, as well as 27 other Russian officials and institutions from the defense and banking world. They also sought to limit Moscow’s access to EU capital and financial markets.
With tensions rising and a broader conflict looking more likely, the White House began referring to the Russian deployments in the region known as the Donbas as an “invasion” after initially hesitating to use the term — a red line that President Joe Biden has said would result in the U.S. levying severe sanctions against Moscow.
“We think this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine,” said Jon Finer, principal deputy national security adviser, said on CNN. “An invasion is an invasion, and that is what is underway.”
The Biden administration’s rhetoric hardened considerably in less than 24 hours. The White House announced limited sanctions targeting the rebel-region Monday evening soon after Putin said he was sending troops to eastern Ukraine. A senior Biden administration official, who briefed reporters about the sanctions targeting the breakaway region, noted “that Russia has occupied these regions since 2014” and that “Russian troops moving into Donbas would not itself be a new step.”
The administration initially resisted calling the deployment an invasion because the White House wanted to see what Russia was actually going to do. After assessing Russian troop movements, it became clear it was a new invasion, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
For weeks, Western powers have been bracing for this as Russia massed an estimated 150,000 troops on three sides of neighboring Ukraine — and promised swift and severe sanctions if it materialized.
Western leaders have long warned Moscow would look for cover to invade — and just such a pretext appeared to come Monday, when Putin recognized as independent two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, where government troops have fought Russia-backed rebels. The Kremlin then raised the stakes further Tuesday, by saying that recognition extends even to the large parts now held by Ukrainian forces.
Putin said Russia has recognized the rebel regions’ independence in the borders that existed when they declared their independence in 2014 — broad territories that extend far beyond the areas now under separatist control and that include the major Azov Sea port of Mariupol. He added, however, that the rebels should eventually negotiate with Ukraine.
Condemnation from around the world was quick. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would consider breaking diplomatic ties with Russia and Kyiv recalled its ambassador in Moscow.
But confusion over what exactly was happening in eastern Ukraine threatened to hobble a Western response. While Washington clearly called it an invasion, some other allies hedged.
“Russian troops have entered in Donbas,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in Paris. “We consider Donbas part of Ukraine.”
But he added: “I wouldn’t say that (it is) a fully fledged invasion, but Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil.”
Poland’s Defense Ministry and British Health Secretary Sajid Javid also said Russian forces had entered eastern Ukraine, with Javid telling Sky News that “the invasion of Ukraine has begun.”
Not all in Europe saw it that way. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares noted “if Russia uses force against Ukraine, sanctions will be massive.”
The Kremlin hasn’t confirmed any troop deployments to the rebel east, saying it will depend on the security situation. Vladislav Brig, a member of the separatist local council in Donetsk, told reporters the Russian troops already had moved in, but more senior rebel leaders didn’t confirm that. Late Monday, convoys of armored vehicles were seen rolling across the separatist-controlled territories. It wasn’t immediately clear if they were Russian.
The White House issued an executive order to prohibit U.S. investment and trade in the separatist regions, and additional measures — likely sanctions — were to be announced Tuesday. Those sanctions are independent of what Washington has prepared in the event of a Russian invasion, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.
The Russian moves pushed Germany to suspend the certification process for Nord Stream 2 pipeline that was to bring natural gas from Russia. The pipeline was built to help Germany meet its energy needs, particularly as it switches off its last three nuclear power plants and phases out the use of coal, and it has resisted calls by the U.S. and others to halt the project.
If Putin pushes further into Ukraine, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg insisted the West would move in lockstep. “If Russia decides once again to use force against Ukraine, there will be even stronger sanctions, even a higher price to pay,” he said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the U.K. would slap sanctions on five Russian banks and three wealthy individuals. He warned a full-scale offensive would bring “further powerful sanctions.”
Even as alarm spread across the globe, Zelenskyy sought to project calm, saying in an address overnight: “We are not afraid of anyone or anything. We don’t owe anyone anything. And we won’t give anything to anyone.”
His foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, is in Washington to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the State Department said.
Russia has long denied it has any plans to invade Ukraine, instead blaming the U.S. and its allies for the crisis and describing Ukraine’s bid to join NATO as an existential challenge to Russia. Putin reiterated those accusations in an hourlong televised speech on Monday, when he announced that Russia would recognize the rebels.
“Ukraine’s membership in NATO poses a direct threat to Russia’s security,” he said.
The Western rejection of Moscow’s demands gives Russia the right to take other steps to protect its security, Putin said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it will evacuate its diplomatic personnel from Ukraine “in the nearest time,” pointing to attacks on diplomatic buildings, cars and physical threats against diplomats in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv and Kharkiv.
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Karmanau reported from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Madhani from Washington. Jill Lawless in London, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Zeke Miller and Aamer Madhani in Munich, Germany; Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans in Berlin; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, and Eric Tucker, Ellen Knickmeyer, Robert Burns, Matthew Lee and Darlene Superville in Washington, contributed.
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This story has been updated to correct that Mariupol in on the Azov Sea, not Black Sea.
